North Korea to convene parliament on January 17

North Korea is set to convene its rubber-stamp parliament in January, according to the country’s state media outlet. The parliament is set to discuss the government’s budget, among other key issues.

North Korean state media outlet KCNA reported Wednesday that the North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly, the isolated nation’s rubber-stamp parliament, will be meeting on January 17. The government’s budget, the work of the Cabinet, organizational matters, and other key issues would be on the agenda as the isolated nation also faces an economic crisis.

The meeting in January will follow a plenary session of the ruling Worker’s Party central committee that will take place in late December. Pyongyang is expected to set major policy decisions for the coming year during the plenary meeting following the record number of missile tests that were conducted this year.

The multiple missile tests by North Korea have resulted in further sanctions by the United States, South Korea, and Japan, including the latest set of sanctions that were imposed last week. Washington has sought to impose more United Nations sanctions amidst concerns that Pyongyang may resume testing its nuclear weapons. However, China and Russia have blocked the efforts to do so, arguing that the sanctions should be eased in order to restart denuclearization talks.

Tensions recently flared in the Korean peninsula when North Korea’s military fired artillery shells into the sea in protest against the joint military drills by South Korea and the US close to the border. Pyongyang fired 82 artillery shells for almost nine hours Tuesday as a warning to what it alleges is a provocation by Seoul and Washington, according to KCNA.

The South Korean military said over 100 artillery shells were fired, almost the same amount as the shells that were fired by North Korea on Monday. Some of the shells that were fired on Monday landed in the buffer zone near the maritime border of the two countries.

Seoul said that Pyongyang’s actions breached the 2018 inter-Korean agreement to reduce tensions in the region. North Korea has criticized joint drills by South Korea and the US, calling the exercises proof of the allies’ hostile policies.