Some observers predict North Korea might use the conference to announce that it plans to abandon faltering diplomacy with the US and lift its moratorium on major weapons tests. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided over a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea convened in Pyongyang on Saturday. North Korea has warned that its resumption of tests of long-range missiles and nuclear devices depends on US action. However, that would also likely completely derail diplomacy with the US and further dim the prospect that North Korea would get badly needed sanctions relief to rebuild its troubled economy, some experts said. North Korea is pushing for major sanctions relief in return for limited denuclearization steps, but the US maintains that sanctions must stay in place until North Korea takes significant steps toward ridding itself of nuclear weapons and technology.
