North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called strongly for "self-reliance," saying the communist nation should deal a "serious blow" to the belief that Pyongyang will give in to sanctions, according to state media.

Kim made the remark during a plenary plenary session of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party on Wednesday, a day before the North is to convene the first session of its 14th Supreme People's Assembly, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks at an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on April 9, 2019, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks at an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on April 9, 2019, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution)

"With our own power and technology befitting our conditions and the people's economy based on resources, we should raise the banner of developing a socialist economy in a consistent manner and deal a blow to those bent on the misjudgment that they can bring us to our knees with sanctions," he said.

"Self-reliance and an independent economy for the people are the basis of our own type of a socialism and a permanent lifeline that will determine the fate of our revolution," he added.

He mentioned his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in late February in Hanoi but steered clear of criticism directly pointed at Washington or his country's nuclear program.

The Hanoi summit fell apart as Kim and Trump failed to find common ground over how to match Pyongyang's denuclearization steps with Washington's sanctions relief.

Pyongyang wanted major sanctions relief in exchange for dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear facility. But Washington insisted on what officials described as "a big deal" that called for trading sanctions relief for the dismantlement of all of the North's nuclear and other weapons programs.

Kim's push for self-reliance and fight against sanctions comes as South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Trump are set to meet on Thursday (local time) in Washington to coordinate their approach toward North Korea's nuclear issue.

On Tuesday, Kim also called the current situation "tense" and urged politburo party members to follow through on the party's strategic line of economic development with a spirit of "self-reliance."(Yonhap)

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