North Korean leader Kim Jong Un kicked off the ruling party’s end-of-year meeting on Tuesday, projecting optimism as he highlighted the country’s achievements in fields ranging from military development to construction in a “year of great transformation.”

This year’s plenary meeting of the Workers Party of Korea’s Central Committee looks to develop the national agenda for 2024 to push ahead major goals outlined under the five-year plan unveiled in Jan. 2021, according to the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

The daily cited progress on multiple fronts this year, ranging from the development of “new strategic weapons” to the construction