The North Korean economy is currently suffering from “accumulated absurdities,” the country’s state media admitted Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of self-reliant development and warning against temporary growth induced by foreign aid from “hostile” forces.

In a special article (ronsol) on its front page, North Korean ruling party daily the Rodong Sinmun stressed that “Economic Independence is an Important Guarantee of Building Strong Socialist Country” and that development is at the forefront of the country’s 2020 “head-on breakthrough” policy.

The DPRK economy, the Rodongsaid, is “being built today amid all kinds of challenges and hardships… the