North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the Third Enlarged Meeting of the Seventh Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in an undisclosed location, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Sunday. Kim gave analysis and briefing on the complicated internal and external situation to bolster up the overall armed forces of his country. Photo: AFP

Kim Jong-un, top leader of North Korea presided over a political bureau meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) on Saturday, discussing anti-viral measures, budget issues and organizational matters, according to a report by the official Korean Central News Agency on Sunday.

In the meeting, a resolution was adopted "on more thoroughly taking national measures for protecting the life and safety of our people to cope with the worldwide epidemic disease," the report said.

The government took strict top-class emergency anti-epidemic measures from the outset and established thorough-going organization, consistency and imperativeness in the nationwide protective measures, it said, adding that the country has been maintaining a very stable anti-epidemic situation.

North Korea, which closed its border with China in late January, is one of a few countries in the world that claim to have no COVID-19 infections so far.

The meeting called for consistently strict national countermeasures to thoroughly check the inroads of the virus amid the rapid spread of the pandemic.

It also studied and approved "On the execution of the state budget for 2019 and the state budget for 2020" and discussed organizational matters, including the appointment of Kim Yo-jong, the top leader's younger sister, as alternate members of the Central Committee of the ruling party, the report added.

Xinhua