SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un kicked off a key meeting of the country's ruling party on Friday, state media KCNA reported on Saturday, a little over a week after Pyongyang and Moscow struck a military defense pact that raised alarms for the United States.

At the 10th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea convened on Friday, five items on the agenda were approved, the KCNA said, without elaborating on the agenda.

The meeting was presided over by Kim to "review the work done in the first half of the year and decide a series of important immediate issues arising," the statement said.

North Korea and Russia on June 19 revived an agreement made during the Cold War-era when their leaders met in Pyongyang, and agreed to provide military assistance if they are ever attacked.

  - Reuters