North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has stressed "self-reliance" in a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party officials, calling the current situation "tense." 

The North's official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Wednesday that Kim made the remarks on Tuesday at an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party.

Kim reportedly urged politburo officials to follow through on the party's new strategic line with a sense of responsibility and creativity and spirit of self-reliance in order to cope with the tense situation. 

The new strategic line refers to the decision the party made in April of last year to focus more on economic development.

The party meeting came two days before North Korea is set to hold the first session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly on Thursday since new deputies were elected last month.

The KCNA said a plenary session of the ruling party's central committee will be held on Wednesday.