North Korea said Monday its Cabinet has held an extended meeting to discuss the effect of international sanctions imposed on it and ways to develop its economy through stepped-up exchanges with the outside world.

North Korean policymakers deliberated on goals set by leader Kim Jong-un last month that called for simultaneous development of the country's nuclear capabilities as well as its economy as a whole with focus on the light industry, said the Korean Central News Agency in a report, monitored in Seoul.

They also evaluated growth in the first three months of this year and reviewed policies for the second quarter, it said.

"The cabinet outlined policies that can be followed to improve the country's economic exchanges with the rest of the world and break up plots by the United States and its supporters to carry out underhanded sanctions," the KCNA report said, adding that officials called for creating conditions favorable for the building of an economically strong nation.

 The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Pak Pong-ju, the report said. Pak, an economic technocrat, was appointed to the post earlier this month. (Yonhap News)