This photo shows a plenary session of the standing committee of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly taking place at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang with Chairman Choe Ryong-hae, standing, presiding, Aug. 7. Yonhap

North Korea has convened a key parliamentary session to discuss and adopt laws on rural development and landscaping, state media reported Thursday.

The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting was held in Pyongyang the previous day, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The country's leader Kim Jong-un did not attend the gathering.

"The session adopted with unanimous approval the ordinance of the SPA of the DPRK 'On Adopting Law of the DPRK on Socialist Rural Development' and 'On Adopting Law of the DPRK on Landscaping,'" it said. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

It added that the meeting will continue, suggesting that it will go on for more than one day.

The SPA is the highest organ of power under the North's constitution, although it rubber-stamps decisions by the ruling party. (Yonhap)