North Korea's parliament is scheduled to convene amid a series of diplomatic moves by leader Kim Jong Un that could have a major impact on the direction the country takes in the months and possibly years ahead.

Meetings of the full Supreme People's Assembly are usually brief, once-a-year affairs intended to approve budgets, formalize personnel changes and rubberstamp Kim's policy priorities.

But this year's session, scheduled to start on Wednesday, is being watched more closely because it was to begin just two weeks before Kim is to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and as Pyongyang and Washington are working out the details of a summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in late May or early June.