Kim Jong Un’s New Vision: North Korea’s Local Development Overhaul

Under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, North Korea held the 19th expanded meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party, finalizing detailed plans for this year’s focus project, the Local Development 20×10 Policy.

The Labor Newspaper reported on the 25th that “The 19th expanded meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party, aimed at setting clear milestones for local industrial development, was held from January 23 to 24.”

“At the meeting, the issue of promoting the Local Development 20X10 Policy was treated as a basic agenda, and measures for the rapid resolution of major policy targets and the self-reliant development of provinces, cities, and counties were proposed,” it reported.

At the meeting, Kim Jong Un pointed out that “the fact that we can’t even provide basic food, groceries, and essential goods to local people is a serious political problem that our party and government can’t ignore today.”

He also criticizes, “Some policy guidance departments and economic institutions have been merely talking without finding realistic and revolutionary possibilities for this task.”

He then emphasized that “Only by setting concrete and substantial plans and resolutions and executing each one accurately under scientific calculation, can real change be brought to elevate the local people’s basic material culture status” through a conclusion on Promoting the Party’s Local Development 20X10 Policy.

Kim stated, “Through this meeting, our party has set a milestone in its 80-year struggle for the people by determining various measures to simultaneously, in a balanced manner, comprehensively, effectively, and uniquely develop local industries and thoroughly establish the execution guarantee.”

Furthermore, Kim emphasized, “To achieve successful results from the ‘Local Development 20X10 Policy’, we must first establish a business system to build local industrial factories in cities and counties across the country.”

He also instructed, “The scale of local industrial factories should be determined by well calculating the population of cities and counties, the demand of residents, economic conditions, and natural and geographical conditions, and a third-party agreement system between design units, construction units, and operation units should be thoroughly established to prevent unreasonable problems from arising in the process of operating the factory.”

Kim Jong Un also signed an order titled “On Mobilizing Army Units for the Struggle to Implement the Decision of the 19th Expanded Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Party to Create a Local Industrial Revolution” for the mobilization of the People’s Army for local industrial development. This order was delivered to the Chief of Staff of the People’s Army.

Kim said, “The Central Party will evaluate the party spirit, people’s spirit, and responsibility of the responsible secretaries of the provincial, city, and county parties regarding the execution of the local development policy.”

North Korea has prepared a Local Development 20X10 Policy, which mainly involves building local industrial factories in 20 counties each year for ten years, at the 10th meeting of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly held on the 15th.