editorial

Last year, the Korean people greeted another inauguration season.

The Unsan Paper Mill in South Phyongan Province, new hotels in the Samjiyon tourist resort and the Kangdong County Hospital, the Kusong City Hospital and Ryonggang County Hospital and regional-industry factories for the Regional Development 20X10 Policy in 20 cities and counties were built and modern leisure complexes and offshore farms were inaugurated in several cities and counties.

In 2024 regional-industry factories in Songchon County were built as the first creations of the Regional Development 20X10 Policy in a matter of ten months and the Sinpho City Offshore Farm was built as the prototype base of shallow-sea culture in the new century in several months. In 2025 the Ragwon County Offshore Farm and fishermen’s modern residential area, embracing all elements and aspects of socialist civilization, sprang up in over 190 days and the Kangdong County Hospital, whose construction processes were complex, was inaugurated in some 280 days after its groundbreaking.

The present reality in which groundbreaking leads to inauguration in the same year is clear proof of the validity and vitality of the policy of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the epitome of advance speed of socialist Korea.

The self-supporting capacity of the Korean people has also doubled.

The major industrial sectors of the national economy carried out their increased production plans by waging a vigorous struggle for increased production and economization in the face of manifold challenges and difficulties, the agricultural sector reaped a higher grain yield than 2024 and many major construction projects were successfully completed. As a result, the economic development goals for last year were achieved and the five-year plan was implemented as well.

And the modernization projects and those for reinforcing technical infrastructures in the major economic sectors have entered the concluding stage, providing possibilities and a guarantee for more confidently launching into the struggle to achieve the next-stage long-term goals.

Thanks to the meaningful achievements made in the overall component parts of the national defence capabilities, many problems were effectively solved for the country’s security, defence and interests despite the global geopolitical and technical changes and the country is on the right track.

The year 2025 marked a historic turning point when the country charged itself with enough power to break through the last line of carrying out the five-year plan with confidence and switch over to the new stage.

All these successes are the precious fruits of the wise leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Un.

He put forward the self-development-first principle, the idea for the comprehensive development of socialism, the programme for the rural revolution in the new era and the regional development strategy, the idea and policies on the training of younger generations, the idea on the revolution in public health and other ideas and lines, with the cherished opinion that if it is desired by the people, it should be the policy and line, to integrate socialism and people into a coherent whole and constantly push ahead with socialist construction by dint of the inexhaustible strength of the masses of the people.

In the present realty where a new life and new civilization are created continuously, the Korean people feel the greatness of the respected General Secretary who is hastening the victory of the socialist cause and harden their resolve to remain faithful to his leadership single-mindedly.