editorial

The regional development policy and rural revolution programme in the new era of the Workers’ Party of Korea are being implemented vigorously.

The core of the regional development policy in the new era is that anyone who is born in the DPRK should lead an abundant and civilized life under the socialist policy of the state, whether they live in the capital city or regions, in towns or mountain villages, and they should do so without fail. And the Party’s goal for socialist rural construction is to model all the rural communities across the country on the Juche idea and make them materially affluent.

In just two years after the regional development policy was put forward, new regional-industry factories have been built in cities and counties accounting for one fifth of the country, contributing to the economic development of regions and the improvement of the residents’ living standards. Hospitals which provide advanced medical services and leisure complexes have been built to bring about a marked change in the promotion of the people’s health and their cultural life.

In addition, in a few years after the rural revolution programme was adopted, splendid dwelling houses have sprung up in rural areas and changes began to take place in different aspects, including the structure of cereal production, mechanization of agriculture, irrigation system, farming methods and level of ideological consciousness and civilization of farm workers.

The reality proves that the regional development policy and rural revolution programme in the new era are the correct guidelines for achieving the development of regions in conformity with the period of the comprehensive development of socialism.

The WPK set forth a strategy for state building that the development of the regions leads to the overall prosperity and growth of the state and is putting big efforts to the regional development.

The regional industry, along with the centrally-run industry, plays an important role in developing the country’s economy.

Successful implementation of the regional development policy and rural revolution programme can ensure the balance of the overall economy and thus enable the national economy to achieve independent and sustainable development.

In order for the regional development policy to sustain due vitality, it must be carried out in parallel with the rural revolution programme.

One of the key issues in implementing the regional development policy is the normal operation of the regional-industry factories and, to this end, it is necessary to supply enough raw materials and fuels to them and offer a proper balance between demand and supply.

Many of the regional-industry factories use agricultural produce as raw materials and various consumer goods produced by them are mainly conducive to meeting the demands of agricultural workers and other local people.

Therefore, only when the economic connection between the regional industry and agriculture is strengthened by radically increasing the agricultural productivity as indicated by the rural revolution programme, can the regional industry develop at a fast rate relying on the rich sources of raw materials and satisfy the growing material demand of regional people for consumer goods.

In order to put the whole country on an even cultural level by building up the regions to be as wonderful as the capital city and transforming the environment of the regional people for a cultured life, it is necessary to make radical changes in the appearance and environment of all rural communities as well as city and county seats.

By thoroughly implementing the rural revolution programme, a good environment for cultured life should be provided and positive changes be made in the rhythm, habit and way of life of agricultural workers.

In other words, only when the rural revolution programme is implemented vigorously can the regional development policy display its validity as a policy for eliminating the differences between urban and rural areas once and for all.