economy

With a new era in which the countryside changes for the better, regional products are now as popular as those of centrally-run factories.

This is evidenced by the 2025 Pyongyang Underground Store Spring Commodity Show held some time ago.

On display there were more than 800 000 pieces of products in over 1 600 kinds produced by different units across the country.

Conspicuous were products made by effectively using the local raw material resources.

The booth of North Hamgyong Province was crowded with people.

The ceramic products, including utensils and flower pots, produced by the Kyongsong Ceramic Factory were in great demand as they were refined in shape and colour, diverse in kind and of good quality.

Visitors also lavished praise on gem cutting craftworks.

The booth of Jagang Province was filled with piles of woollen quilts.

The quilts were favourably commented upon and honey won popularity.

The province has developed bee-farming on a large scale to suit its physiographic conditions with many mountains and rich honey resources.

Thus the province also exhibited such apian products as wild honey, songi mushroom honey, matrimony vine fruit honey, Schizandra chinensis honey and bee pollen, which were in enormous demand.

The Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory of North Phyongan Province put on display Pomhyanggi-brand cosmetics favoured by women.

“Our province has always won the top prize at the exhibition held every year. But we are not content with it. This time we exhibited 30 000 products of 28 kinds we had produced by channelling efforts into reducing costs, improving quality and expanding varieties,” said Ri Yong Chan, senior staffer of the North Phyongan Provincial Shipment Wholesale Store.

Also popular were dried persimmons, speciality of Kangwon Province, various kinds of pickles and seafood produced in Sinpho City of South Hamgyong Province with a prospect of becoming a rich city, grasswork exhibited by South Hwanghae Province and shellfish by Nampho Municipality.

Regional-industry factories in 20 counties built as the first entities of the Regional Development 20×10 Policy of the Workers’ Party of Korea also exhibited quality products as good as those produced by centrally-run factories.

Foodstuffs including oil, wine, sugar and fried glutinous rice cake produced by the Songchon County Foodstuff Factory, the Unpha County Foodstuff Factory and others were quite popular.

So were various models of furniture pieces produced by the Unpha, Orang, Ichon and Kyongsong county daily necessities factories.

“I have always noticed the steadily improving quality of regional products at every exhibition. The enthusiasm for making quality products with the people’s demand and requirement as the standard is unusual,” said Pak Hyang Sun, senior staffer of the Pyongyang Underground Store.