The 20×10 Initiative Brings Factories at the Cost of Agricultural Land
The regional industry push under the banner of the 20×10 regional development plan seeks to foster sustainable manufacturing by building new light industrial hubs in 20 cities and counties every year for ten years. The plan began in 2024 and that year, installed factories for food, clothing and daily goods in 20 communities across the country.
While the project is nationally driven from Pyongyang, it appears the state has not gone for a one-size-fits-all approach. Factories and their designs vary from location to location, even if they are all focused on making similar products—in most locations, the factories include daily necessities, foodstuff, and clothing factories. However, trends in their locations within communities have emerged.
In this installment of our series examining the implementation of the 20×10 initiative, we take a closer look at the geography and development patterns of these new projects.
Beyond their locations, continuing to observe where exactly these factories are being built—and what they are replacing—may provide insight into the balance between industrial and agricultural priorities throughout the country. While still early in the 20×10 plan, examples thus far point to the replacement of agricultural land with factory clusters.
Locations
Given the development patterns of the 20 factory clusters built in 2024 and the 18 identified thus far for 2025, it is evident that North Korea’s push to build up regional industrial capacity has so far come at the expense of agricultural land in many communities even while the state promotes local production of food.
The sites have so far been geographically spread across the country. In 2024, there were usually two development sites within each of the provinces included that year. In most locations, each cluster of factories covered between 15,000 and 20,000 square meters (1.5 to 2 hectares) of land.
Across the sites surveyed, much of industrial development has been on agricultural land. In three locations in particular—Tongsin, Jangphung and Songchon—active vegetable greenhouses were demolished to make room for these factory complexes. At the same time, local officials have been charged with sourcing local inputs, including crops, for the factories, raising questions about the long-term feasibility of the development plans.
In many cases, the use of agricultural land was probably unavoidable. Provincial towns and villages in North Korea utilize most of their spare land for agriculture. However, in some cases, such as in Yonthan and Onchon, the new factories were built alongside—rather than on top of—greenhouse farms, preserving the agricultural assets. How such tradeoffs are treated in future development projects will be interesting to see.
In some towns, the new factories replaced existing light industrial facilities, although the purpose and status of those facilities was unknown.
One of the largest developments took place in Kumya, South Hamgyong province, where officials transformed the Kumya Township Cooperative Farm into new factories and new housing units. This seems to be the first instance where North Korea’s rural development initiative—focused on improving rural housing and residential facilities—and the 20×10 initiative have been implemented in tandem.
In all but two of the 2024 locations, three factories were built.
In Kyongsong, North Hamgyong province, only foodstuff and daily necessities factories were constructed. The pre-existing Kyongsong Unha Clothing Factory is located about 500 meters north of the two new factories. Officials likely thought it was not worth relocating.
In Kosan, Kangwon province, the building presented as the foodstuff factory was built around 2020, based on satellite imagery. It is not known if it has been producing food products since then or if it was repurposed as part of the 20×10 initiative.
In the next article in this series, we will take a closer look at the factories themselves, including the products they are making.