Construction Projects Making Headway as Part of Five-Year Plan
This article is from the fourth edition (January – March 2026) of 38 North’s quarterly product, North Korea Briefing, that monitors key internal developments in North Korea. For the full series, click here.
North Korea held completion ceremonies in January for the Wonsan General Fishing Implements Factory and District 1 of Aedo Tideland, both aimed at boosting food production under the five-year plan and overseen by the cabinet. At a completion ceremony for the first-stage modernization project at the Ryongsong Machine Complex in January, Kim Jong Un publicly dismissed Cabinet Vice Premier Yang Sung Ho on the spot for working in a “slipshod way,” a striking display of the leader’s intolerance for underperformance and false reporting among senior cadres. Between January 29 and February 9, groundbreaking ceremonies were held across 20 regions for construction projects under the 20×10 regional development plan, now in its third year. Once this year’s projects are complete, new facilities will have been built in 30 percent of North Korea’s local administrative districts, though whether local officials can effectively leverage this infrastructure to revitalize their regional economies remains an open question.[1]
Cabinet-Led Push to Boost Food Production
In January, North Korea reported on the completion of two notable economic construction projects aimed at boosting food production. First, it held an inaugural ceremony for the Wonsan General Fishing Implements Factory, attended by Vice Cabinet Premier Ri Chol Man and Pak Song Guk, chief secretary of the Kangwon Provincial Party Committee. Minister of Fisheries Song Chun Sop delivered a completion address, emphasizing the importance of adopting scientific fishing systems and rational methods to drive innovation in the sector.
Next, District 1 of Aedo Tideland was inaugurated, with Vice Cabinet Premier Ri Chol Man and Kim Chol Sam, chief secretary of the North Phyongan Provincial Party Committee, attending. A ring road has been formed along seawalls connecting Sinbong-ri with Aedo-dong and Ilhae-ri, all in Jongju City, North Phyongan Province. Google Earth satellite imagery shows the embankments did not exist as of February 2025 but were nearly complete by May of that year. While actual farming remains some way off, the completion ceremony likely marks a milestone in the drainage and desalination work.
Context and Implications
The seniority of attendees suggests both projects are under direct cabinet oversight. The Kim Jong Un government has favored short-term, intensive construction cycles completed within a single fiscal year. Expanding cultivated land through reclamation and boosting protein supply through fisheries serves a dual purpose: increasing food production while reinforcing the legitimacy of the Workers’ Party and the state. The emphasis on scientific methods and rational fishing also reflects Kim’s broader push to break with outdated practices in production and build a new economic system.
Kim’s Public Dismissal of a Vice Premier at Ryongsong Machine Complex
A completion ceremony for the first-stage modernization project at the Ryongsong Machine Complex was held on January 19. Kim Jong Un attended alongside senior Party and government officials, provincial officials from South Hamgyong, Complex staff, and others.
Cabinet Premier Pak Thae Song spoke at the ceremony, declaring that despite the scale and difficulty of the tasks ahead, success was inevitable if participants pressed forward with the same spirit and determination that had driven the first-stage project to completion under the Party’s leadership.
Kim Jong Un also addressed the ceremony, using the occasion to publicly criticize the cabinet’s performance. He charged that “the then premier of the Cabinet and the current vice-premier in charge of the machine-building industry worked in a slipshod way” and dismissed Vice Premier Yang Sung Ho on the spot. Kim clarified that he did not consider Yang disloyal to the Party, but judged him temperamentally unfit for a position of responsibility. It is also worth noting the fate of Kim Tok Hun, the former cabinet premier implicitly criticized alongside Yang in Kim Jong Un’s speech. Rather than being sidelined, Kim Tok Hun was re-elected to the Politburo at a Party plenary meeting during the Ninth Party Congress and subsequently appointed both cabinet first vice premier and a member of the State Affairs Commission.
Context and Implications
The available reports do not allow a firm conclusion about what went wrong at the Ryongsong Machine Complex. Sanctions-induced shortages of intermediate and capital goods may have made renovation work impossible. Alternatively, the mandated direction of the modernization projects may have clashed with actual conditions on the ground, such as power supply constraints, leading officials to quietly disregard their instructions. It is also possible that the vice premier viewed Kim Jong Un’s emphasis on integrated production systems and automation—which became a dominant policy trend under his rule—as dogmatic requirements detached from factory realities. What is clear is that Kim has a deep aversion to false reporting and views it as a bad habit among his officials.
A recent signed article in the Party daily Rodong Sinmun quoted Kim Jong Un as saying that mobilizing the masses would unlock unlimited reserves and yield practical solutions to adverse conditions. Though the article concerned production at small- and medium-sized coal mines, its underlying diagnosis was a deficit of Party consciousness and political awareness among Party members. The prescribed remedy was intensified criticism sessions and closer study of the Party daily. Whether such measures would translate meaningfully to a large, complex factory like the Ryongsong Machine Complex is doubtful, but if they were applied, the implication would be that motivation among cabinet officials and state enterprise managers is seriously lacking.
Groundbreaking Ceremonies Held Across 20 Regions as Part of Regional Development Policy
From January 29 through February 9, North Korea held groundbreaking ceremonies for construction projects across 20 regions under its regional development plan.[2] Kim Jong Un delivered a speech at the ceremony in Unryul County, South Hwanghae on January 29 and Premier Pak Tae Song spoke at the ceremony in Pyongwon County, South Phongan on January 31. A full list of ceremonies is as follows:
Context and Implications
Construction projects under the 20×10 policy for regional development are now entering their third year. In his January 29 speech in Unnyul County, Kim Jong Un noted that once this year’s work is complete, regional economy and people’s livelihood projects will have reached 30 percent of North Korea’s local administrative districts. The challenge is whether local governments can put these facilities to productive use. Kim’s own concluding remarks at the Ninth Party Congress acknowledged that some facilities, built at considerable expense, were already being neglected and failing to operate as intended. Yet, local administrators can only be held accountable once the necessary infrastructure is actually in place. The 20×10 policy, in this sense, appears designed to eliminate excuses: by supplying the physical foundation, the state removes any justification for inaction and compels local officials to deliver on regional economic revitalization.
- [1]
For this author’s initial assessments of the Ninth Party Congress and the First Session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly, see Rachel Minyoung Lee, Kibum Han, Vann H. Van Diepen, Gyeong Seob Oh, Michael Madden and Mitsuhiro Mimura, “Expert Takes on North Korea’s Ninth Party Congress,” 38 North, February 27, 2026, https://www.38north.org/2026/02/expert-takes-on-north-koreas-ninth-party-congress/; Rachel Minyoung Lee, Gyeong Seob Oh, Mitsuhiro Mimura and Kibum Han, “Expert Takes on Opening Session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly,” 38 North, March 25, 2026, https://www.38north.org/2026/03/expert-takes-on-opening-session-of-the-15th-supreme-peoples-assembly/.
- [2]
See: “Splendid Ceremony Held to Mark Start of Regional Development Policy-oriented Construction in Unnyul County of DPRK,” Korea News Service (KNS), January 30, 2026, https://koreanewsservice.com/en-news/splendid-ceremony-held-to-mark-start-of-regional-development-policy-oriented-construction-in-unnyul-county-of-dprk/; “Groundbreaking Ceremony for Regional Development Policy-oriented Construction in Phyongwon County,” KNS, February 1, 2026, https://koreanewsservice.com/en-news/groundbreaking-ceremony-for-regional-development-policy-oriented-construction-in-phyongwon-county/; “Regional Development Policy-oriented Construction for 2026 Begins in Different Parts of DPRK,” KNS, February 4, 2026, https://koreanewsservice.com/en-news/regional-development-policy-oriented-construction-for-2026-begins-in-different-parts-of-dprk/; “Groundbreaking Ceremony for Regional Development Policy-oriented Construction Held in Ragwon County of DPRK,” KNS, February 6, 2026, https://koreanewsservice.com/en-news/groundbreaking-ceremony-for-regional-development-policy-oriented-construction-held-in-ragwon-county-of-dprk/; “Regional Development Policy-oriented Construction for 2026 Begins in Different Parts of DPRK,” KNS, February 7, 2026, https://koreanewsservice.com/en-news/regional-development-policy-oriented-construction-for-2026-begins-in-different-parts-of-dprk-2/; “Regional Development Policy-oriented Construction Begins in Sinphyong and Sonchon Counties of DPRK,” KNS, February 8, 2026, https://koreanewsservice.com/en-news/regional-development-policy-oriented-construction-begins-in-sinphyong-and-sonchon-counties-of-dprk/; “Regional Development Policy-Oriented Construction Starts in Counties of DPRK,” KNS, February 9, 2026, https://koreanewsservice.com/en-news/regional-development-policy-oriented-construction-starts-in-counties-of-dprk/; “Grand Construction Launched in More Counties of DPRK,” KNS, February 10, 2026, https://koreanewsservice.com/en-news/grand-construction-launched-in-more-counties-of-dprk/.