opinion

The Korean people made lots of momentous achievements last year.

In January 2024, when the march of the new year began for ascertaining the practical guarantee for the fulfilment of the five-year plan set forth at the Eighth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the respected General Secretary Kim Jong Un made a policy speech entitled, “On the Immediate Tasks for the Prosperity and Development of Our Republic and the Promotion of the Wellbeing of Our People”, at the 10th Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK, in which he advanced in a comprehensive way the important tasks in bringing about great changes for the comprehensive development of socialist construction and the improvement of the people’s living standards in a multi-stage, three-dimensional and offensive way and the issues of principle to be adhered to in carrying them out.

In the speech he stressed that the supreme task, to which the DPRK government should attach utmost importance and pay great efforts at present, was to stabilize and improve the people's living as early as possible and declared to the entire audience the Regional Development 20×10 Policy, a new policy for the development of regional industry which constitutes a great revolution for fulfilling the long-cherished desire of the regional people, and important measures for its implementation.

And at the 19th Enlarged Meeting of the Political Bureau of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK held less than ten days afterwards, the General Secretary took practical measures to develop regional industry in a simultaneous, balanced and distinctive way by dynamically promoting the regional development policy.

On his energetic inspection tour for implementing the policy, he arranged a consultative meeting on regional development work to put forward the policy of regional development in the new era which calls for making a genuine contribution to the improvement of the material and cultural living standards of the regional people and stepping up the historic cause of regional rejuvenation by building advanced health facilities, multi-functional cultural complexes and grain management facilities along with regional-industry factories.

The policy, aimed at eliminating the centuries-old backwardness of regions and bringing about a radical change in the standards of living of regional people, evoked an enthusiastic response from the people of all social strata. In only ten months after the groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the construction of regional-industry factories in Songchon and other counties, those of Songchon County rose up as the first entities of transformation.

Kim Jong Un, who always attaches importance to the duty and role of officials in victoriously advancing the revolution and construction, indicated the basic guidelines for sustaining more clearly the original features of the Party that absolutely and devotedly serves the masses of the people, fulfilling the centuries-old desire of the people as soon as possible, improving the style of work of officials and preserving the revolutionary and sound political climate within the Party in his work "Officials Should Become Communist Revolutionaries Who Are Possessed of the Party’s Original Ideals and Spirit as Their Mental Qualities" published on the occasion of the 79th founding anniversary of the WPK.

His work showed a bright path for opening up a new era of strengthening of the whole Party and national rejuvenation by successfully carrying forward the noble ideals and spirit of the generation of pioneers of the cause of Party founding and has served as a spur for all officials to redouble their efforts to implement the decisions of the WPK by taking them as their lifeline, being keenly aware once again of the responsibilities they have assumed before the Party and the revolution.

The situation was unstable last year, too, due to the persistent military confrontational moves of the hostile forces, but the defence capabilities of the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK were boosted in every way thanks to the practical guidelines for bolstering up military capabilities set forth by the General Secretary.

As he visited Kim Il Sung Military University, Kim Jong Il Military and Political University, Kim Jong Un University of National Defence and O Jin U Artillery Academy, he set up a new milestone for developing Juche-oriented military and defence education so that they could carry out their mission as “pedigree” establishments for training the best military personnel and prestigious and renowned research centres of national defence science for shaping the future of the country’s defence science in conformity with their duty and features of training the commanding officers of the revolutionary armed forces.

Kim Jong Un, who has attached great importance to the position and role of the battalion in strengthening the Korean People’s Army since he began to lead the army, organized the Fourth Conference of the Battalion Commanders and Political Instructors of the KPA in November last year, stressed once again the Party’s immutable idea of attaching importance to the battalions that the completion of their war preparations immediately means that of the whole army’s war preparations and their capabilities to fight a real war represent the war potentials of the revolutionary armed forces, and clarified the ways for turning them into fighting groups that have established firm military discipline and assumed the appearance appropriate to a regular army.

This year, too, the Korean people are firmly determined to fully implement the decisions of the Eighth Congress of the Party by following the guidelines for victory provided by the respected General Secretary.