North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vows to transform nearly one-third of the country with new public health, leisure and industrial projects.
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to “transform” the country with a major construction drive.
State media reported Kim announced projects to build public health facilities, leisure complexes and industrial plants across 20 regions.
“We are now standing on the starting line of our gigantic struggle for another year, aimed at transforming the regions,” Kim said at a ceremony in Unnyul County.
He stated that nearly one-third of the country’s cities and counties would be transformed by the initiative.
Kim also hailed soldiers mobilised at construction sites as “creators of the people’s wellbeing”.
Analyst Ahn Chan-il suggested this could indicate “an effort to shift significant portions of conventional military manpower into construction while focusing on (the country’s) nuclear capabilities.”
State media images showed Kim shovelling soil at the ceremony attended by a flag-waving crowd.
Photos also depicted a large celebratory explosion described by media as “thrilling”.
The announcement comes ahead of an expected landmark congress of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party.
The country faces international sanctions over its weapons programmes and chronic economic struggles.
Kim has recently bolstered military ties with Russia, sending troops to aid Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Experts say this cooperation has offered an economic lifeline to Kim’s regime.
Pyongyang is also reviving inbound tourism to earn hard currency through new coastal and mountain resorts.
Analysts say a regional development policy pushed two years ago acknowledges the disparity between Pyongyang and the rest of the country.
Kim has recently expressed anger at slow project progress, publicly firing his vice premier for alleged incompetence last week.
