Seoul, Nov 24 North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament has enacted an urban development law aimed at modernising city environments to provide better living conditions for the people, the North's state media reported on Monday.
The "city formation and development law," aimed at modernising central and regional cities, has been reviewed and adopted at a standing committee session of the Supreme People's Assembly, reports Yonhap, quoting the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The KCNA said the enactment is intended to "transform the appearance and environment of cities to meet the demand of the times and provide greater living conditions for the people."
No further details about the enactment were reported, but the law appears designed to tighten the North Korean regime's overall control of urban developments and to prevent urban sprawl.
It also comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to reaffirm his signature regional development drive at a key party congress early next year.
Under the Regional Development 20 X 10 Policy, launched last year, Kim aims to build modern factories in 20 cities and counties each year over a 10-year period to improve the living conditions in regional areas.
In a separate development, North Korea's meteorology agency has developed a new weather forecasting system that applies artificial intelligence (AI) across the entire forecasting process.
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Having been registered as one of the country's 10 greatest information technology products of the year, the system has secured a technological guarantee to promptly respond to natural disasters, including floods, and to stably develop the national economy, the agency said.
Since damaging floods hit North Korea's northwest last year, the country has emphasised preparedness against natural disasters, with leader Kim Jong-un expressing fury over the failure to properly forecast floods at that time.
North Korea is embracing AI, with related majors introduced at universities and state media providing a glimpse into citizens using ChatGPT.
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