Seoul, Dec 5 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited several regional factories ahead of their official opening, stressing the construction of such facilities is a "gigantic revolution" designed to improve people's livelihoods, state media reported Friday.
Kim inspected regional-industrial factories in several counties of South Phyongan Province, including the Sinyang and Pukchang counties, on Wednesday, as their official openings are nearing, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
In January last year, Kim unveiled his signature regional development policy to build modern factories in 20 cities and counties each year over a 10-year period to improve the living conditions of people in regional areas.
While inspecting factories producing foodstuff, garments and daily necessities in the province, the North's leader said regional factories have been built in 40 cities and counties in less than two years since the project began and called the development "eye-opening regional changes", Yonhap News Agency reported.
"The rural construction and regional-industry construction are a gigantic revolution intended to fundamentally improve the quality of the people's living and lay the material and technical foundations for the independent development of the cities and counties," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA.
He also called for "perfect" preparations for operations before the inauguration ceremonies set for this month.
The inspection came as North Korea is set to hold a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in mid-December and a key party congress early next year.
Kim has been focusing on visits to sites related to regional development in recent months in an apparent effort to showcase the construction of modern factories and other facilities as his key policy accomplishment at the major party events.
Those visits "appear to be part of people's livelihood-related activities aimed at drumming up the results of the five-year national economic development plan ahead of the party plenary meeting and congress," said Chang Yoon-jeong, deputy spokesperson at the unification ministry in Seoul.
At the eighth party congress in 2021, North Korea adopted a five-year economic development plan. At the upcoming ninth congress, which South Korea's intelligence authorities assume will be held in February, the country is expected to present another five-year plan outlining its major policy stance.
Chang said the ministry will continue to monitor the results of Kim's instruction to inaugurate all newly built regional factories by the end of the year.
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