Nodutdol for Korean Community Development

North Korea Today: Booming Construction

North Korea is showing a new face to the world. Over the past five years, the country has been engaged in a serious construction drive, focusing on economic resilience, rural revitalization, and improving quality of life.

Now, as the 9th Party Congress takes place, the fruits of the last Five Year Plan are being unveiled. Here, we take a closer look at some of these projects — from new greenhouse farming complexes to an entire new district in Pyongyang with more than 50,000 new, free apartment units.

These achievements didn’t come out of nowhere. At the last Party Congress in 2021, the Workers’ Party of Korea seriously reckoned with failures in the economy caused by US sanctions and COVID, and charted a path to “comprehensive socialist development” that could mobilize the whole society on the basis of ideology and real gains in living standards.

One of the most important development is the 20x10 Rural Development Plan, an ambitious campaign for rural revitalization that is bringing new factories, hospitals, economic ventures, and grain storage facilities to the countryside. The plan has already transformed 40 counties in just two years, and will continue targeted developments in 20 rural counties a year until 2034.

It’s not just construction workers contributing to these efforts. Soldier-builders from the military and massive teams of volunteers are participating in campaigns to rebuild their immediate surroundings and improve their local conditions.

Thanks to North Korea’s people, the country is being transformed daily, and demonstrating what is possible under socialism.