Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un's Policy Speech at First Session of 15th Supreme People’s Assembly of DPRK

 

Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, made an important policy speech, titled, "On the Tasks Facing the Government of the Republic at the Present Stage of Socialist Construction", at the First Session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK on March 23.

Dear comrade Deputies,

And comrade observers,

First, I would like to take this opportunity to offer my warm congratulations to all Deputies who have been elected as members of the supreme power organ of our dignified State, the fifteenth of its kind, thanks to the great trust and support and approval of the people throughout the country.

I also congratulate you on your election as members of the new-term State leadership according to the recommendation of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the deliberation and decision at the First Session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Expressing my thanks to the Supreme People’s Assembly for entrusting me again with the sacred mission of representing the DPRK and guiding the overall work of the country, I solemnly pledge to make all sincere efforts to firmly defend the Constitution of our Republic and promote the prosperity and development of the State and the well-being of the people, bearing deep in mind the trust and expectations of all of you, Deputies, and all other people.

Comrades,

As the Ninth Congress of the WPK noted, our cause of building a socialist state has now entered a key period of reaching a high stage of development in all aspects and of moving to a next stage.

This is not something achieved thanks to any opportunity or by taking advantage of it, but an inevitable result of the struggle our Party, government and all the people have waged to perseveringly open their own course of development and steadily accumulate potentials by dint of their own efforts.

Today, before referring to the direction of the future activities of the government of the Republic, I would like to briefly explain the affairs of the State during the term of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly, which ushered in a successful period through an arduous struggle.

In fact, 2019, when the First Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK was held, was a period that demanded a truly important and responsible choice and fresh courage on the part of our socialist construction and the government of our Republic.

During this period our State building strategy to construct socialism through self-reliance, holding fast to the revolutionary line of independence, was further consolidated to be invariable, and this was clarified in the policy speech at the First Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly.

And it was detailed and deepened at the subsequent Eighth Congress of the WPK, the plenary meetings of the Party Central Committee and the sessions of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly.

Now, I think we can draw two obvious conclusions.

They are that it was quite right that we resolutely implemented the political line, the strategy for the development of the State, through self-reliance by believing in our people and sustaining our fighting traditions, and that it was very righteous that we maintained our development mode of steadily accelerating socialist construction while cementing our position as a nuclear state.

The position of our State and the present trend of socialist construction, which have changed incomparably from those of seven years ago, prove the validity of these conclusions.

As we were consistent in maintaining the principles and methods of dealing with problems that rely entirely on our own strength in the face of ordeals, we could remain more faithful to our sacred struggle with the sense of self-confidence, not the sense of dependence, and win great gains incomparable with the result expected from anyone’s “promise” or “economic assistance.”

Though we felt difficult at every step and were short of everything, we were firm in our conviction that we have nothing to rely on other than our own strength and were full of confidence in our own strength; as a result, we could unyieldingly and to the utmost do more things we wanted for the prosperity and development of the State and the well-being of the people while rapidly increasing our own potentials, and, furthermore, advance these undertakings in breadth and depth beyond precedents and beyond the imagination of the world.

We successfully carried out several-year development plans for the first time in decades, laid down foundations for boosting production in the economic field, created a bold and comprehensive new trend of simultaneously transforming the capital city and regions, the whole country in other words, and increased the people-oriented policies. These can be said to be typical examples.

The successful start of the overall technological renovation and the advance in science and technology, education and public health were also achieved by dint of self-reliance.

What is most important is that we defended the independent development right, with which we can decide and shape the present and future of our State and people according to our own faith, and that our self-confidence, courage and ability to support its realization have grown remarkably.

In the course of the struggle to overcome the challenges and make a stubborn advance towards realizing our ideals by dint of self-reliance and self-sufficiency, the patriotic enthusiasm and spirit of advance of all the people rapidly rose and, in direct proportion to this, the motive force of our revolution grew incomparably stronger.

In short, we obtained many things that are more than precious in terms of spirits, capabilities and materials.

These are precious assets of our revolution which we would never have achieved if we had relied upon others and if we had received assistance from others–our truly proud assets.

The past decade clearly showed that no objective conditions and circumstances can ever check the advance of a state and people that have turned out in the struggle to shape their future, rallied as one with a firm faith, and that the most correct road to prosperity is to achieve self-reliance and self-sufficiency.

The hostile forces wanted us to make a different choice, preaching a payment for our giving up of nuclear weapons, but the present situation clearly proves how just the strategic option and decision of our State were in rejecting the enemy’s cajolery and perpetuating our nuclear possession so that it is irreversible.

During the 14th term of the Supreme People’s Assembly our Republic legalized its nuclear policy and enshrined it in the Constitution of our State, and accelerated the strengthening of our nuclear forces, thereby building up an absolute physical capability for practically deterring war and ensuring the balance of forces in the region.

Thus, our State has ushered in a new era of achieving security and safeguarding peace with strength, not by any declaration or through any appeal.

The present world situation, in which the dignity and rights of sovereign states are being trampled upon feebly by unilateral high-handedness and tyranny, clearly teaches us what is a sure guarantee for the existence of our State and for defending peace.

With an insight into the immutable nature of the imperialist and dominationist forces, for whom seeking hegemony has become an inveterate mental attribute and whose shamelessness would evolve to be more brigandish, we secured in a foresighted way a substantial capability for coping with the security threats that would face us in the future and their worst changes. We were absolutely right in doing so.

Externally, the United States and its allies are constantly deploying nuclear strategic assets in the region around our country and threatening the security mainstay in the region, but in fact this is not something new to us, and security of our State is being maintained on a level higher than that in other regions of the world.

I am sure to say: Ours is no longer a country that is susceptible to threats from others, and it has the power to threaten them, if necessary.

The building up of our nuclear shield is firmly guaranteeing and propelling the development of the country in all fields including the economy and culture and the improvement of the people’s living standards, as well as the military and security fields.

During the last five-year plan period for national economic development alone, the State investment increased 2.4 times in the major economic sectors, and more than 8 times in the core sectors. The result was that marked progress was made in the growth of the economy and in the updating of technical infrastructure.

The unprecedentedly enormous forces and resources of the State are being enlisted for the projects aimed at improving the quality of the people’s life and promoting their well-being, including large-scale construction of houses and expansion of cultural and welfare service facilities. In all regions, under the powerful guidance and assistance of the central authorities, the process of transformation unprecedented in the history of nation building has made a dynamic start in a simultaneous and three-dimensional way.

All these prove that our style of development strategy was very correct as we directed great efforts to the development of the State and the economy while giving priority to getting a security guarantee of our own and consistently carrying on the line of bolstering up our nuclear forces.

And we smashed through scientific reality the insidious and crafty preach and sophistry of the hostile forces that we would not get prosperous if we did not give up our nukes, and demonstrated to the whole world what kind of chain reaction the firm defence of our security interests is effecting in all aspects of our State building, including politics, the economy, culture and external relations.

In the course of adhering to the strategic line of self-reliance and strengthening our nuclear forces and implementing it to the letter, our State boosted the might of independence, self-sustenance and self-reliant defence up to a new height and, at the same time, has further consolidated the people-oriented character of our socialist system and turned the political and ideological unity of the whole society and all the people into an invincible one.

Indeed, this is a glorious and proud review.

What we should consider as more precious is that our faith that “self-reliance is the only way out,” which our people have firmly maintained over the long years of trials, believing in the Party and the State and encouraging themselves while tightening their belts, has turned out to be effective in practice, in reality.

Our people have demonstrated to the world that faith gives an eye to see the future and that the cause and the state supported by such a complete faith of theirs are sure to succeed, and have etched the immutable truth in the chronicles of socialist construction. This is a historic exploit our heroic people have performed.

On behalf of the WPK and the government of the DPRK, I extend warm congratulations and thanks to all the citizens of this country for having firmly defended everything precious and beautiful of socialism and blazed a new trail of development with an unwavering faith and fighting spirit, and for having glorified the decade of unprecedentedly arduous struggle as that of miraculous transformation and successful development by dint of firm self-confidence.

Comrades,

The socialist cause of our own style has entered a new stage, and it is an important task facing the government of our Republic to further expand and consolidate the current trend of development under the leadership of the WPK and thus promote the prosperity of the State and the well-being of the people.

The ongoing First Session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly amended and supplemented some of the contents of the Constitution of the DPRK in compliance with the essential requirements for the development of the State, and adopted ordinances on carrying out the five-year plan set forth by the Ninth Congress of the Party and on the State budget for this year.

With the current session as an occasion, our State power and social system have been further strengthened and developed in conformity with the rising status and strength of our country, and a new situation has been created, whereby the Party congress and the Supreme People’s Assembly, and the Party central leadership and the State leadership, come to have the same period and term and clear responsibility and step up the development of the State and socialist construction vigorously.

The government of the Republic should be faithful to its mission and role in the coming historic undertaking to attain the new long-term objectives set forth by the Ninth Party Congress on the basis of the precious achievements it has made in opening up the era of transformation unheard-of in the history of nation building.

It is important in State building and activities to more vigorously push ahead with the three revolutions–ideological, technological and cultural–in keeping with the current situation of socialist construction, while consistently adhering to the principle of independence, self-sustenance and self-reliance in defence and the people-first principle.

The Ninth Party Congress has clarified the need for all sectors and units to conduct the three revolutions more vigorously.

The three revolutions constitute the general line of socialist construction, and successful progress can be made in all fields only when they are waged effectively.

Therefore, all undertakings and activities of the government of the Republic should naturally be geared to implementing the line of the three revolutions to the letter and carrying them out more actively as required by the times and the developing revolution.

Consistent and definite priority should be given in this regard to the ideological revolution as it is aimed at training all members of society ideologically and morally.

The masses of the people are masters of the revolution, who constitute the foundation of socialism, and equipping them with an independent ideological consciousness is the most important task in socialist construction, and this work needs more profound, continuous effort the more the times pass and the farther the revolution advances.

Moreover, as some changes are taking place in people’s consciousness and there still exist subjective and objective impacts on it, the government of the Republic should strictly adhere to the principle of giving precedence to ideological work and actively apply it to its activities.

In organizing and conducting all work, it is necessary to place people above anything else, direct primary efforts to their ideological remoulding and the enlisting of their spiritual strength, and ensure purposefully that each of the processes of adopting and implementing State policy is geared to active development of ideological consciousness of officials and other working people.

The main thing in the ideological revolution is to model the whole society on the revolutionary and working-class pattern.

The government of the Republic should direct primary efforts to training our working class in a revolutionary way so that they will always live and struggle as befits the vanguard of the revolution, the group leading the whole society.

Meanwhile, it should make the whole society assimilated into the working class by constantly implanting in the entire society the progressive spirits and traits of the times created by the working class, and by training the agricultural workers and intellectuals, particularly the young people, in a revolutionary way in the vigorous struggle for socialist construction.

Spurs should also be given to the technological and cultural revolutions to accelerate the gradual technological reconstruction of the national economy, definitely put the economy and culture on the foundations of advanced science and technology and bring daily improving civilization and well-being to our people.

We should further develop the revolutionary mass movements including the Three-Revolution Red Flag Movement, which are a powerful driving force for socialist construction, and thus make fresh progress in transforming people, nature and society.

The task to which the government of the Republic should pay due attention is to improve the work of the government organs so that they can vigorously lead the next stage of development in building socialism of our own style.

The five-point requirement of the times set forth by the Ninth Party Congress serves as practical guidelines which must be implemented without fail in improving the work of the government organs.

The requirement of the new era should be fully met first in the work of the government organs exercising the authority to command the whole of society. Only then can it run through all sectors and units of socialist construction quickly and satisfactorily.

In planning, organizing, directing and reviewing all work, the government organs at all levels, including those in the capital city and provincial areas, should make a correct study of whether it meets the requirements of the times and, in the course of this, make purposeful and substantial innovations in their mode of guidance and style of work.

In strengthening the functions and role of the government organs, it is important to establish a rational and well-regulated working system and order.

System and order consist in a very fundamental thing.

Reality changes and develops constantly, and it is imperative to improve the working system and order in keeping with the new tasks given.

As the sphere of work to be dealt with by the government organs continues to expand and the work norms rise, the system of guidance and management should be adjusted and supplemented, and the transitional and temporary modes should be transformed into a regular and specialized working system and order.

We should eliminate irrational and inefficient elements latent in the present working system so that all work can be done smoothly and efficiently, and in particular, pay attention to helping all public servants work at full capacity.

In the work of the government organs, we should identify, prevent and take all possible measures against the opportunities that may give rise to such undesirable style of work as trying to shirk responsibility, protecting oneself, clinging to formalism and doing things in an unscientific way, and to such practices as abuse of power and bureaucratism, which we should guard against and reject without fail as they go against the people-oriented character.

Kim Jong Un put special emphasis on principled matters regarding the need to establish a strict order in State organs, before continuing:

In order to enhance the functions and role of government organs, it is necessary to build up the ranks of public servants and improve their qualifications and sense of responsibility.

The working system is, to all intents and purposes, an arrangement and order governing the activities of State organs, and whether the work goes well or not depends on the level, ability and sense of responsibility of each public servant.

To acquire proper qualifications and traits befitting public servants of the people’s government and work with devotion for the Party, the State and the people–this is a duty devolving on all officials working at State organs.

Government organs at all levels should make exacting demands on the public servants so that they steadily study hard and intensify self-cultivation in order to acquire noble people-oriented traits and high political and practical qualifications with boundless loyalty to the Party and the revolution.

What is important is to ensure that all the public servants acquire and embody the guidance methods and modes that meet the requirements of the new era.

The problem at the moment is that both the officials who have worked for a long time and the new public servants lack the principled and systematic idea and understanding of the guidance theory, method and style created by our Party.

As a result, they blindly follow the previous outdated pattern of work, failing to properly judge whether or not the present work style, which has been handed down like a custom, conforms to the inherent principles of the people’s government organs.

Times develop and the masses demand mature guidance. This being the situation, the government organs should never become an entity imposing inconvenience and burdens while dictating bureaucratic directives and wielding authority, instead of effectively guiding and managing their subordinate units and providing convenience and assistance to the inhabitants.

Therefore, not only senior officials of the government organs but the members of each department should make due efforts to cultivate the correct work method and style and the seasoned guidance abilities that conform to the times.

While directing efforts to embodying our Party’s superior method and style of guidance, the government organs should provide education and organize work in a purposeful and conscious manner to create and generalize excellent work method and style in practice.

It is important to strengthen dong and neighbourhood units, the basic units of the State and social life and the bases for the inhabitants’ life.

All the families in our country belong to dong and neighbourhood units, and great changes are taking place in all spheres of social life. Such reality further highlights the importance and role of the work of these units.

The government organs should actively improve the work of the units and put to rights the defective problems in time in the direction of consolidating the unity and political stability of society, correctly implementing the policies of the Party and the State, fully meeting the inhabitants’ needs in their living and providing them with convenience.

It is important to intensify the struggle to eliminate such practices as imposing extra economic burdens on the inhabitants and fostering discontent, far from correctly fulfilling the policy-oriented requirements concerning the work of dong and neighbourhood units and properly relieving them of their afflictions.

It is necessary to encourage the heads of neighbourhood units, who take care of the inhabitants’ living closest at hand, to take pride in their duty and carry out in a responsible manner their such assignments as promoting harmony among members of their neighbourhood units, sprucing up the villages in a cultured and sanitary manner and preventing accidents, non-socialist practices and criminal acts.

In particular, it is needed to avoid deviation in correctly defining the size of neighbourhood units and the standard for election of their heads in keeping with the regional features and living environment and decisively improving the treatment of them.

One of the urgent problems at present is to increase the State income so as to financially guarantee the normal operation of the State and the implementation of people-oriented policies.

As the sphere of socialist construction expands, it is natural that the amount of money disbursed out of the State budget increases, and only when the State income increases steadily, is it possible to effectively enforce the State administration and fundamentally eliminate a series of existing evil practices.

The government organs should create conditions and environment favourable for the business activities of production sectors and units and intensify the work of economic organization and guidance to build up their material and technical foundations and potentialities, so as to create more material wealth and expand the State income.

At the same time, it is necessary to properly restore the State’s leading role and control in the space for service and circulation of goods.

The method of payment should be innovated in keeping with the management scale and incomes of the units authorized to use the land of the State or exploit and use natural resources and in consideration of their topographical features.

The government organs should conduct the long-term work for population growth in a more effective way.

Population growth is an important issue related to the future of the State, and an undertaking to which the government of the Republic should always pay attention and devote much effort.

It is needed to correctly enforce the laws reflecting advantageous policies including the law on childcare, the law on the nursing and upbringing of children and the law on preferential treatment of a family with many children, create a social atmosphere of encouraging women to give birth to many children and bring them up well, and continue to increase the State benefits for childcare and education of the rising generations.

We should also take measures to regularly ensure accommodation of the working people at sanatoria and holiday camps and their paid leave, proactively expand sanatoria and cultural service facilities conducive to the promotion of their health, thoroughly prevent and control major diseases and epidemics and, in particular, further reduce infant mortality.

The consolidation and development of the State and social system is inconceivable separated from the work of constantly supplementing and completing the legal system, and the comprehensive development of socialism requires us to strengthen the legal system.

We should steadily improve the sector-specific laws and regulations from the viewpoint of promoting fresh progress and development in all fields of State and social life, including politics, the economy and culture, and fully ensuring the rights, interests and well-being of the people.

The role of the judicial, prosecutorial and other law-enforcement organs is very important in establishing the socialist legal system under which the people observe the law and the latter defends the former and, in particular, priority should be given to the judgment and defence activities in protecting the legal rights of citizens.

The law-enforcement organs should detect and deal with all kinds of criminal acts in time to reliably ensure the correct execution of the State policies and guarantee the people’s interests, and offer citizens efficient assistance to help them exercise their legal rights properly and faithfully observe their duties.

Comrade Deputies,

With regard to the issue of strengthening the legal system of our Republic, it would be subject to an official deliberation at a Supreme People’s Assembly session to be convened later, but I would like to take this opportunity to inform you in advance of an important policy orientation.

It is an issue of setting up a police system which conform to our country as required by the political security of our State and the changing and developing times.

The police system is aimed at further consolidating and developing our legal system and State and social system by perfecting the legal regulations for ensuring the internal security of the State and social stability and establishing an effective and profitable mechanism and functions.

In fact, establishing the system is an essential requirement for State administration, and the word police is not bad in itself.

With a view to maintaining public order on a higher level, it is natural and beneficial to establish the system subdividing the field of legal struggle and making it professional.

Its establishment will be favourable for fully ensuring mutual ties and collaboration by clearly defining the work demarcation among the law-enforcement organs at home and realizing cooperation with foreign police organizations.

In this regard, the relevant fields have made in-depth studies and preparations for several years.

It is needed to make more thoroughgoing preparations for reorganizing the Public Security Forces into the police force soon after the police system is officially established in the future.

Besides, it is necessary to give proper publicity to the establishment of the police system so that all the people can have a correct understanding of it.

Comrades,

It is an important political task facing the government of the Republic to successfully carry out the long-term plan of five years set forth at the Ninth Party Congress.

The government of the Republic should carry out without fail the five-year plan thoroughly based on the Party’s economic development strategy for stabilizing and consolidating the national economy and achieving its gradual and qualitative development at the present stage.

As the five-year plan for national economic development and the ways of its implementation were clearly set forth in detail at the Ninth Party Congress, I am going to mention the main points of the tasks to which we should pay attention and direct efforts.

The primary task is to consolidate the economic foundations for us to develop onto the next stage by concentrating State investment on technological upgrading in all sectors of the national economy, including key industries.

The balanced development of all fields, sectors and regions is unthinkable apart from the comprehensive technological upgrading of the economic sectors. In particular, the upgrading of the outdated and backward production lines and equipment in the key industries is an important task that should be carried out without fail, no matter how huge and difficult it may be.

In the past five years, we modernized the major machine-building factories, which constitute a precious asset for industrial modernization, by overcoming all sorts of difficulties and deviations, and, in the course of this, we accumulated exemplary experience.

By building on such successes and experience, we should modernize one core machine-building base after another, which play an important part in economic development, and positively upgrade the technical infrastructures in the key industries.

Important is to direct efforts to further boosting the production potentials in the sectors of metallurgical, chemical, electric power and coal-mining industries, the pillars of the national economy.

We should further improve economic arrangement and scientific and technological guidance, so that the metallurgical and chemical industries can give the fullest play to their newly-created production capacities, thereby turning out larger quantities of metal and chemical products badly needed in different sectors of the national economy.

At present, the electric power and coal-mining industries are the sectors under the heaviest strain in balancing demand and supply, and, as a matter of fact, the scope of growth of our economy can be said to be decided by the production results of the two sectors.

This is why it is necessary to take practical and effective measures to increase the production of electricity and coal and keep intensifying State guidance and assistance for these sectors.

At the same time, we should effectively push ahead with the expansion of the production potentials of the building-materials sector and the consolidation of the material and technical foundations of the rail transport and IT sectors.

In this way, in the period of the five-year plan we should considerably consolidate the foundations for the development of the overall industrial sectors and, at the same time, wage a vigorous struggle to increase production, thus boosting the output value of the industrial sectors 1.5 times.

It is the consistent absolute standard of the government of the Republic and its principle in activities that the results of national development and economic growth should be mainly expressed in improving the people’s standard of living and that the people’s well-being represents national strength.

The government should make sustained efforts to develop agriculture and fishing and light industries which are directly linked with the people’s living.

Kim Jong Un pointed to the need to fully solve the food problem, an urgent task for the people’s living, by attaining the grain production goal without fail during the new long-term plan, and set forth important tasks for its implementation. He said:

To this end, the State should consolidate the material and technical foundations for agricultural production by further perfecting the irrigation system, supplying farms with larger quantities of farming materials and larger numbers of efficient tractors and other farm machines and vigorously pushing forward with tideland reclamation to increase the area under cultivation.

What is important in increasing grain production is to concentrate on increasing per-hectare yield in all fields and direct efforts to the seed revolution, scientific farming, land improvement and tideland farming, thus raising the existing rate of land utilization as much as possible.

We should channel particular efforts into wheat farming to increase production and expand the wheat-processing capacity, so as to achieve definite progress in converting the people’s dietary life into that based mainly on rice and foods made of wheat flour during the new long-term plan.

We should build larger numbers of modern vegetable greenhouses and livestock and poultry farming bases throughout the country, step up the effort to put production on a scientific, intensive, industrialized and intelligent footing, develop fruit farming and increase the production of industrial crops and mushrooms, thus enriching the people’s dietary life.

The fishing industry should build a large number of modern fishing boats, raise the level of scientific fishing and do fish farming and aquaculture on a large scale so as to increase the production of seafood.

By building new, promising light industry factories, the State should further strengthen the foundations of light industry and provide solid assets for satisfying various daily-increasing material and cultural needs of the people.

It should set as the main tasks for developing light industry upgrading of the equipment and production lines at the existing light industry factories and improving the quality, and increasing the varieties, of consumer goods, and give strong impetus to the efforts for implementing these tasks, so as to meet the people’s demand for consumer goods both in quality and quantity.

It is important to correctly implement the socialist policies for students and schoolchildren–a consistent policy of our Party and eternal policy of our Republic.

Continuous efforts should be made to produce and supply quality school uniforms, bags, footwear and school things on a normal basis, so that all the rising generations can learn and grow up excellently without anything to worry about or envy.

During the new long-term plan period, too, the government of the Republic will expand construction work for fully solving the housing problem of the people and continuously creating civilization of a higher level.

We should build more modern and comfortable houses and new streets in Hwasong and other areas of the capital city, and direct strenuous efforts to building dwelling houses in provincial seats, rural communities and coal mining villages. In this way, we can ensure that 370 000 families move into new houses.

In particular, we should draw up a detailed plan to turn all coal mining villages into modern and cultured coal mining towns, and carry out construction work extensively for four years to build over 20 000 houses each year by enlisting national resources during the five-year plan period, thus giving a facelift to the coal mining areas.

Steady efforts should be made to transform the Samjiyon area and other scenic spots in provinces into characteristic tourist resorts and build holiday camps in different parts of the country.

In addition, State measures should be taken to find substantial solutions to the basic problems in the people’s living, including those of supplying tap water and fuel on a normal basis, and to resolve the public transport and urban heating problems.

The main realm of our current struggle is regional development aimed at transforming the living conditions of the people in provinces.

While further building on the successes achieved in the course of implementing the regional development policy in the new era, the government of the Republic will persistently and without deflection push ahead with the construction projects in this regard during the new long-term plan period, and thus provide 100 cities and counties with solid foundations for their development.

If regional development policy projects are implemented in 20 cities and counties every year, regions covering 70% of the territory of the country will witness new entities of development and civilization in addition to the already-built ones.

To this end, regions should make thorough preparations for normal operation of the regional-industry factories, hospitals, leisure complexes and grain storage stations to be built, and make positive efforts to fully tap their economic potentials.

Improving guidance on and management of the national economy is a key to further consolidating its current growing trend and laying foundations for its stable and sustainable development.

The economic guidance organs should find correct solutions to improving economic guidance and management in the direction of providing unified management to all the economic activities within the territory of the Republic, enhancing the sense of responsibility and creativity of enterprises and, in particular, arousing the revolutionary enthusiasm and creativity of the producer masses.

Decisive efforts should be made to improve the quality of products for achieving gradual and qualitative development during the new long-term plan period.

Nowadays the material standard of living of our people is improving day after day, and everyone everywhere demands quality products; therefore, producing poor-quality products can be said to be a waste.

The quality of products is related mainly with the level of modernization of production lines and equipment and the quality of raw and other materials supplied; in particular, it is largely dependent on the producers’ level of technical skills.

Therefore, along with the modernization of the production lines and equipment in the industrial sector, an effective methodology should be developed and applied for supplying high-quality raw and other materials and raising the level of technical skills.

At the same time, necessary economic and practical measures should be taken to establish discipline and order and promote foreign trade in the external economic sector, so that it can contribute to the development of the economy and improving the people’s living standards.

Comrades,

One of the important tasks facing the government of the Republic is to steadily improve the country’s sci-tech capabilities and continue to develop socialist culture.

During the new long-term plan period great efforts should be directed to developing the country’s science and technology to an advanced level so that they can guarantee putting the national economy on an independent and modern footing and its sustained growth and improving the people’s living standards.

We should actively increase investment in, and support to, the sci-tech field, strongly promote and encourage integration of science and technology with production, and further intensify measures for giving preferential treatment to sci-tech talents.

In addition, we should ensure that establishing and implementing optimized plans by relying on science and technology prevails as work style, and create good conditions and environment so that contributing to development of society and units by dint of technological innovations can be turned into the work of the masses themselves.

All sectors and units should strengthen their own sci-tech forces, regarding technological progress as a core task for development and innovation, and at the same time, push ahead with the work of introducing advanced science and technology.

As the Ninth Party Congress clarified, the present scientific and technological work should be firmly oriented to resolving the problems arising in developing the economy and improving the people’s living standards, pressing problems in socialist construction.

The scientific research sector should concentrate its efforts on resolving the problems arising in attaining the qualitative and quantitative growth of production by improving the technological infrastructure of major industries, in satisfactorily supplying food, clothing and housing for the people and in creating a more improved civilization.

The development of the State not only at present but also in the future is largely dependent on latest science and technology.

We should successfully carry out the major sci-tech tasks arising in reality and, at the same time, direct national efforts into developing the latest science and technology with world competitiveness, including AI and space technologies.

The top policy priority of our State is always the education of younger generations and talents.

The government of the Republic should give top priority to the work of raising our education onto a world’s advanced level during the new long-term plan period as well, and pay close attention and direct great efforts to it.

The implementation of the second universal 12-year compulsory education programme, which begins this year, is of great significance in preparing all our students and schoolchildren to be pillars of the country. So, the State should further improve and strengthen its guidance and assistance for improving the quality of general education.

We should actively comply with the policy-oriented requirements of the WPK to make steady innovations in higher education so as to satisfy the realistic and prospective demands for talents.

It is particularly important for the State to take strong measures to implement all the tasks arising in reducing the differences in the level of education between the capital city and provinces and between towns and countryside.

We should establish bases for training talents capable of leading the future development of the country, step up the work of rebuilding the existing universities and secondary education establishments, and effectively put production at education-related factories on a normal footing. In this way, we can develop the country’s educational foundations onto a higher level.

The government of the Republic should direct uninterrupted efforts to providing the people across the country with excellent medical service and promoting their health satisfactorily by turning the Party’s plan for modernizing public health into reality.

In line with the start of the public health revolution to put the country’s public health on an advanced basis, modern hospitals should be built in the capital city and regions, and the work of building the health service infrastructure throughout the country launched on a full scale.

The State should establish a well-regulated system of training public health experts and competent medical workers, ensuring regular supply of medicines to hospitals and pharmacies and providing them with adequate medical equipment, and effectively operate the system so that the advantages and vitality of the public health revolution in the new era can be displayed to the full.

It is particularly important to innovate the healthcare system in conformity with the changed conditions and environment.

We should amend the public health law in a more reasonable way and correctly expand the enforcement of the medical care system through the health insurance fund so as to consolidate the material and technical foundations of the public health sector and ensure its normal operation, and make sure that all the people receive high-level medical services at their convenience.

The socialist way of life and moral discipline should be established more thoroughly throughout society.

Establishing a noble and sound lifestyle and moral discipline in the whole of society is a matter which our Party and State have consistently attached importance to as it is directly linked with the nature and advantages of our style of socialism.

We should conduct in an aggressive and methodological way the work of ensuring that the traits of living and working in accordance with the socialist way of life is firmly established as national traits in keeping with the changes in the people’s consciousness and cultural level.

We should not only encourage a positive atmosphere for all members of society to value and defend our socialist life, which is the best in the world, despite the difficulties and obstacles, but also steadily create and develop a fine socialist civilization of our own style, which everyone can empathize with and enjoy.

At the same time, we should take strict administrative and legal measures to protect our people, the younger generations in particular, so that the alien and unsound elements that run counter to the socialist way of life cannot infect them, and ensure that this is combined with an active mass-involving struggle.

Sound moral traits should prevail throughout social life.

Courtesy and morality are part of a beautiful and excellent socialist life, and when all the people observe them well, the whole country will become more harmonious and united as a large family.

All sectors and units should lead the people correctly to observe the moral norms voluntarily.

Saying that it is particularly important to establish a strong moral discipline and a refined way of speaking first among officials, Kim Jong Un stressed that officials, who are leading personnel of the revolution and educators of the people, should set an example in behaving morally and politely with a correct outlook on the masses of the people and morality.

Kim Jong Un analyzed and appraised the present unpredictably complicated international situation and clarified the invariable stand of the government of the Republic. He said:

Unpredictability is the only predictable future situation in the present world.

If there is anything predictable, it is the aggressive nature of imperialism which can never change.

Therefore, it will be the greatest error and a reckless gamble for us to predict the presently existing threats and prospective international political trend too easily and without adequate consideration and plan the future without careful deliberation.

The surest way to predict future events and provide for unpredictability is to be prepared for everything.

The correct way to turn unpredictability into predictability is to always worry about the worst situation, rather than seeking comfort, prioritize long-term and strategic benefits over short-term and visible benefits, and aspire to tomorrow’s sustainable prosperity, rather than today’s ease.

We should have a powerful force to make peace a choice of the strong, not a sign of weakness.

The DPRK has never refused peace so far, and has not neglected in the slightest the efforts to have the most reliable means of defending peace from the most peace-loving stand.

This is the most responsible choice not only for guaranteeing our own security but also for maintaining stability and durable peace in the region and the international community.

The government of the Republic has always been invariable in its stand to take every possible measure to protect the sovereignty and social system of the State and its right to development, security and existence from the threats of hostile forces.

There may be various possible alternatives in ensuring national security and regional peace and stability, but the surest and the most permanent and reliable alternative is to get the means of most powerful force that no one may dare to challenge, and this is what we are now devoting ourselves to.

Precisely, we know too well what we have to do, and will continue to do what we have to do as ever without fail.

Whether our enemies choose confrontation or peaceful co-existence, it is their option, and we are ready to respond to any of their options.

We will further expand and develop the nuclear deterrent for self-defence in accordance with the mission entrusted by the Constitution of the Republic and the requirements of the line of bolstering up the national nuclear forces and get the nuclear forces of the Republic fully prepared for prompt and correct counteraction so as to tightly control the strategic threats to the security of the State and the region.

The government of the Republic will continue to increase and strengthen the national defence capabilities by thoroughly implementing the line of developing the People’s Army into a powerful and modern army and the policy of bringing about a revolution in the defence industry in the new era and supplying manpower and material resources needed for arming all the people and fortifying the whole country sufficiently and on a preferential basis.

Comrades,

As mentioned earlier, although the United States is now resorting to acts of state-sponsored terrorism and aggression in various parts of the world, its arrogant high-handedness and rashness have failed to undermine the will of progressive mankind to oppose domination and subjugation and achieve independence and equality, but rather triggered off anti-American sentiments and hatred of the forces aspiring after independence, and they are pushing them towards unity and resistance.

The forces aspiring after independence will surely overcome the present trials and get stronger than the hegemony-seeking forces, and the building of an equitable and just multipolar world will be further promoted.

The government of the DPRK will, in the future, too, readily undertake the historic mission of leading the trend of global independence under the uplifted banner of independence.

We should firmly guarantee the building of socialist society politically and diplomatically by pursuing an independent foreign policy that best conforms to our national interests, while regarding it as the foremost principle to defend national interests to cope with the changed international balance of forces and the uncertain international political situation.

We should get rid of the diplomatic practices which had been adjusted to the old standards and yardsticks of the past so as to cope with the rapidly changing situation and the unpredictable geopolitical reality with full preparations and employ the diplomatic tactics and methods of external activities becoming to the new status and prestige of the State.

We should build the structure of deployment of the diplomatic forces, which is most reasonable for the promotion of our national interests on a global scale, steadily readjust and improve it and make sure that the external activities of the State are all directed to ensuring its dignity and interests.

The dignity, interests and final victory of the State are guaranteed only by the most powerful strength.

The government of the Republic will continue to consolidate the national position as a nuclear state into an absolutely irreversible one and wage the struggle in an aggressive manner to smash all the anti-DPRK provocations of the hostile forces.

We will never look on the moves of the forces that attempt to infringe on the sovereign rights, security interests and right to development of our State.

In particular, we will categorically reject, ignore and treat the ROK with the most explicit words and actions by officially regarding it as the most hostile state, and make it pay the price for its acts of provocation against our Republic without the slightest consideration, hesitation or mercy.

We should continue to improve and strengthen, from a developmental point of view, the relations with the countries with which we have traditional friendly ties in line with the requirements of the new era, and at the same time readjust and redefine diplomatic preference and adroitly translate it into practice by prioritizing our national interests on the principle of ensuring medium- and long-term and strategic national interests.

The DPRK will, in the future, too, discharge its responsibility in promoting international justice and regional and global peace and security, while firmly defending its sovereignty, security and fundamental interests.

Comrade Deputies,

As the struggle for the prosperity and development of the Republic and the well-being of the people expands and intensifies, our Party’s trust and expectations for you, Deputies, who are in charge of State affairs administration and who are representatives of the people, get greater.

In the previous term of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the Deputies to it made a considerable contribution to the State affairs administration, regional development and the provision of convenience for the people by proposing many creative opinions. This shows that their consciousness to actively participate in the State affairs got remarkably higher.

I am convinced that all Deputies, who have been newly elected thanks to the trust of the people, will also take an active part in State affairs administration with a high sense of responsibility and a creative and sincere attitude and make painstaking efforts for national development and the improvement of the people’s standard of living.

And I hope that you will cultivate your mind and temper your Party spirit hard as befitting the Deputies to the supreme power organ, the representatives of the people born of them and their true servants, so as to acquire mature and seasoned political and moral traits and steadily improve your practical qualifications.

Comrades,

With the Ninth Congress of the WPK and the First Session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK as the starting point, our socialist construction has greeted a new turning phase and our Party, government and people are advancing towards prosperity with definite prospects, sufficient power of execution and firm confidence.

Everything that leads the long and great history of our State to a better future is in our hands, and their success depends entirely on our strenuous efforts.

Let us all work hard and vigorously to make the next five years, a section in the course of advance for realizing the ideals of socialism, the more wonderful and worthwhile five years of transformation and to make our State further grow and develop beyond recognition. -0-

www.kcna.kp (2026.03.24.)