2022 was a year fraught with unprecedentedly harsh trials and challenges for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The country, however, did not flinch back but achieved epochal changes all year round. The following are some of the typical events that took place in the country in 2022.
Ever-lasting Future of the Workers’ Party of Korea Guaranteed
In October 2022, Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the WPK, gave a commemorative lecture at the Central Cadres Training School of the WPK.
Noting that the WPK which had recorded a nearly-80-year history in power, was faced with a responsible time when it should continue the history for all eternity, he said that what is important for a socialist ruling party in guaranteeing its future development is to firmly maintain its intrinsic duty and principle in its activities, without losing the pivot for development in any environment and conditions. Continuing that it is necessary to intensify the effort to rally the entire Party around its Central Committee with a single mind, keep its root deep among the masses of the working people and secure the trust of all the people, he defined political, organizational, ideological, discipline and work-style upbuilding as the orientation of the building of the WPK in the new era.
His lecture was of historic significance in that it served as an occasion for renewed intensification and development of the building of the socialist ruling Party.
State Policy on Nuclear Forces Enshrined in Law
The Seventh Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK held in September 2022 adopted the law, titled, On the DPRK’s Policy on the Nuclear Forces.
Through the adoption of the law, the country declared at home and abroad that its possession of the war deterrent as a means for national defence was legalized, clearly demonstrating the independent resolve of the government of the Republic
and its staunch will to defend its sovereignty and interest.
The event made the peace-loving stand of the government and its policy on the nation’s nuclear forces more transparent and legitimate. By enshrining the policy in law, it drew a line of no retreat regarding its nuclear weapons, a treasured sword for defending peace which it had obtained overcoming all manner of hardships, so there would no longer be any bargaining over them.
Demonstration of the Nation’s Comprehensive Might
On April 25, 2022, a grand military parade was held in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang in celebration of the 90th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army.
The column of honorary cavalrymen led the parade. It was followed by the column of soldiers representing the guerrilla army in the period of the anti-Japanese armed struggle, which is the first generation of the Republic’s armed forces; a column of the Korean People’s Army in the days of the Fatherland Liberation War, which had created an unheard-of military miracle of defeating atomic bomb with rifle; columns of the ground force, navy, air force, strategic force, special operations force, corps units and military academies of various levels of the KPA, revolutionary schools, provincial Worker-Peasant Red Guards, the Ministry of State Security, the Public Security Forces, emergency epidemic prevention workers, mechanized units and latest missiles.
While columns of powerful weapons passed through the parade ground demonstrating the true image of the country’s defence capabilities, jet fighters decorated with bright illuminations made minimum-altitude flights and displayed such aeronautics as zooming over the square. The parade was brought to its breathtaking climax when the new-type ICBM Hwasongpho-17 heaved into sight.
Miracle in the History of International Healthcare
In May 2022 the DPRK put in place a highest-level emergency anti-epidemic system after omicron variant entered its territory. All the country was locked down by region and unit, and strict anti-epidemic measures were taken.
Kim Jong Un led the anti-epidemic campaign. He convened major meetings of the WPK Central Committee in succession and took prompt measures against the situation. He urgently dispatched the KPA medics to Pyongyang and visited places related with the anti-epidemic work to acquaint himself with the situation. He even donated his household medicines for families in difficult conditions.
According to a report, he examined 1 772 documents with a total number of 22 956 pages during the 90-odd-day period of the highest-level emergency anti-epidemic system.
Under his wise guidance, the DPRK could defuse the public health crisis in a little more than 90 days, and this was a miracle unheard-of in the history of international healthcare.
Creations Made in the Face of Challenges
In 2022 the DPRK registered many remarkable successes in spite of the hostile forces’ tenacious moves to stifle it and sudden public health crisis.
On April 11, 2022 Songhwa Street with 10 000 flats was inaugurated as the first entity in the programme for the comprehensive development of Korean-style socialism. It was followed by the Pothong Riverside Terraced Houses District, a luxurious residential area for the ordinary working people.
In June the renovated local-industry factories in Kimhwa County were commissioned, heralding the era when the countryside is transformed.
August witnessed the completion of the large-scale Orangchon Power Station composed of several dams and multi-tier power station units. About 20 days later a large-scale sodium carbonate production line was newly built in the Namhung Youth Chemical Complex, conducive to putting the chemical industry on the Juche basis.
In October the world-class Ryonpho Greenhouse Farm was completed in a short span of about 230 days since the start of its construction. About ten days later the Taesongsan Ice-cream Factory was brought to completion. Its construction was a priority project in the people-oriented policy of the WPK.
In November the first-stage project for renovating the Kumsong Tractor Factory was completed, which proved to be a big stride in the effort for laying the foundations for powerfully propelling rural rejuvenation in the new era.
New Appearance of Rural Rejuvenation
As part of an effort to realize the grand programme for rural rejuvenation in the new era advanced by Kim Jong Un, the DPRK launched in 2022 a campaign for housing construction in the countryside for radically changing the appearance of all the rural villages across the country.
The WPK and the DPRK government ensure that necessary materials are supplied to each city and county for housing construction in the rural areas. As a result, ideal socialist villages sprang up in many areas by the end of 2022, and farmers moved to new houses.
In September 5 500 modern farm machines were provided to South Hwanghae Province, the largest grain producer of the country.
Powerful Deterrent Demonstrated
The scale of the hostile forces’ nuclear war games targeting the DPRK reached its climax in 2022. Their joint maritime exercise, anti-submarine exercise, missile defence exercise, maritime manoeuvring exercise and Vigilant Storm aggravated the tension on the Korean peninsula.
To cope with the enemy’s provocation, the KPA conducted powerful military operations. It staged military exercises including drills of the units for the operation of tactical nukes, strike drills of frontline long-range artillery sub-units and flying corps and large-scale combined air-strike drill of the air force. These exercises clearly showed that the more tenacious the enemy’s military provocations were, the more thoroughgoing and merciless the DPRK’s countermeasures would be.
The country successfully test-fired a hypersonic missile, new-type tactical guided weapons, strategic cruise missile and new-type ICBM Hwasongpho-17, demonstrating its enormous might for firmly guaranteeing the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and the rest of northeast Asia.
