If one hears the voices ringing out of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, they can feel that the whole society is filled with the spirit of advance and a lively atmosphere.
As its people say, the country has ushered in an era of comprehensive development of socialism.
Let’s analyze the meaning.
First, all sectors including the economy, culture, and national defence are developing simultaneously.
It is needless to discuss here that the country has entered the ranks of the world’s military powers on its own terms.
In the economic field in 2023, it attained all the 12 goals for national economic development, including grain, rolled steel and cement production. Compared with 2020, before the Eighth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, it remarkably boosted the production of pig iron, machine tools, fertilizers and other major items, increasing the GDP by 1.4 times.
In the cultural field, too, a radical improvement was made in education in the new century, aimed at turning the country into a talent power, an educational power; the material and technical foundations of the public health sector were strengthened, and successes were achieved at international sports games.
It can be said that the phrase One particular sector leads and the others develop behind cannot be heard anywhere in the country.
Second, not only the capital city but also the regions are undergoing transformation simultaneously.
It is well known that in recent years 10 000 flats were built every year in Pyongyang.
At the same time, renovating the rural communities in different parts of the country has been conducted on an extensive scale since 2022.
Construction of a new mountain gorge city in the Komdok area is at its final stage.
The Regional Development 20×10 Policy was set forth for a simultaneous, balanced and rapid development of the country, with the result that modernizing the regional-industry factories in 20 counties in different parts of the country every year for ten years is going full steam ahead.
Building a large modern greenhouse farm and general hospital in each province is being carried out in a three-dimensional way or is under plan.
Third, a great change is being brought about not only in urban and rural areas, mountains and rivers but also in the ideological and spiritual traits of the people.
An important feature of the country in 2023 is that the people’s patriotic enthusiasm was greatly enhanced, and a mass movement of patriotism was launched on a wide scale.
The movement for increasing production of coal and fertilizer out of patriotism and rendering assistance to the major construction sites were conducted on a mass basis, and young people, in particular, actively volunteered to work at challenging and labour-consuming sectors of socialist construction.
According to data available, their number amounted to more than 100 000.
It is reported that in the first month of this year alone more than 6 000 young people volunteered to work at the major sectors of the economy.
