Kim Jong Un’s New Directive: Fast-Track Hospitals and Slow-Down on Industrial Plants

The Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state-run media, reported that Kim Jong Un visited the construction site of a local industrial plant in Hamju County on the 31st, following earlier visits on the 24th and 25th of the previous month. After reviewing the progress, Kim expressed satisfaction and outlined key principles for the project.

Kim stressed the importance of quality over speed when constructing local industrial plants. In a contrasting directive, he mandated that local hospitals be established within the same year, highlighting a seemingly contradictory approach.

Kim stated, “The foundation of construction is quality,” and warned that prioritizing speed over quality, even in minor aspects, constitutes a harmful act that undermines our party’s local construction policy. He criticized the on-site leaders for relying on superficial slogans and flashy leadership methods. He urged them to create a smooth working environment and clean living conditions for the soldiers deployed on-site.

On the same day, Kim convened a meeting of the Local Development Project Council, where he emphasized the importance of simultaneously building advanced health facilities, science and technology dissemination centers, and grain management facilities nationwide, referring to these as the “three major construction tasks.”

Among these tasks, Kim identified the construction of hospitals in cities and counties nationwide as his “long-cherished project.” He added that, despite challenges, adding modern health facilities to the Local Development 20×10 Policy and ensuring their completion within the same year would greatly benefit local citizens. This indicates a push for speed in hospital construction while emphasizing quality in industrial plant construction.

The Local Development Project Council is a newly formed entity not mentioned in North Korean media. It is believed to have been established as part of Kim’s directive to include the three major construction tasks in the Local Development 20×1 plan.

Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, observed that since North Korea introduced the Local Development 20×10 policy in January, the country has now added three major construction priorities: health facilities, science and technology dissemination centers, and grain management facilities. Hong sees this as part of a broader strategy to integrate health, science, and education into their local development efforts. 

He also noted that the directive to complete hospital construction within the year appears to respond to public concern, especially following recent flooding that has affected local sentiment.