N. Korea forms committee to carry out regional economic policy

A child and a woman smile in this propaganda image aimed at promoting North Korea's regional development policy carried by the Korean Central News Agency, Jan. 28. Yonhap

North Korea has formed a committee led by a key aide of leader Kim Jong-un to oversee the construction of modernized factories in backward provinces to spur regional development, state media said Tuesday.

The move came as Kim has been stressing the importance of developing the economy in areas outside of Pyongyang by building modernized factories in 20 counties over the next decade to raise the "basic material and cultural living standards of the people."

The committee, led by Jo Yong-won, secretary for organizational affairs in the ruling Workers' Party, will oversee the design and construction of the envisioned industrial factories based on the party's regional development policy, the Korean Central News Agency said.

During a meeting of the political bureau of the Workers' Party last week, Kim said the overall regional economy is in a "terrible situation" and defined the insufficient provision of basic living necessities in provincial areas as a "serious political issue."

South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs has assessed the North's recent emphasis on regional development as efforts to tackle a widening economic gap between Pyongyang and backward provinces amid prolonged economic difficulties.

The North has been under tightened U.N. sanctions, which call for, among other things, a ban on the country's exports of coal and other mineral resources to cut off North Korea's access to hard currency.

The ministry expressed skepticism over the development plan Tuesday, questioning whether the resource-scarce country would have sufficient equipment and funding to implement the plan in addition to ongoing policy efforts to build more houses and raise crop output.

"North Korea has been emphasizing agriculture and the construction of residential flats, and if it prioritizes manpower and resources for the regional development plan, it would likely affect other plans," a ministry official told reporters condition of anonymity.

"Even if it succeeds in completing the exterior of the factories, operating them efficiently is another issue," the official said. (Yonhap)