North Korea’s central party authorities have issued a directive to the Kangwon province party committee ordering officials to use science, technology, and talent development to drive progress on 12 key state projects during the second quarter of 2026, a Daily NK source in Kangwon province said on Friday.
The Ninth Party Congress, which convened in January 2026, set out a new five-year economic plan and restructured North Korea’s governance framework. The congress designated 12 priority projects as the core benchmarks against which provincial and local officials are now being evaluated.
According to the source, the directive was received by the Kangwon province party committee on April 12 under the title: “Vanguards in the resolute implementation of the Ninth Party Congress decisions — open a breakthrough on the 12 key projects in the second quarter through the power of ideology.” The document frames the second quarter as the first practical test of the five-year plan adopted at the congress.
The directive’s central argument is that the less material and financial resources are available, the more officials must mobilize what it calls “inexhaustible resources” — science, technology, and human talent. Party cadres are instructed to treat the congress’s decisions as a supreme command and to make those projects the focus of all second-quarter work.
Intelligent factories and scientific farming
Among the priority areas identified in the directive are the Local Development 20×10 Policy and rural modernization. The Local Development 20×10 Policy is a flagship initiative launched by Kim Jong Un in 2024 calling for the construction of modern factories in 20 counties per year over 10 years, with the goal of raising living standards outside Pyongyang.
On the industrial side, the central authorities have specifically called for pilot implementation of “intelligent production systems” in factories at every province, city, and county level. On the agricultural side, officials are instructed to adopt scientific farming methods designed to account for changing weather and climate conditions.
The directive also addresses education, requiring all teacher competency assessments to be completed within the second quarter as a foundation for developing the scientific and technical talent the state says it needs.
The source said central party emissaries have been dispatched directly to province, city, and county party committees to monitor compliance, creating an atmosphere of heightened tension on the ground. Party cadres reportedly describe the pace of directives since the congress as a “breathless speed battle.”
One Kangwon province party official was quoted as saying: “It feels like we’re on our first real test since the party congress. The center tells us to get it done no matter what, but everywhere we go there are shortages and obstacles. We run around on two feet but results don’t show, and we don’t know whether those above us will ever be satisfied.”
The source said a pervasive sense of crisis has taken hold among party cadres, with many saying that any failure to deliver results would cost them their positions. Performance benchmarks set at the congress are reportedly stricter than before, requiring scientific evidence and measurable figures rather than the looser reporting standards cadres previously relied on to cover shortfalls.
Reporting from inside North Korea
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April 29, 2026 at 12:01AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)