Report on 9th Enlarged Plenum of 8th WPK

Central Committee

Pyongyang, December 31 (KCNA) -- The Workers' Party of Korea

(WPK), the great guide of our country and people, has defended the

eternal vitality of socialism, the ideal and future of mankind, and

vigorously led its steady development, while confirming the validity of

the sacred mission and idea specified in its programme through the

indomitable struggle and precious victories.

Through the struggle in 2023, a crucial and vital one in the overall

development of Korean-style socialism, the WPK clearly directed the

future trend of advance towards the fulfillment of the five-year plan and

put the overall state activities and public life on a steady upward track.

This is a clear demonstration of the seasoned leadership and

courageous practical ability of the WPK.

Thanks to the outstanding leadership of our Party and the indomitable

efforts of our people intensely loyal to it, precious ideological and

spiritual asset was provided to dynamically promote the development of

the state in the new era, a scientific guarantee was established to

definitely set the goal and direction of the new year's struggle and

accurately attain them and the mightiness and invincibility of our great

state were strikingly proved by entities of the rich country with strong

army.

The year 2023 was a year of the most encouraging change in which the

valuable successes achieved by the staunch and tireless efforts of the

years following the milestone of victory set by the Eighth Congress of

the Party were accumulated and their might began to be fully displayed.

And this greatly encourages the patriotic enthusiasm and efforts of the

Korean people aspiring for a leap forward to a new victory.

As long as the militant banner of the glorious WPK is fluttering in the

van, we have nothing to fear and nothing is impossible for us to do and

victory is always in store for the DPRK though manifold trials are ahead

of it. This is the most precious review of the year 2023 and the

unshakable will of our people starting the march of the new year 2024.

The historic 9th Enlarged Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee

of the WPK took place at the office building of the Central Committee of

the WPK, the supreme general staff of the revolution, from December

26 to 30, Juche 112 (2023) to proudly review the victory of 2023

achieved by the Party and the people through their united struggle and

to map out the orientation and policies for the development of the Party

and state work for the new year.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, was

present at the plenary meeting.

When Kim Jong Un took the platform, all the participants broke into

stormy cheers of "Hurrah!", extending the greatest glory to him,

outstanding leader of our Party and state who ushered in a new era of

great change on this land and has demonstrated the dignity and

prestige of powerful Korea before the whole world with his noble

mission of being responsible for the destiny of the country and people

through his energetic leadership activities day and night.

Attending the meeting were members of the Presidium of the Political

Bureau of the WPK Central Committee, members and alternate

members of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and

members and alternate members of the WPK Central Committee.

Present as observers were officials of departments of the Party Central

Committee, leading officials of ministries, national institutions,

leadership bodies of provincial level, cities, counties and major industrial

establishments and chairpersons of city and county agricultural

management committees who set an example in agricultural production.

The presidium of the meeting was elected with members of the Political

Bureau of the Party Central Committee.

Upon authorization of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central

Committee, Kim Jong Un presided over the plenary meeting.

The plenary meeting put the following items on its agenda:

1. On the review of the implementation of the Party and state policies in

2023 and the orientation of struggle in 2024

2. On increasing the sense of responsibility in the implementation of the

socialist policy for schoolchildren

3. On the work of the Central Inspection Commission of the WPK for

2023

4. On the fulfillment of the state budget for 2023 and the draft state

budget for 2024

5. On a series of measures for strengthening the leadership function of

the Party at present

6. Organizational matter

The plenary meeting unanimously approved the agenda items.

The plenary meeting discussed the first agenda item "On the review of

the implementation of the Party and state policies in 2023 and the

orientation of struggle in 2024".

The respected General Secretary Kim Jong Un made a historic report

"On the review of the implementation of the Party and state policies in

2023".

Referring to the importance and realistic significance of the struggle of

2023, full of great events and satisfactory results, in deciding the

success of the work of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK, he

said in his report:

This year was a very important year for our Party and people who are

making a stubborn advance to implement the struggle programme set

forth at the Eighth Party Congress.

In this year’s struggle, decisive of the fate of the resolutions of the Party

Congress, we demonstrated once again the indomitable spirit peculiar

to our Party and people, who courageously carry out the revolutionary

tasks which they have determined by enlisting their own strength and

potentiality to the maximum, and in this course further augmented the

overall national power of the country.

In a nutshell, we achieved epochal successes in providing favorable

conditions and a solid springboard for further accelerating the future

advance in all aspects of socialist construction and the strengthening of

the national power through this year’s struggle, not merely passing the

third year of the implementation of the five-year plan that we had

planned.

Years after the Eighth Party Congress were recorded with

unprecedented miracles and changes, but there had been no year full of

eye-opening victories and events like this year.

This is by no means an easy change.

This year we had to start the advance for one year under the very

difficult trials and situation.

Even after the three-year international public health emergency was

lifted, all sectors were subject to a lot of restrictions because of the strict

anti-epidemic measures taken by the state, and efforts were made to

cope with the harsh sanctions and pressure of the hostile and

obstructive forces and to deal with dangerous security environment.

Furthermore, the urgent problem was to solve the serious food shortage

caused by the last year's poor farming.

The situation raised the alternative question of whether to continue to

advance towards the attainment of the third year’s goal for the

implementation of the resolutions of the Eighth Party Congress or to

direct everything towards overcoming the difficulties that we faced. The

Party Central Committee's decision on it was, as we chosen together,

an unremitting continuous advance and a vigorous struggle.

On the basis of scientific analysis of the unfavorable situation at home

and abroad and the essential important tasks, the WPK Central

Committee, through the Sixth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Party

Central Committee, confirmed a bold goal and positive strategy,

assigned them to the whole Party and forcefully promoted their

implementation, thus ensuring the orientation of development and

successful implementation of this year’s struggle.

The report reviewed the remarkable successes made in the overall

national economy.

The 12 goals for the national economic development were all attained

with 103 percent of grain production, 100 percent of electric power, coal

and nitrogenous fertilizer, 102 percent of rolled steel, 131 percent of

nonferrous metal, 109 percent of logs, 101 percent of cement and

ordinary cloth, 105 percent of marine products, 106 percent of railway

freight transport and 109 percent of houses under construction. And the

overall economy witnessed clear production growth, including 220

percent of motor production, 208 percent of transformers, 121 percent

of bearings, 140 percent of electric zinc, 121 percent of lead, 113

percent of paper, 110 percent of salt, 109 percent of cosmetics, 100

percent of flat glass and 104 percent of magnesia clinker, and plan

discipline was established.

Compared with the total growth of the economic sector in 2020, the

previous year of the 8th Party Congress, the production of important

indices largely went up in 2023 by raising the production of iron trioxide

3.5 times, pig iron 2.7 times, rolled steel 1.9 times, machine tools 5.1

times, cement 1.4 times and nitrogen fertilizer 1.3 times and the GDP

grew up 1.4 times.

The report estimated the over-fulfillment of the goal of grain production,

the dominant height of decisive significance in the overall economic

development and the guarantee of people's living, as the most precious

and valuable success achieved in the economic work for 2023.

The General Secretary said that the meeting for year-end account

settlement and income distribution showing great enthusiasm and

confidence of the officials and working people in the agricultural sector

took place in succession at farms throughout the country, adding that it

served as an important occasion in bringing about a great revolution in

the spiritual state of the farmers and this is a genuine change of the

greatest importance in the struggle for attaining the grain production

goal in 2023 and for the sustained agricultural development in the

future.

Referring to the letters sent to the Party Central Committee by many

units across the country for donating the grain they prepared with

sincerity as the patriotic rice, he proposed with respect to extend thanks

to those units in the name of the plenary meeting of the Party Central

Committee, saying that our Party holds such simple and sincere

patriotism of the agricultural workers more valuable than myriads of tons

of grain.

The plenary meeting fully supported his proposal.

The report noted that the Kwangchon Chicken Farm was built as a

standard and model of the modernization of poultry sector, modern

wheat processing factories were built in Sariwon and Haeju cities and

Nampho Municipality, the Hwangju-Kindung waterway project, the

desalination project of Lake Kangryong and the building of the surface

setups in the tideland covering thousands of hectares of area was

completed and the solid foundation was laid for attaining the goal of

reclaiming 300 000 hectares of tideland. All those successes are a clear

proof of the validity of the rural revolutionary programme in the new era,

the agricultural policy of our Party and the leadership of the Party

inspiring the whole country to the struggle for the fundamental change in

the agricultural production without flinching from trials and difficulties, it

stressed.

The report appreciated the remarkable successes made in the housing

construction for the people, an important state affair our Party has given

top priority to since the 8th Party Congress.

The construction sector built another 10 000 flats in Hwasong District to

provide a guarantee for making citizens of the capital city move into new

houses on the occasion of the coming Day of the Sun and the young

builders dynamically pushed ahead with the construction of more than 4

100 flats in the Sopho area, thus building a new youth monument called

Jonwi Street.

Our People's Army, which regards the infinite loyalty to the Party and

the people and the spirit of absolutely and unconditionally implementing

the orders and instructions as its lifeblood, not only conducted the

housing construction in the capital city but also built more than 20 000

flats in the Komdok area for the past four years, thus forming a new

mountain gorge city. They also made it possible to perfectly complete

the construction of the Kangdong Greenhouse Farm by February

holiday in 2024.

The plan for rural housing construction this year is more than twice that

of 2022, more than 58 000 flats. At least 40 cities and counties have

already completed the construction and other cities and counties will

finish the planned housing construction by the spring of the new year as

a whole.

The report noted that the key industrial sector brought about a

remarkable increase in production and many readjustment and

reinforcement projects were completed and other encouraging

successes were made in the course of the struggle to attain the 12

major goals for national economic development.

The workers of the Ryongsong Machine Complex made unprecedented

innovations in wonderfully manufacturing large compressors by turning

the production of machine products entrusted to them by the Party

Central Committee into the process of creating the second Chollima

spirit and a process of mass technological innovation. They thus dealt a

telling blow to defeatism and mysticism about technique in the economic

field and proved the validity and vitality of the Party's policies in a

powerful practice.

The Party Central Committee highly appreciated the heroic feats of the

workers of the complex who successfully finished the production of

large compressors before the plenary meeting by displaying the spirit of

self-reliance and fortitude while manufacturing lots of custom-built

equipment.

Referring to the fact that the construction of the energy-saving oxygen

heat blast furnace and the installation of oxygen separators with a

capacity of 15 000 cubic meters per hour at the Kim Chaek Iron and

Steel Complex, the project for building induction furnace at the

Hwanghae Iron and Steel Complex, the construction of a vertical

furnace for oxidizing roasting pellet at the Chongjin Steel Plant and the

development of the Sohaeri branch mine under the Unryul Mine were

completed and went into operation, the report said that 2023 is a year in

which the metal industrial sector made big strides in putting the sector

on a Juche and modern basis.

The chemical industrial sector produced and supplied nitrogenous

fertilizer before farming process and built a nutrient solution factory at

the Sunchon Chemical Complex for greenhouse farms in the west

coastal area. It also finished the project for establishing urea synthesis

process on an expansive basis and reinforcing the cleaning process and

completed the power transmission line project at the Namhung Youth

Chemical Complex to provide a practical guarantee for considerably

increasing the fertilizer production.

It is a very significant success that the power industry has perfectly

fulfilled its monthly production plan according to demand while laying a

solid material and technical foundation for thermal power stations and

increasing the generating efficiency of hydroelectric power stations and

pushed ahead with the work to build an optimized power system on

major transmission lines, thus reducing the huge loss in transmission of

electricity and establishing the process of processing ultra-high-

pressure towers.

The torch of the socialist patriotic movement for increased coal

production in the new century was kindled at the Jagang Provincial

Supply Coal Mine under the Kaechon Area Coal Mining Complex and

the flames of joint innovations flared up in the coal-mining industry with

the movement as a firing point. This was a starting point for the overall

drive for increased production of the national economy and a great

strength of our Party.

The report said that the economic sectors including mining, building

materials, forestry, light industry, fishery and railway transport put spurs

to implementing the readjustment and reinforcement strategy while

carrying out the national economic plan without fail and thus make a

breakthrough for definitely increasing the present and long-term

production, and the IT, land and environment and urban management

sectors pushed ahead with the urgent and basic projects for boosting

the material and technical potentials.

Reviewing 2023 as a year in which efforts to bring about new

innovations and changes in the field of science and technology have

been intensified, the General Secretary said that the most proud

scientific and technological achievements were made in the field of

space science and technology.

Our scientists and technicians, having accepted the Party's strategic

plan and intention as their unshakable faith, buckled down to

conquering space with our wisdom and technology at any cost and

brought about an eye-opening event of succeeding in the launch of

reconnaissance satellites finally after repeated failures.

This is a perfect demonstration of the revolutionary mettle and clever

brain ability of our scientists and technicians who have surely occupied

any fortress of science to meet the demands of the Party and the

revolution and increase the national power of the country.

This year, a great revolution has been made in the educational work for

building an educational power and a talented nation. This is a proud

success that is incomparable to anything.

The educational sector, shouldering the responsibility for the far-

reaching plan of the country, the prospect of national development and

prosperity, pushed ahead in real earnest with the project for improving

the educational structure, which had existed for the past several

decades, to give more advanced and practical education to the students

and brought about fresh and innovative, considerable change in the

contents, forms and methods of education.

And the Pedagogical Institute, a centre for education scientific research

which reliably guarantees the development of the country's education,

was newly built and the science library of Kim Il Sung University was

renovated on a modern basis. More than 160 schools and kindergartens

were built or renovated as model standards throughout the country, and

so on, significant progress was made in consolidating the material and

technical foundations of the educational sector this year.

The report noted that the public health and sports sectors also made

unique contributions to bringing the new change in 2023.

Pharmaceutical factories, medical supplies factories and specialized

facilities for preventing diseases, which are of great significance in the

promotion of people's health and the preventive and curative medical

care, were newly built to further consolidate the material and technical

foundations of the public health sector and create a favorable

environment for the economic development and the people's stable life.

Our sportspersons, who took part in international games nearly four

years after the outbreak of global health crisis, won many medals at the

19th Asian Games, the 22nd World Taekwon-Do Championships and

the 2023 International Weightlifting Federation Grand Prix and broke the

world records one after another, thus flying our national flags in the sky

above the world to greatly encourage all the people in the country.

The report said that all provinces have made a great leap forward in

developing the regional economy and creating the people's living and

high civilization by dynamically conducting the work for implementing

the Party's resolutions.

In South Hwanghae Province in particular, the city and county Party

committees and party organizations of the agricultural sector and

officials, agricultural workers and other people in the province, the

masters of farming, made special efforts to carry out the plan for grain

procurement by raising the strong wind of education and struggle to

eradicate various evils in the past farming and enhancing the role of the

group for the promotion of scientific farming.

Each province has striven to build sci-tech library, school uniform

factory, footwear factory and standard pharmacies and to remodel and

modernize Koryo medicines factories and push ahead with the

implementation of the childcare policy, true to the resolutions of plenary

meetings of the Party Central Committee. Such stirring atmosphere of

struggle and the style of work has been maintained in a sustained way

all the year round in every province and, it resulted in the emergence of

new power stations, stockbreeding farms, children's camps, outdoor

theatres, universities, epidemic prevention centers, condiments

factories, forest science institutes, dairy cattle farms, air clubs and many

other objects that meet the long-term and immediate economic demand

and provide convenience of the local people in life as well as the

architectural aesthetic requirements of the new era. Consequently, the

year 2023 was a year of radical change in which lots of proud creatures

appeared in different regions, too.

The General Secretary reviewed the remarkably increased politico-

ideological might of the DPRK as the most significant success in the

2023 struggle.

First of all, radical advance was made in the state power activities and

the work of strengthening the people's power.

The policy of strengthening the state nuclear force was enshrined in the

Constitution of the Republic at the 9th Session of the 14th Supreme

People’s Assembly held in September. This will be proudly recorded in

the history of the country as it was a political event that laid a legal

foundation for guaranteeing the security of our state and people forever,

put the dignity and strategic position of the country on the highest level

and at the same time, dealt a deadly blow at the enemy.

As a result of the active legal work to further subdivide and embody the

laws and regulations in conformity with the requirements of the Party’s

policies and reality and to find out all spaces in the legal regulation and

take relevant measures, more than 110 laws and regulations for every

sector including the laws of the DPRK on auditing, irrigation, education

of prodigies, distribution of production labor and public servants were

newly enacted or amended and a legal guarantee was established for

further consolidating our advantageous state and social system.

As the method of electing deputies to the people’s assemblies at all

levels was improved in a more democratic way to highlight the popular

character of the Republic and further strengthen the work of the power

organs, the elections of deputies to the provincial, city and county

people’s assemblies held in November turned into a process of further

enhancing the people’s civil consciousness and patriotic enthusiasm to

be actively concerned for and participate in the state affairs.

Meanwhile, the first short course for the chairpersons of Provincial, City

and County People’s Committees, who are wholly responsible for the

work of the people’s power organs before the Party, state and people,

was conducted seriously as a work of the Party Central Committee. This

served as an important occasion for further enhancing the role of our

power organs.

Although we did not hold many conferences this year, we started the

new year with the delegates of the members of Korean Children’s Union

(KCU) who attended the Ninth Congress of the KCU and had a

significant time of the yearend with the participants in the Fifth National

Conference of Mothers. This is the important features of this year and is

of great significance in highlighting the true aim and character of our

struggle.

The report said that the patriotic movement of donating cereals and the

movement for donating warships and other socialist patriotic

movements and revolutionary mass movements were brisk amid the

great enthusiasm of all the people to defend the country and revolution

and that multiple rocket launchers, loading vehicles and buses named

"Sonyon" (child), "Taehaksaeng Chongnyon" (university and college

students), "Jikmaeng" (trade unions), "Nonggunmaeng" (union of

agricultural workers), "Nyomaeng "(women's union) and "Pusasu" were

presented.

The large ranks of patriots with the warm mind to think first of the Party,

revolution and country and to be helpful to the country to relieve it of its

difficulties have grown up in the course of the vigorous mass patriotic

movement. This is the greatest political success that can never be

compared with anything else.

Three grand military parades, which took place on the occasions of the

75th founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army, the 70th

anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War and the 75th

founding anniversary of the DPRK, continuously surpassing the

successive levels, and other large political and military festivals fully

demonstrated before the world the dignity and prestige of the Party,

state and people and the true feature of our single-minded unity.

The report reviewed the fresh improvement in the work for further

increasing the revolutionary appearance and fighting efficiency of our

Party in 2023.

In the course of struggle to implement the five-point Party-building line

in the new era, the core and innovative system and methods of Party

work were studied and implemented to ensure the organizational and

ideological consolidation and far-sighted policy on strengthening the

fighting efficiency of our Party.

The work of organizing and dispatching powerful Party-member

battalions throughout the Party to help Ryanggang Province in the

construction of rural houses and of building up backward farms by

departments of the Party Central Committee, ministries and national

institutions has been organized and conducted. This is another precious

stride forward in our Party work as it is a thoroughgoing embodiment of

our Party’s traditional work method to make superiors help the

subordinates and develop backward units together.

The report said that great successes have been achieved in the struggle

against the enemy and in strengthening the defence capabilities for

defending the sovereignty and dignity of the country.

The test-fires and launching drills of ICBM Hwasongpho-17 and

Hwasongpho-18 were successfully conducted several times in the

course of further accelerating the development of nuclear weapons, an

important part of the national defence capability and the super-powerful

war deterrent. They verified their reliability and superiority and

confirmed the DPRK's long-term orientation for building up the strategic

force.

The DPRK conducted in an offensive way major military activities

including launching drills of tactical ballistic missiles and cruise missiles

to overwhelmingly counter the enemies' frantic war drills, developed

unmanned reconnaissance planes and multi-purpose drones and

launched a newly-built submarine to strikingly demonstrate the

matchless combat readiness and development of the DPRK's armed

forces.

Especially the possession of space reconnaissance assets by

successfully putting our first reconnaissance satellite "Malligyong-1" into

orbit is a great event of making a decisive advance in carrying out the

prior and important tasks for modernizing the armed forces of the DPRK

set forth by the 8th Party Congress and putting the strategic strength of

our state on a new high stage.

The report said that the WPK has applied a proactive diplomatic

strategy while maintaining the strong independent stand and principle in

its external work, thus remarkably increasing the dignity and prestige of

the country and reliably defending the sovereign rights of our state from

the vicious moves of the U.S. and its vassal forces.

In total, 2023 is a year of great turn and change both in name and reality

when the DPRK left a great footprint in the glorious course of its

development in the efforts to improve the national power and to

enhance the prestige of the country, the General Secretary said,

expressing his high respect for the heroic struggle of the Workers' Party

members, sincere working people and service personnel who have

dynamically pushed forward a new phase of prosperity and

development with their strong redoubled efforts true to the Party's idea

and leadership.

He extended warm thanks to the members of the entire Party, people

across the country and service personnel of the entire army who

contributed to filling 2023 with successes of loyalty and patriotism,

overcoming all sorts of difficulties and hardships with firm trust in our

cause and indomitable spirit.

He said that our Party and people have been convinced that they can

certainly fulfill the five-year plan aimed at laying the foundations for the

development of the national economy and advancing towards the

sustained development through the past three-year stubborn struggle.

At present, the revolutionary enthusiasm and fighting spirit of our people

and youths are very high and all sectors are rising vigorously with the

great positive changes made in their mental and moral state. This is a

favorable situation that has been won since the Eighth Congress of the

Party as a result of our strenuous and offensive struggle.

This is the most precious and powerful asset for the future progress and

development, and we can now be confident that we have overcome the

most difficult and extreme points in the struggle to carry out the tasks of

the Party Congress.

In general, our revolution opened up an era of the comprehensive

development of socialism, in which not only national defence but also all

the economic and cultural sectors arose simultaneously, the capital and

the provinces have changed all together and great changes have been

made in the people’s ideological and mental aspects as well as in cities,

villages, mountains and streams during the term of the Eighth Central

Committee of the Party.

The experience of the past three years is that if they work meticulously

and earnestly, maintaining the spirit of braving the manifold difficulties,

under the condition where the Party’s leadership system is strong and

all the people’s trust in it is steadfast, they can successfully accomplish

the important tasks of overcoming difficulties and developing changes.

All this proves that the programme of struggle clarified by the Eighth

WPK Congress is the most correct and powerful banner which

vigorously pushes forward and develops our revolution despite

unprecedentedly harsh difficulties, and inspires us with optimism and

conviction that it will be successfully realized by two-year-long

consecutive struggles in the future.

The report comprehensively saw through the work of the year from a

critical and developmental point of view, proceeding from the

revolutionary stand of the WPK which is more concerned with defects

and lessons than successes and experience for the rapider progress

and development of the future, and analyzed and reviewed the defects

in it in a level-headed way.

The General Secretary called upon all the participants in the plenary

meeting to fully discharge their responsibility and role in the work for

2024 to create a history of new victory for the overall national prosperity,

with the high pride and self-confidence in the struggle of 2023 and

deeply aware of the problems to be surely solved in our future work.

Speeches were made on the first agenda item.

Kim Tok Hun, premier of the Cabinet, Choe Ryong Hae, chairman of the

Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, Ri Chol Man,

department director of the C.C., WPK, Kang Sun Nam, minister of

National Defence, and Jo Yong Won, secretary for Organizational Affairs

of the C.C., WPK, examined and reviewed the work in their fields and

suggested the measures to the plenary meeting. Leading officials in

various sectors presented written speeches.

The plenary meeting heard and analyzed the speeches and made

relevant evaluations.

Kim Jong Un made an important conclusion on the first agenda item

"On the orientation of struggle in 2024".

Saying that the successes achieved in the course of implementing the

Party and state policies in 2023 serve as another precious asset for our

advance and development, he referred to the orientation of the future

struggle.

We have two years in carrying out the five-year plan.

In these two years we must prove with redoubled efforts that the policy

of struggle decided by the Eighth Congress of the Party and the

advance we have made so far are perfectly correct, and we must

achieve greater successes and sum up our struggle before the Party

Congress.

Our general orientation of struggle is to further expand and actively

apply the favorable situation and phase which we have won through a

stubborn struggle, thus successfully implementing the fighting

programme of the Eighth Party Congress and laying a springboard for a

new advance in the future.

On the basis of the successes and experience of the past three years,

we should make the remaining two years an effective process of

preparing for a new development of the next stage, while steadily

concluding the implementation of the resolutions of the Eighth Party

Congress sincerely.

In particular, we should direct main efforts into solving the problems that

are incomplete or a stumbling block in implementing the resolutions of

the Party Congress, from next year so as to further expand the

successes achieved till now and prove their worth, and turn all the

planned tasks into brilliant fruitions.

The year 2024 is a decisive year of confirming the victory in attaining

the fighting goal set by the Eighth Party Congress by heightening the

offensive spirit on all fronts of socialist construction.

In other words, by the end of 2024, every sector and unit should secure

an obvious practical guarantee for the fulfillment of the five-year plan.

With confidence in having braved the most difficult and severe trials, we

should glorify 2024 with new and significant successes through a more

mounting and strenuous struggle.

Noting that the primary problem is to strengthen the administrative and

economic work system and order of the state, the General Secretary

specified the principled issues and practical ways for the Cabinet to

enliven the lifeline of the national economy and propel the purposeful

economic development in line with its duty as the overall state

management institution endowed by the constitution.

He stressed the need for all sectors of the national economy to put

spurs to the growth of production, finish the work for readjustment and

reinforcement and concentrate efforts on 12 major goals by setting them

in front in the new year, too. He set forth the important tasks to be

fulfilled in the key industrial sectors including metal, chemistry, electric

power, coal, machinery and railway transport.

The conclusion defined it as our Party's orientation of development for

machine-building industry at the present phase to make the Ryongsong

Machine Complex, a parent body of the machine-building industry, a

standard and model of modernization in the period of the Eighth Party

Central Committee and, on the basis of this experience, to modernize

the Taean Heavy Machine Complex, the Rakwon General Machine

Enterprise and other major machine factories during the period of the

new five-year economic development plan and clarified the ways for its

implementation.

It referred to all the tasks for more dynamically promoting the

construction of the capital city and the rural housing construction, an

important task started under the historic decision made at the Eighth

Party Central Committee, and to the practical issues for realizing the

grand long-term construction plan envisaged by the Party Central

Committee.

It also called on the land and environment protection and urban

management sectors to steadily push forward the phased tasks

specified in the five-year plan and on all the institutions and enterprises

to dynamically conduct the work for coping with disaster crisis on an

annual basis.

The General Secretary advanced the specific tasks and ways for

steadily increasing the agricultural productivity, including the work to

definitely set the strategy and the step-wise goals for the development

of farm machines and strongly promote the mechanization of the rural

economy on the basis of survey and evaluation of the country's overall

agricultural infrastructure and agro-technical capability, the work to

complete the country's irrigation system and the work to vigorously

hasten the reclamation of tideland without letup.

He called for further stirring up the social atmosphere and climate of

active support to the rural areas throughout the country, establishing the

strict disciplines of food administration, and building modern wheat

processing factories in various regions and improving the wheat

processing technology to raise the quality of products in keeping with

the increase of wheat production.

The conclusion stressed the need for the light industry in 2024 to set it

as the primary task for improving the quality of consumer goods and

condiments and struggle for realizing it and referred to the tasks for

stepping up the modernization of light industrial and regional industrial

factories, developing the sericulture sector and improving the

commercial, public catering and welfare service work.

It also mentioned the tasks facing the fishing sector for activating the

pelagic fishing, increasing the varieties and species in the fish farming

and cultivation field and particularly conducting the offshore fishing on a

mass scale to boost the marine production, and the measures for

providing the citizens of the capital city with more civilized and affluent

living conditions and environment in the period of the 8th Party Central

Committee.

The General Secretary stressed the need for the cultural sector, which

occupies an important position in the present struggle towards the

overall development of socialism and should steadily advance in the

van, to take a more vigorous step forward in all aspects of cultural

construction on the basis of the previous experience and lessons gained

in the last three years, especially in the work of 2023.

The conclusion set forth important goals and ways for accelerating the

social progress and the overall prosperity of the state with the steady

development of the sci-tech capability and practical vitality of attaching

importance to science and technology, including the establishment of a

system for purposefully setting up the pivotal and magnetic up-to-date

sci-tech development plan and concentrating scientific research forces

on implementing it and the integrated control over the country's

development of science and technology.

The conclusion called for developing the contents and methods of

education in a more concrete, diverse and practical way including

introducing the research-type teaching methods and research-type

study methods into specialized subjects and in pedagogically ensuring

the implementation of the Party's policies and thus making the year

2024 a year of greater changes in putting the country on the list of

advanced states in education.

It stressed the need to correctly enforce our socialist public health

policies and further consolidate the material and technical foundations

of the public health sector. It called upon the fields of literature and art

and media, which stand at the van of the ideological and cultural front,

to usher in a new heyday of their development in 2024 and thus

continuously elevate the high spirit of the entire Party, the whole country

and all the people. It also stressed the need to steadily expand the

proud successes registered in the sports field in 2023.

The conclusion indicated the policy-oriented tasks facing the people's

power organs, public prosecution, public security organs and other law

enforcement organs in consolidating and developing the state and

social system of the DPRK, precious gains of the revolution and

powerful political weapon, and the practical ways for conducting the

work of working people's organizations more vigorously and powerfully.

The General Secretary analyzed and evaluated the dangerous security

environment in the Korean peninsula on the brink of a nuclear war and

the nature of the hostile forces' military confrontation moves and

clarified the important policy decision to further accelerate the radical

development of the national defence capabilities.

This year, too, the U.S. and its vassal forces have still perpetrated

vicious anti-DPRK confrontational moves and the desperate efforts of

the enemies have reached the extremes unprecedented in history in

their reckless, provocative and dangerous nature.

The U.S., which has caused instability and continued to aggravate the

situation in the Korean peninsula, is exposing various forms of military

threat to our state even at this moment when the year is falling.

The U.S. has more persistently instigated the south Korean puppets and

Japs, who are playing the role as the most faithful stooge and "running-

dog" in carrying out its hostile policy towards our Republic, to seek to

expand the bilateral and tripartite cooperation and establish an anti-

DPRK cooperation system. Such moves have got more frantic this year,

consonant with the interests of the south Korean puppets who are

seized with security uneasiness.

Openly talking about "end of regime" in the DPRK, the U.S. president

cooked up the so-called "Washington Declaration", an anti-DPRK

nuclear confrontation program, together with the south Korean puppets

and newly organized and started the operation of the "Nuclear

Consultative Group" aimed at the joint plan and execution for the use of

nuclear weapons. Furthermore, he is zealously promoting the scenario

for a nuclear war against the DPRK under the eyes of the world by

abusing the "NCG".

The U.S. has frequently met with Japs and south Korean puppets to

promise long-term conspiracy and collusion against the DPRK, discuss

the countermeasures and enforce annual tripartite military drills. Such

provocative attitude of the U.S., which is getting frantic with the

strengthening of the triangular cooperation system on the unreasonable

pretext of coping with so-called "threat" from the DPRK, is driving the

situation in the Korean peninsula into more unpredictable and critical

conditions.

What should not be overlooked is the fact that the continuous

introduction into the Korean Peninsula of U.S. nuclear strategic means

of all kinds, including the super-large strategic nuclear submarine that

entered the southern half of Korea again in more than 40 years, the

nuclear strategic bomber landed there for the first time in history, and

the frequent dispatch of super-large nuclear-powered carrier task force,

has turned south Korea completely into a forward military base and a

nuclear arsenal of the U.S. and joint military exercises of various scales

have been ceaselessly staged all the year round, setting the "highest

record" in history.

The number of joint military exercises staged by the U.S. military

gangsters with Japs and south Korean puppets this year has doubled

compared to that of last year. This clearly shows that the U.S. aims at

the military confrontation with the DPRK at any cost and is getting more

desperately hell-bent on the preparations for it.

Only a few days ago, the Yankees summoned south Korean puppets to

Washington to hold the second meeting of the "NCG" and announced to

the world that they would complete the "guidelines on nuclear strategic

plan and operation" and establish the "extended deterrence system" by

the middle of next year and conduct nuclear operation exercises during

the large-scale joint military exercises in forthcoming August. Timed to

coincide with this, they brought a nuclear-powered submarine into the

Korean peninsula again, making provocation even by the end of the

year.

The reality shows that the U.S. inveterate hostile acts against the DPRK

are not only confined to rhetoric threat or demonstration purposes but

have evidently evolved into a stage of execution which can lead to

actual military actions and thus trigger a conflict between the armed

forces of both sides.

The conclusion referred to the fact that the north-south relations, which

had been steadily deteriorating since the emergence of the Yoon Suk

Yeol puppet regime, have been further tainted with distrust and hostility

due to the anti-DPRK confrontation behavior of traitor Yoon getting

evermore offensive recently and, consequently, the September 19

North-South Military Agreement, which had been playing a feeble

mission of preventing armed conflict just for form's sake, was scrapped.

What merits attention is that the Yoon Suk Yeol group of puppets is

making a suicidal attempt to achieve the "balance of power" with the

DPRK and stand in confrontation with it to the last by expanding the "UN

Command", an illegal ghost body, into a multinational war organization

for provoking the second Korean war.

The enemies' provocative acts are getting ever more pronounced in the

area along the Military Demarcation Line and the whole puppet army is

being reorganized and reinforced in general while the brass hats of the

puppet military have been recently replaced by extreme warmongers

one after another. Such radical military moves getting more undisguised

are also evidently a revelation of the sinister attempt for a war of

aggression.

The General Secretary said that as shown by all the facts, the

confrontation nature of the U.S. and its top class stooges has not

changed even in the least but is getting more undisguised and more

vicious.

When we pay close attention to the confrontational military acts

perpetrated by the hostile forces while aggravating the dangerous

security environment in the Korean peninsula every moment, the word

"war" is already approaching us as a realistic entity, not as an abstract

concept.

The prevailing grave situation requires the DPRK to steadily step up the

work for getting the overwhelming war response capability and the full

and perfect military combat readiness to deter any form of provocation

and action at a blow since the enemies' desperate efforts get more

serious.

The People’s Army should closely watch and sharply control the hourly

changing acute security situation in the Korean peninsula and take more

thorough military measures to firmly safeguard the security of the state

while always coping with it in an overwhelming attitude. And it should

rapidly respond to any possible nuclear crisis and put continuous spurs

to the preparations for a great event to suppress the whole territory of

south Korea by mobilizing all physical means and forces including

nuclear forces in contingency.

The conclusion called on the munitions industry to reliably guarantee

the successful implementation of our Party's strategy for the

development of the national defence by further expanding the

successes made in consolidating the self-supporting foundation of the

defence industry and in developing and producing arms and equipment.

It stressed the need for the nuclear weapons field to lay a reliable

foundation for steadily increasing the production of nuclear weapons

and wage a vigorous struggle for carrying out the nuclear weapons

production plan in 2024.

It also set forth the main targets and militant tasks for the field of missile

development and production.

The conclusion clarified the task for the field of space development to

launch in addition three reconnaissance satellites in 2024 on the basis

of the experience gained in the successful launch and operation of the

first reconnaissance satellite in 2023 and referred to the nationwide full-

scale measures for dynamically accelerating the development of space

science and technology.

It set it as the main task facing the field of shipbuilding to enhance the

underwater and surface combat strength of the navy by bringing about

the second revolution of the warship-building industry and to carry out at

an early date the task incomplete in attaining the major five-point goals

for developing the national defence capabilities. It also stressed the

need for the unmanned air industry and the detected electronic warfare

sectors to develop and produce various kinds of unmanned military

hardware and powerful electronic warfare means in conformity with the

characteristics of modern warfare.

The conclusion set forth the tasks for the militia defence force in charge

of a wing of the national defence to complete the combat preparations,

including the work to further enhance the operational control level of

commanding officers of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards as well as the

combat capabilities of its members by steadily improving the training

contents and methods so as to positively cope with the enemies' combat

action methods.

The General Secretary made a detailed analysis of the gigantic

geopolitical changes in international geo-political situation and balance

of forces in 2023, the main features of present international situation

and the external environment of the Korean peninsula. And he

advanced the strategic and tactical policies to be held fast to in the

external affairs and clarified the need to newly formulate the stands on

the north-south relations and reunification policy and make a decisive

policy change in the work against the enemy.

The field of external affairs should actively and tactically cope with the

changing and developing international situation and write a diplomatic

history of the DPRK which accords with the position of a powerful

country on the principle of defending the dignity of the Party, raising the

national dignity and protecting the national interests.

He set forth the tasks for concentrating the main efforts on the

development of relations with the ruling parties of socialist countries to

further expand and strengthen the external sphere of the country, further

consolidating the foundation of support and solidarity to the DPRK by

further developing the relations with the anti-imperialist independent

countries opposed to the hegemony strategy of the U.S. and the West

under ever-changing international situation and waging a dynamic anti-

imperialist joint action and struggle on an international scale.

We should consistently adhere to the anti-U.S. and anti-enemy struggle

principle of power for power and head-on contest and pursue the high-

handed and offensive toughest policy.

This year we reaffirmed the unshakable will to counter the frantic

nuclear war threat racket and all-out confrontation of the U.S. and its

vassal forces with nukes and all-out confrontation and inflicted

insurmountable security crisis and horror upon the enemies by the

overwhelming exercise of the thorough war deterrent.

Whatever the enemies attempt and whatever they choose, it is our

unshakable principle and mode of struggle against the enemy to control

by super-tough counteraction beyond it and by the exercise of powerful

ability overwhelming it.

The conclusion put forward the line of making a fundamental turnabout

in the sector of work toward the south on the basis of a cool analysis of

the bitter history of the north-south relations which has repeatedly

suffered only distrust and confrontation.

The Korean Peninsula is now constantly in the grip of an uncontrollable

crisis due to the reckless anti-DPRK confrontation hysteria and military

provocations of the U.S. and south Korean puppets.

It is a well known fact that physical clash can be caused and escalated

even by a slight accidental factor in the area of along the Military

Demarcation Line where large armed forces of both sides are standing

in confrontation with one another, and no one can deny the fact that the

two states, the most hostile toward each other, are coexisting in the

Korean peninsula at present.

Such abnormal situation is not a random phenomenon like mutation in

the light of the successive puppet regimes' extension of their policies but

an inevitable result of the history of the north-south relations.

For a long period spanning not just ten years but more than half a

century, the idea, line and policies for national reunification laid down by

our Party and the DPRK government have always roused absolute

support and approval of the whole nation and sympathy of the world as

they are most just, reasonable and fair. But none of them has brought

about a proper fruition and the north-south relations have repeated the

vicious cycle of contact and suspension, dialogue and confrontation.

If there is a common point among the "policies toward the north" and

"unification policies" pursued by the successive south Korean rulers, it is

the "collapse of the DPRK's regime" and "unification by absorption". And

it is clearly proved by the fact that the keynote of "unification under

liberal democracy" has been invariably carried forward although the

puppet regime has changed more than ten times so far.

The puppet forces' sinister ambition to destroy our social system and

regime has remained unchanged even a bit whether they advocated

"democracy" or disguised themselves as "conservatism", the General

Secretary said, and went on:

The general conclusion drawn by our Party, looking back upon the long-

standing north-south relations is that reunification can never be

achieved with the ROK authorities that defined the "unification by

absorption" and "unification under liberal democracy" as their state

policy, which is in sharp contradiction with our line of national

reunification based on one nation and one state with two systems.

Even at this moment, the south Korean puppets are unhesitatingly

contending that the DPRK and its people are territory and population of

the ROK that should be reclaimed, and it is shamelessly specified in the

constitution of the ROK that "the territory of the ROK contains the

Korean peninsula and its attached islands".

The reality urgently requires us to adopt a new stand on the north-south

relations and the reunification policy.

Now we need to admit the reality and make the relations with the south

Korean puppets clearer.

I think it is a mistake we should no longer make to regard the clan, who

publicly defined us as the "principal enemy" and is seeking only the

opportunity of "collapse of power" and "unification by absorption" in

collusion with foreign forces, as the partner of reconciliation and

reunification.

It is not suitable to the prestige and position of the DPRK to discuss the

issue of reunification with the strange clan, who is no more than a

colonial stooge of the U.S., just because of the rhetorical word the fellow

countrymen.

South Korea at present is nothing but a hemiplegic malformation and

colonial subordinate state whose politics is completely out of order,

whole society tainted by Yankee culture, and defence and security

totally dependent on the U.S.

The north-south relations have been completely fixed into the relations

between two states hostile to each other and the relations between two

belligerent states, not the consanguineous or homogeneous ones any

more.

It can be said this is the present address that shows the relations

between the north and the south today.

The conclusion, lucidly looking into and recognizing the reality, stressed

the need to take measures for readjusting and reforming the

organizations in charge of the affairs related to the south including the

United Front Department of the Party Central Committee and to

fundamentally change the principle and orientation of the struggle.

Solemnly declaring that if the U.S. and south Korean puppets stubbornly

attempt a military confrontation with the DPRK, the latter's nuclear war

deterrence will go over to a grave action without hesitation, the

conclusion set forth the important tasks for the fields in charge of the

affairs with enemies and foreign countries to make preparations in a

foresighted way for keeping pace with the powerful military actions of

the Korean People's Army to subjugate the whole territory of the south

on the basis of m