The DPRK consistently adheres to the line of building an independent national economy in economic construction.
True to the basic line of socialist economic construction put forward in Juche 42 (1953) which means developing the heavy industry preferentially and ensuring the simultaneous development of light industry and agriculture, the country laid rock-solid material and technical foundations for the building of an independent national economy in a short period.
In the 1960s when the US moves of aggression became undisguised, the Workers’ Party of Korea advanced the line of simultaneously carrying on the economic construction and defence buildup. According to this line, the country established a socialist industrial state while increasing the defence potentialities.
In the 1990s the country underwent the Arduous March owing to the disintegration of the socialist market, the imperialist allied forces’ undisguised moves to isolate and stifle the nation and successive natural disasters. But the Arduous March was concluded with the successful administration of Sengun politics.
In the 2000s, in compliance with the line of economic construction of the Sengun era, which pursues preferential development of the defence industry and simultaneous development of light industry and agriculture, the economy made steady progress, laying a solid foundation for the building of an economic giant, and an industrial revolution of the new century started.
The DPRK is making rapid progress in the sector of cutting-edge science and technology and pushing forward the modernization of industrial establishments, while encouraging several sectors of the national economy to rely on locally-available raw and other materials.
It is building an economic giant in a tense situation in which the US imperialists are threatening the country by wielding the nuclear stick and imposing economic sanctions and blockade upon it to isolate and stifle it.
To cope with the prevailing situation and meet the demands of the developing revolution, the Workers’ Party of Korea set out the strategic line of simultaneously conducting economic construction and building up the nuclear forces.
This strategic line is not a temporary countermeasure adopted to cope with the rapidly-changing situation, but a strategic line the Party holds fast to permanently. According to this strategic line, the country has stepped up economic construction at the same time as building up its defences with the nuclear forces as the pivot. Thus it has ushered in the era of Mallima, a golden age for building a powerful socialist country, in which it advances reducing ten years to one.
It is making efforts to build an economic giant that is strong in terms of its independence and Juche character and is developing with science and technology as the main productive force.
The Party’s strategic line for building an economic giant is to make the national economy Juche-oriented, modern, IT-based and scientific at a high level by maintaining the spirit of self-reliance and self-development and by relying on science and technology, and to provide the people with affluent and cultured living conditions.
It is striving to make the vanguard sectors of the national economy, the basic industries, Juche-based and modern at a higher level and ensure their maximum production. It prioritizes agriculture and light industry to bring about a decisive improvement in the people’s living standards.
The country has set up production and technical processes to turn out essential materials and fuels by relying on domestic resources, and is manufacturing cutting-edge equipment and other indispensable technical means as suited to its actual conditions. It endeavours to develop itself into a knowledge economy powered by science and technology, and to improve economic guidance and management in line with the requirements of the developing reality.
The sector of science and technology has been set as a top priority and all sectors of the national economy combine their production with science and technology to boost production. They also strive to introduce CNC technology in their equipment and production lines and achieve their full automation.
The country is establishing such high-tech industries as information, nanotechnology and biological industries on a large scale to increase their share of, and enhance their pivotal role in, the country’s economic development. It prioritizes the development of the sectors that directly influence the people’s livelihood, furnishes working people with excellent conditions for their working and material life, and expands the scope of people-oriented policies to steadily improve the people’s standard of living.
The Seventh Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, held in May 2016, set forth the five-year strategy for national economic development to give a powerful impetus to the building of a socialist economic giant.