Kim Jong-un issues rebuke over factory delays as policy priorities stretch resources
Published: 05 Nov. 2025, 14:47
Updated: 05 Nov. 2025, 16:58
![North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects the construction sites of a school supply factory and an educational equipment facility in Pyongyang on Nov. 4, in a photo run by the Korean Central News Agency the next day. [KCNA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/05/73df4eb8-fffe-454c-b4ec-95a26da1995e.jpg)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects the construction sites of a school supply factory and an educational equipment facility in Pyongyang on Nov. 4, in a photo run by the Korean Central News Agency the next day. [KCNA]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has rebuked senior officials over delays in constructing two education-related factories, highlighting growing frustration with the regime’s economic vulnerabilities and its inability to efficiently allocate resources to less-prioritized sectors.
The Rodong Sinmun, the North’s leading newspaper, reported Wednesday that Kim visited construction sites the previous day for a school supply factory and an educational equipment facility — dubbed the “School Things Factory and the School Fixtures Factory” by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), criticizing the sluggish pace of the projects despite years of policy emphasis on strengthening the country’s education infrastructure.
Despite the projects being “dealt with as an important agenda in every plenary meeting of the Party Central Committee for the past few years […] the project was not carried out until the half of this year although five calendar years have passed,” the KCNA said.
Kim reportedly added that the issue should be viewed not simply as a matter of “economic or practical conditions” but as a reflection of senior officials’ lack of commitment to party policies and the nation’s future.
Kim warned that during the upcoming plenary session in December, the party would conduct a strict review of repeated neglect of “the weighty policies of great significance" and its effect on "the most important of state affairs.”
Observers expect sharp criticism of the Education Ministry’s performance at the session.
![North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects the construction sites of a school supply factory and an educational equipment facility in Pyongyang on Nov. 4, in a photo run by the Korean Central News Agency the next day. [KCNA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/05/87e24e9d-5a41-4a18-a5e0-3acf8e6ba144.jpg)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects the construction sites of a school supply factory and an educational equipment facility in Pyongyang on Nov. 4, in a photo run by the Korean Central News Agency the next day. [KCNA]
Kim issued a similar public reprimand in June 2022, when he held up locally produced toothpaste and children’s belts to illustrate the poor quality of domestic goods.
Experts note that the stagnation in civilian projects is a direct result of Kim’s own policy choices. In addition to the five-year economic development plan unveiled at the Eighth Party Congress in January 2021, Kim announced the so-called Regional Development 20X10 Policy last year, pledging to build modern factories in 20 counties annually to improve living standards over the next decade.
However, with military factories now reportedly operating at full capacity to supply weapons — including missiles and artillery shells — and an estimated 16,000 troops sent to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, resources have been diverted away from civilian initiatives.
Ultimately, Kim appears to be deflecting blame for the structural flaws of his own policies onto senior officials, while ramping up pressure to produce visible results.
“Kim Jong-un is now facing the contradictions of his own policy priorities,” said Oh Gyeong-seop, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification. “His reckless focus on boosting his legacy has exposed glaring mismanagement of the country’s finances, and with the Ninth Party Congress approaching at the end of the year, he’s resorting to heavy-handed measures to produce results.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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