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North's Kim hails completion of small hydropower station ahead of Workers' Party Congress

Published: 21 Nov. 2025, 15:36 Updated: 21 Nov. 2025, 15:42

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the completion ceremony for the Hoeyang Army-People Power Station in Kangwon Province on Nov. 20 in this still of a video aired by Korean Central Television on Nov. 21. [KOREAN CENTRAL TELEVISION]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un praised the completion of a small hydropower station in Hoeyang County, Kangwon Province, calling the achievement "a precious success" as he continues to spotlight his regional development drive ahead of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Ninth Congress early next year.

Kim attended the inauguration ceremony on Thursday and extended his "warm greetings of encouragement to the conquerors of nature" as he commended the province’s progress in resolving its electricity shortage, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Friday.

"What is really remarkable is that Kangwon Province, which has a smaller population and weaker industrial foundations than other provinces, has built by its own efforts these power stations that demanded a glorious and sacred but so arduous and difficult struggle," Kim said, according to the KCNA.

He linked the accomplishment to his regional development policy, under which the North aims to build modern factories in 20 counties every year for the next decade. Kim also visited a newly built hospital in Kangdong County on Wednesday.

The Hoeyang Army-People Power Station in Kangwon Province, North Korea, is pictured in this photo provided by the Rodong Sinmun on Nov. 21. The state-run newspaper reported that day North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the inauguration ceremony for the completion of the small hydropower plant. [RODONG SINMUN]

The KCNA said the Hoeyang Army-People Power Station is the last of six hydropower plants the province has prioritized, following those in Ichon, Munchon, Sepo, Pyeonggang and Goseong. Small hydropower stations rely on relatively low water volumes and natural drops in elevation to generate electricity.

Analysts have long noted that electricity shortages grow more severe outside Pyongyang, affecting daily life and undermining industrial output.

The North’s power generation capacity totaled 8.23 million kilowatts in 2021, about 6.1 percent of South Korea’s 134.02 million kilowatts, according to Seoul's Ministry of Unification. Annual power generation stood at 25.5 billion kilowatt-hours, just 4.4 percent of the South’s output.

The North has recently encouraged greater use of solar and wind energy to ease chronic shortages.

The Hoeyang project first appeared in the ruling party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, on June 20, 2016. Its completion after more than nine years suggests prolonged construction delays or repeated suspensions and restarts.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at the podium, delivers remarks at the completion ceremony for the Hoeyang Army-People Power Station in Kangwon Province on Nov. 20 in this still of a video aired by Korean Central Television on Nov. 21. [KOREAN CENTRAL TELEVISION]

At the ceremony, Ju Mun-jin, chairman of the Kangwon Provincial People's Committee, said building all six hydropower stations "simultaneously by the efforts of the province was a stiff and gigantic nature-remaking project baffling the existing idea and common sense."

"There were not a few obstacles in the construction," Ju said, according to the KCNA.

The outlet's photos show Kim wearing a black leather coat as he cut a red ribbon and toured the plant’s control and generator rooms. A slogan on the exterior wall reading “A gift to the Ninth Party Congress” indicated an intention to showcase achievements ahead of the event.

Accompanying Kim were Jo Yong-won and O Su-yong, both party secretaries; Premier Pak Thae-song; Ri Pyong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission; and Kim Su-gil, chief of Pyongyang's city party committee.

On the same day, the Kangwon provincial art theater hosted a performance titled “Our Marshal and the People of Kangwon Province” to celebrate the completion of all six county hydropower stations.

The state-run Rodong Sinmun reported on Nov. 21 that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the inauguration ceremony for the completion of the Hoeyang Army-People Power Station on Nov. 20. [RODONG SINMUN]

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 PARK HYUN-JU [[email protected]]