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North Korea enacts urban development law to provide better living conditions

Published: 24 Nov. 2025, 10:02

KIM MIN-YOUNG
[email protected]

This file image, captured from the Korean Central Television on Oct. 31, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, inspecting Kangdong County Hospital on Oct. 30, while its construction neared completion. [KOREAN CENTRAL TELEVISION]

North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament has enacted an urban development law aimed at modernizing city environments to provide better living conditions for the people, the North's state media reported on Monday.

The "Regional Development 20×10 Policy," aimed at modernizing central and regional cities, has been reviewed and adopted at a standing committee session of the Supreme People's Assembly, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Sunday.

The KCNA said the enactment is intended "to ensure the regional people enjoy the same material life as that of the citizens of the capital city and lead a life in good health free from worries and in an environment that is as cultured and hygienic as in the capital city."

"The ideal result of the regional development policy is that the whole country should be put on an even cultural level, too, by building up the regions to be as wonderful as the capital city is and transforming the environment of the regional people for a cultured life," North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said at the groundbreaking ceremony of a hospital and a leisure complex in Kangdong County held in February this year, according to the KCNA.

No further details about the enactment were reported, but the law appears designed to tighten the North Korean regime's overall control of urban developments and prevent urban sprawl.

It also comes as the North Korean leader is expected to reaffirm his signature regional development drive at a key party congress early next year.

Under the Regional Development 20 X 10 Policy, launched last year, Kim aims to build modern factories in 20 cities and counties each year over a 10-year period to improve living conditions in regional areas.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG, YONHAP [[email protected]]