This study analyses the historical continuity and changes in North Korea’s regional development policies during Kim Jong-un’s rule across three dimensions: ideology and discourse, policy, and law and institutions.
The analysis revealed that, at the level of ideology and discourse, regional development emerged as a core agenda, through the prominence of the “People-First” politics discourse and the formalization of the “Socialism in Full-Scale Development” line. In particular, it was confirmed that North Korea is employing a discursive strategy that borrows the symbolism of the original Changsong Conference—as evidenced by the designation, “Today’s ‘Changsong Conference’”— while publicly criticizing the limitations of past policies.
In terms of policy, the regime pursued both externally-linked development strategies (regional economic development zones) and self-reliant economic strategies (the “New Era Rural Revolution Code” and the “20×10 Local Development Policy”), depending on domestic and international conditions. While the regional development vision maintained continuity with previous administrations, the policy implementation was differentiated through the advancement of long-term plans, state-led support, and management, in terms of specific design and execution.
In terms of legal and institutional frameworks, laws directly related to regional development were enacted for the first time in history. Furthermore, unlike the ex post institutionalization of the past, there was a trend toward systematically establishing a legal basis for policies to drive their implementation.
This study is significant in that it complements the limitations of previous research—which focused on analyzing individual policies or legal frameworks—by comprehensively mapping the trajectory of regional development policies during the Kim Jong-Un era.