North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues his active domestic leadership. He is busy overseeing both civilian and military sectors to fulfill this year’s Five-Year Economic Development Plan and Five-Year Defense Development Plan.
The Workers’ Party’s official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported on Tuesday that Kim visited a hospital and a comprehensive service center construction site in Kangdong County on the previous day. This visit comes four months after he ordered the construction of a modern hospital there as part of local development policies back in February.
During his visit, Kim stated that building hospitals in rural areas represents a major revolution aimed at dramatically improving healthcare, which has lagged behind other sectors for the past decade. He toured various sites with officials and provided detailed instructions for future operations.
Moreover, Kim emphasized the importance of equipping facilities with advanced medical technology and systematically training medical personnel to modernize the healthcare system.
This approach suggests that Kim is personally engaging with civilian projects to encourage officials to fulfill policy goals while portraying himself as a people-oriented leader, mainly as North Korea aims to complete its Five-Year Economic Development initiatives by year-end.
Notably, healthcare is a key priority for Kim among various civilian issues. He has identified health facility construction as one of the three main goals of local development policies. He has committed to building pilot hospitals in Kangdong County, Ryonggang County, and Kuseong City by the end of this year, with plans to construct more hospitals nationwide starting next year.
As we reach the midpoint of the year, Kim is expected to focus all efforts on completing hospital construction and achieving economic results.
In October, he is set to open the Pyongyang General Hospital, often referred to as the North Korean Severance Hospital, which he has dedicated five years to completing. However, reports indicate that while the exterior is finished, the internal medical equipment is not yet fully installed, marking it as one of Kim’s urgent priorities.
This year also marks the conclusion of the Five-Year Defense Development Plan in North Korea. Last month, Kim visited military-related sites eight times, a significant increase compared to three visits each in March and April.
His schedule included leading joint long-range artillery and missile system strike drills on the eastern front on May 8, observing tactical comprehensive training for various military branches on May 13, guiding training for the 1st Air Division on May 15, and overseeing artillery firing competitions on May 29. These activities suggest a focus on maintaining military readiness to complete the defense development plan.
Analysts predict that Kim will concentrate on fulfilling both the defense and economic development plans in preparation for the successful hosting of the 9th Party Congress, scheduled for late this year or early next year.