▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on April 7, 2026, shows the North holding a workshop of chief secretaries of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK)'s city and county committees from April 4-6. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

N Korea-regional policy

N. Korea holds workshop of party officials over regional development policy

SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has held a workshop involving chief secretaries of the ruling party's city and county committees in a bid to stress the faithful implementation of leader Kim Jong-un's regional development policy, state media reported Tuesday.

The North held the third workshop of officials from the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK)'s city and county committees from Saturday through Monday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Participants "reaffirmed their will to faithfully fulfill their heavy responsibilities in a sacred struggle to achieve the historic task of regional transformation," the KCNA said.

The meeting came as the North's leader Kim called for "bolder" efforts to implement the country's key regional development policy at a key party congress in late February.

In 2024, Kim unveiled a policy to build modern factories in 20 cities and counties each year over a 10-year period to improve the living conditions of people in regional areas.

Meanwhile, the North's state media officially confirmed party secretary Kim Jae-ryong as doubling as director of the WPK's Organizational Leadership Department.

In a reshuffle of party officials announced at the party congress, Kim was first called among party secretaries and department directors. This raised speculation that he might have been appointed as party secretary of organizational affairs and director of the organizational leadership department, which are known as the most powerful positions at the WPK.

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