N. Korea inaugurates greenhouse farm in Sinuiju ahead of key party congress

▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Feb. 2, 2026, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un delivering a speech at the inauguration ceremony for the Sinuiju Combined Greenhouse Farm the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Feb. 2, 2026, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un (C) looking around the Sinuiju Combined Greenhouse Farm after attending the inauguration ceremony held in the North's northwestern city of Sinuiju the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Feb. 2, 2026, shows the Sinuiju Combined Greenhouse Farm. North Korea held a ceremony inaugurating the greenhouse farm in Sinuiju the previous day, attended by its leader Kim Jong-un. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

N Korea-greenhouse farm

N. Korea inaugurates greenhouse farm in Sinuiju ahead of key party congress

SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has inaugurated a major greenhouse farm in Sinuiju, a northwestern city hit hard by flooding in 2024, with leader Kim Jong-un calling it a "wonderful achievement" ahead of the country's upcoming party congress, according to state media Monday.

Kim attended the ceremony inaugurating the Sinuiju Combined Greenhouse Farm the previous day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It took place around one year after the groundbreaking ceremony was held in February 2025.

North Korea has prioritized building a large greenhouse farm in vast areas of Wihwa Island, an islet in Sinuiju where the North suffered flood damage during summer in 2024.

In a speech, the North's leader expressed satisfaction that the project has become a "base" for new life for the residents of Sinuiju, who have suffered from flooding generation after generation.

"Our soldiers and young people have made a wonderful achievement of creation to be presented to the Ninth Party Congress," Kim said, referring to the upcoming key once-every-five-years event.

North Korea is widely expected to hold the ninth party congress early this month, the first since 2021, where the country will disclose its major policy lines for the next five years on diplomacy, defense, the economy and other areas.

The construction of the Sinuiju greenhouse farm has been cited as a major project pushed under Kim's signature regional development policy.

The KCNA said after Kim looked around the facilities, Kim said the construction of the farm is one of the "hugest projects" carried out under the eighth term of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

North Korea is widely forecast to tout the greenhouse farm project as a key achievement pursued under Kim's leadership at the ninth party congress.

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.

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