The programme for socialist construction in the new era of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which regards the great people-first principle as its sacred political ideals, and its outstanding and energetic guidance continue to give birth to the most scientific and revolutionary strategies for great regional development and bring them to brilliant fruition in the course of the comprehensive development of our dignified state.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, who worked out long ago a plan to improve the people’s living standards as early as possible by making effective use of the sea in conformity with the natural and geographical features of the country with long coastlines, clearly indicated the orientation and ways for positively promoting and developing offshore fish-farming and aquaculture, and has wisely led the work to put it into practice.

Amid the stirring reality, in which the struggle for implementing the historic Regional Development 20×10 Policy is being waged dynamically, he had already given the WPK Central Committee a special instruction to take direct charge of and push forward with the work for setting an example to be followed by all coastal cities and counties to promote their development in a characteristic way as suited to their specific conditions by making the most effective use of marine resources. True to his special instruction, Sinpho in South Hamgyong Province, a typical coastal city with a small area under cultivation compared to its population, was set as a model for this year and preparations have been made to this end.

On July 15, Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, together with senior officials of the Party and the government, visited the Phungo-dong area in Sinpho, South Hamgyong Province, and looked round the site of an offshore farm to be built, acquainting himself with the project plan. He then convened a consultative meeting of officials concerned on the spot.

Present there were Kim Tok Hun, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and premier of the Cabinet, Jo Yong Won, Ri Il Hwan, Kim Jae Ryong, Pak Thae Song and other secretaries of the WPK Central Committee, Pak Jong Gun, vice-premier of the Cabinet and chairman of the State Planning Commission, major commanding officers of the armed forces organs and relevant officials in the province and in the design sector.

Kim Jong Un presided over the meeting.

The meeting discussed the issues arising in building the Sinpho City Offshore Farm into a new fine model for shallow-sea culture, generalizing it to bring about a substantial improvement in the economic development and the people’s living standards in coastal cities and counties, and more dynamically pushing forward with the Party’s regional development policy.

Referring to the purpose of the convening of the meeting, Kim Jong Un analyzed the economic potential of the seas and the importance and significance of their effective exploitation and use of their resources by the coastal cities and counties in successfully bringing about the epochal change in the 10-year revolution for the regional development which has entered the full-scale phase of its implementation, and set forth practical tasks and ways to this end.

He stressed that developing and making good use of their natural and economic resources in regions is very important to secure the independence and driving force of the regional economic development and, furthermore, to develop the country’s economic potentials in a unified and development-oriented way.

He said that only when the regions create an atmosphere for balanced and competitive growth by building up the foundations for their independent and sustainable development in all the local areas, can the regional economy develop, and the more the regional economy develops, the greater the motive power of the overall economy will become, contributing to the strategic economic potential growth.

The consultative meeting heard the data on the economic profits and effectiveness of the Sinpho City Offshore Farm.

Kim Jong Un seriously analyzed the reasons why the Party’s policy on developing the regional economy by making good use of the mountains in mountainous areas and the sea in the coastal regions has not been implemented so far. He stressed that the policies consistently maintained by the Party on narrowing the gaps between urban and rural areas in economic life can be implemented only when the state provides all the conditions and possibilities for the economic growth in regions in a responsible manner.

Saying that if the scallop and kelp farming is conducted well in the waters off the Phungo-dong area in the city of Sinpho, which is poor in economic potentials, can become the richest among the cities and counties in the country in three to four years, he expressed his determination to successfully build up the Sinpho City Offshore Farm into a model of aquaculture in the new century and present it to the people in the city as a gift.

He continued that it is the unique ties between the WPK and the army, their most sacred tradition and the decisive guarantee for victory in the revolution that when the Party leading the revolution plans any project, the army unconditionally carries it out, always holding it as an honourable historic mission. He entrusted the construction of the Sinpho City Offshore Farm to the Korean People’s Army units.

He expressed expectation that the KPA, absolutely loyal to the Party’s ideas, leadership and orders, would successfully build the model of offshore farming, to which the state attaches importance, and present it to the Party and the people as an outcome of its steadfast revolutionary stand and patriotic spirit.

He stressed the need for relevant units to responsibly carry out the tasks assigned to them as regards the construction of the Sinpho City Offshore Farm.

He instructed the Party Central Committee to set a creative example to be generalized and applied to other parts of the country by taking direct charge of the construction of the farm and powerfully and substantially pushing ahead with it. He also made sure that a division in charge of offshore farm construction was set up in the non-permanent committee for promoting the Regional Development 20×10 Policy to exclusively supervise and guide the construction of aquaculture bases in other coastal cities and counties.

Pointing out that the layout of the farm, submitted by the design sector, was not worked out at the level appropriate to a model creation of the aquacultural industry in the new century, he stressed the need to conduct a sincere study in a more innovative manner and create a new one so as to make the construction of the farm another revolutionary stage of development in designing industrial facilities, and indicated the orientation of designing.

Like all other undertakings, the development of aquaculture should be based on scientific guarantee and calculation along with proactive introduction of advanced technologies, he said, calling for giving priority to the selection of superior strains and paying primary attention to raising the scientific level to the maximum in the whole process, ranging from the management of the sea-farming ground to the preservation of ecological environment.

The consultative meeting took relevant measures after specifying practical tasks, including those for the senior city and county officials to comprehensively investigate the natural and geographical features and economic potentials of the regions under their charge and conduct a scrupulous study and organizational work to fully exploit them, to perfect the legal and institutional mechanisms to make the preferential measures for regional economic development prove effective, and to direct efforts to training core technicians and skilled workers in all cities and counties.

After the meeting, Kim Jong Un went round the waters for aquaculture by the farm.

Learning about the shellfish farming under way on a trial basis, he said that the waters off the Phungo-dong area are favourable for aquaculture in various aspects, including water quality, depth and temperature. With his heart filled with deep emotion, he pictured in his mind the morrow of the Sinpho citizens who will enjoy happiness along with the wonderful change in their region.

Convinced of the sure prospects of aquaculture and the possibility of its development, all the officials, who took part in the consultative meeting in the presence of Kim Jong Un, made a firm pledge to perform remarkable feats in the proudest and most worthwhile struggle by remaining true to their mission and duty in the struggle for placing the current new phase of regional development on a track of rapid promotion.

The consultative meeting will be recorded in history as a crucial watershed that set up an epochal milestone for the regional economic development of our own style and as today’s “Changsong Joint Conference” that instilled into all the Party members and other people stronger confidence in the creation of a new life and happiness.