Recently I got a strong impression watching in China the DPRK’s TV programme The Era of Comprehensive Socialist Development .

I was really enthralled to see the whole of the DPRK seething with creation and innovation in the era of great transformation. In a word, I felt as if I saw the rosy future of the country dynamically advancing towards comprehensive rejuvenation.

In retrospect, the 80-year ruling history of the Workers’ Party of Korea is literally a turbulent history of the revolutionary struggle, a proud journey of succession along which the Juche-oriented revolutionary force has been steadily built up by dint of the leader’s ideology, and a miraculous long march during which the leader and the masses of the people have achieved a single-minded unity to create the Korean-style socialist civilization in a constant manner.

Thanks to the outstanding revolutionary leadership of President Kim Il Sung , Chairman Kim Jong Il and the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un , who built the DPRK by authoring the Juche idea, defended it by setting forth the Songun idea and leads the country towards prosperity on the strength of the people-first idea, the DPRK has been finally able to greet the new era of comprehensive development or overall rejuvenation.

As a follower of the Juche philosophy, I could not help but focus on the issue of how to understand, study and explore the new era of comprehensive socialist development in the DPRK.

Due to COVID-19 I have not been to the DPRK for nearly six years, so I greatly lacked knowledge about the country’s reality. But I have sorted out what I have witnessed, heard and felt via different channels and put them in writing.

Understanding of Concept of “Overall Social Development”

“Overall social development” is a general concept that all the fields of society including politics, the economy, culture, ecology and livelihood achieve a harmonious growth and improvement as a whole, and it emphasizes balance, inclusiveness and sustainability in development.

This is not simply about economic growth but more about qualitative improvement of entire society and overall human development. In other words, “overall social development” is aimed at building a more stable and robust community by making systematic progress that takes account of efficiency and fairness, present and future, materials and spirit in all.

The DPRK’s theory of the comprehensive socialist development encompasses all the contents of the concept of “overall social development,” and it also highlights definite qualities related to the people, struggle, direction and revolution.

The DPRK’s comprehensive socialist development means to build a community in which all the fields of society including politics, national defence, the economy and culture develop in a simultaneous and balanced way, a community of miracles and transformations in which both the capital and regions change alike, a thriving community in which a remarkable positive change takes place in the people’s ideological and spiritual aspects to steadily boost their revolutionary enthusiasm and fighting morale, and a comprehensively developed nation that achieves overall socialist rejuvenation to demonstrate the dignity and prestige of the powerful nation of Kim Jong Un before the whole world.

Kim Il, deputy head of the China-DPRK Cultural Exchange Centre in Liaoning Province, China