將靠自力更生前進的朝鮮二零一九年

將靠自力更生前進的朝鮮二零一九年
DPRK and Self-Reliance in 2019

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has so far achieved remarkable development under the harsh economic sanctions and pressure by the hostile forces. And what will be the year 2019 for the country?
In his new year address for 2019 Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un advanced “Let us open a new road of advance for socialist construction under the uplifted banner of self-reliance!” as a slogan for all the people to uphold in the year’s struggle.
His address is run through with the spirit of independence. What he and his people were convinced of once again through the previous year’s struggle was the truth that his country is fully capable of achieving its prosperity by dint of its strength and efforts, without any external assistance or any other’s help.
Proceeding from this conviction, he set forth strengthening the might of the independent socialist economy as the major task for the new year. Meaningful in the New Year Address is the part that stressed that the country should rely on its own technical forces and resources and the high creative spirit and revolutionary enthusiasm of all the people so as to succeed in attaining the strategic goals of national economic development and enter a new stage of growth. The part that talented personnel, science and technology are the country’s major strategic resources and weapons with which to bring about a great leap forward in socialist construction gives a glimpse into the country’s aspirations.
The New Year Address set remarkably increasing electricity generation as one of the most important urgent tasks in 2019.
By focusing state investment on the electric-power industry to maintain and reinforce its existing foundation and making maximum and effective use of it to renovate and modernize one by one badly needed sectors and projects, it plans to raise power generation to the peak year level; in order to fully solve the problem of electricity, it is going to step up the construction of hydroelectric power stations and create a capacity for generating tidal, wind and atomic power under a far-reaching plan. The New Year Address stressed that provinces, cities and counties should develop and utilize in an effective way various energy sources available in their local areas.
The coal-mining industry will play the role of a primary front in developing the self-supporting economy. In the DPRK coal serves a source of fuel and power for different sectors of the national economy, including the metallurgical industry. It is quite natural that mass-production of coal will propel the development of the economy.
Last year the country set up iron-making processes that do not use coking coal and scrap iron. The metallurgical industry will lower production cost to the minimum by perfecting the scientific and technological aspects of iron- and steel-making processes and ensuring their normal operation, and increase their production capacity.
The chemical industry will step up the building of the phosphatic fertilizer factory and the establishment of the C1 chemical industry, develop the glauberite and synthetic fibre industries and convert the existing equipment and technical processes into energy-saving and labour-saving ones.
The transport and machine-building industry sectors will also achieve development by their own efforts.
In the New Year Address Kim Jong Un said that improving the people’s standard of living radically is a matter of greatest importance for the Workers’ Party of Korea and the government of the DPRK.
The agricultural front will conduct a campaign for increased production, livestock farming will be developed, and a new path will be opened for developing the fishing industry.
The sector of light industry, by consistently upholding the banner of modernizing production lines, obtaining at home everything needed for production and improving quality, will put production on a regular footing. And construction of the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist area and other new tourist areas that would represent the present era would be accelerated for people’s civilized life and happiness.
These huge tasks will be implemented by identifying and enlisting every last reserve, possibility and potential and by increasing production and practising economy.
The New Year Address also referred to the tasks for increasing the country’s politico-ideological strength in every way possible, accelerating the building of socialist civilization and solidifying the national defence capability.
In the New Year Address Kim Jong Un called on all the Party members and other working people to step up socialist construction in their own way however the situation and circumstances may change, and glorify the country’s great history by working with sincere devotion and a patriotic desire for developing their homeland by their own efforts before the eyes of the world, the precious land of socialism which they have defended from generation to generation–a declaration that the road of self-reliance is the only road the DPRK should follow.

Source: Consulate General of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in Hong Kong