Socialist DPRK makes progress on all fronts
By Keith Bennett
Successes on the home front
In the recent period, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has made marked progress across the fields of economic construction and improving the people’s living standards, as well as in national defence and diplomacy and external relations.
Regarding economic construction and living standards, I was able to visit the DPRK twice last year, in April and October, after an absence of nearly eight years. The transformation of the landscape in the capital Pyongyang (see picture above) was truly remarkable, such that even some bourgeois commentators have dubbed the city’s new skyline ‘Pyonghattan’. In April, I was able to visit a newly completed project of 50,000 new homes, the latest of several such vast projects that have been built over recent years. In fact, it had been officially opened by the country’s leader Kim Jong Un just the previous day and families were about to start moving into their new homes. To describe the project as simply 50,000 new homes, something that is certainly impressive enough in itself and in stark contrast to the ever-worsening housing crisis in our own country, does not do it justice. There were also shops and bars, service and leisure facilities, plenty of green space, and public transport links. Effectively, it was a whole new town, where just a year before there were only rice paddies. Moreover, these homes are provided free of charge to working people. No mortgage, no rent, no council tax – something surely unimaginable in any capitalist country. Other signal achievements include the new 1,000 bed Pyongyang General Hospital, which was opened in October 2025, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK).
Such developments are by no means confined to the capital city. In January 2024, Kim Jong Un put forward a regional development policy dubbed the 20×10 policy, according to which local modernised industrial and related facilities, including in health, education and leisure, will be built in 20 cities and counties each year over the next 10 years. He explained that the policy did not simply entail the modernisation of existing plant but rather should be seen as a comprehensive transformation of the whole local economy and living environment.
One of the many accusations often levelled against the DPRK is that Pyongyang is simply a ‘showcase’ – as though this is not, on at least some level either the case or the aspiration for most countries in the world. But what the new policy clearly entails is a major and planned push to steadily reduce the gap between the capital city and the provinces and between town and countryside, the latter in particular having long ago been identified by Karl Marx as a key step along the road to a communist future.
National defence
Developments in the field of national defence have been no less impressive. The fact that the DPRK is now a nuclear weapons power has been codified in the constitution. The matter can no longer be placed on an international negotiating table. What has now unfolded is both a quantitative and qualitative advance in the country’s self-defensive deterrent capabilities, including intercontinental means of delivery. Most recently, at time of writing, a test fire was conducted to evaluate the power of an improved surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile featuring various cluster bomb warheads. The principled decision of the DPRK to dispatch its forces to support Russia’s special military operation, and specifically the liberation of the Kursk region, has enabled the Korean People’s Army (KPA) to gain valuable field experience of modern warfare, particularly drone warfare, and to integrate this into its overall military doctrine.
Clearly all these achievements have only been possible with the benefit of firm political foundations.
Important events of 2026
This year has so far seen two important political events in the DPRK.
The WPK held its ninth congress between February 19-25. Surveying the achievements in the five years since the last congress, Kim Jong Un said:
“To develop all fields of state building, all regions of the country and all sectors of the national economy simultaneously and in a balanced way was a principle to be observed in achieving the complete victory of socialism, a historic stage to be followed and an urgent task of the times urgently required by the specific situation of our country.
“In order to stabilise the living of the people throughout the country at an early date and provide them with substantial welfare and to promote the building of an advanced state, our Party recognised that it is necessary to make a transition to the comprehensive development of socialist construction, no matter the difficult and unfavourable subjective and objective conditions. And our Party set it as the main task of the revolution, the fulfilment of which brooks no further delay, and has boldly carried it out…
“Gigantic projects for fundamentally resolving the agricultural and rural problems were launched to bring about changes in the grain production structure of the country, further improve the weak agricultural productivity and bring about a new trend of transforming the rural villages across the country where centuries-old backwardness lingered.”
Foreign policy
All this is unfolding against the background of an international situation, which Kim Jong Un analysed as follows:
“The world at present is completely different from the one five years ago, and international relations have been plunged into the vortex of chaos and upheaval.
“The US hegemonic policy and arbitrary practices have seriously shaken the foundations of peace and security in different parts of the world and caused a series of armed conflicts, making the present international situation become more and more chaotic and assume more variable and unpredictable colours with the passage of time.
“The open infringement of state sovereignty, wanton violation of international law, the global security crisis which has not been witnessed since the end of the Cold War and political and economic chaos and disorder in different countries – all these are the reality of the present world we are facing.
“The Western forces led by the US are just the chieftain that mercilessly destroys the existing international order and the accepted practices and causes instability and confusion while pursuing unilateral hegemony according to the logic that high-handedness is justice.
“Under the signboard of the so-called ‘America first’, the US is unhesitatingly resorting to aggression and use of force against sovereign states, advocating ‘strength-based peace’ to meet its hegemonic ambition only, regardless of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests of other countries.
“The US arbitrary practices that make the world noisy and uneasy are not new to us as they are only the continuance and extension of the top-class rogue and hegemonic practices we have always witnessed.
“Due to the US hegemonic policy, a serious change is taking place in the existing international order and structure of international relations based on the multilateral system and the standard of justice and the value of strength are being reevaluated.
“In the European region, the origin of the two world wars that took the lives of tens of millions of people in the last century, the reckless expansion of the Western alliance system created the worst regional security crisis, exchange of fire, for the first time in 80 years.
“The Korean peninsula and the surrounding region have been also exposed to constant instability and tensions due to the US and its vassal forces’ persistent hostile policy toward the DPRK and security-destroying measures, and the external environment of the DPRK is still grave.
“It is a reality and lesson, seen and drawn by the international community through the present cruel geopolitical situation, that if one is strong, one can survive and develop under any conditions but if one is weak, one will fall victim to sanctions and aggression and, ultimately, will be deprived of sovereignty and territory.
“The world realises though belatedly that as long as imperialism exists, international law and order are nothing but meaningless empty commitments and that the just advocacy of law and order alone can defend nothing.
“It is the truth proved by the present world and the law-governed principle in the international arena dominated by the gangster-like logic of jungle law that strength respects strength and to arm oneself with such powerful force as nuclear weapons is the only means capable of putting an end to the imperialist ambition for aggression.
“What is clear is that the desire of the progressive mankind to oppose domination and subjugation and realise independence, equality and autonomy is to grow stronger in direct proportion to the desperate efforts of the hegemonic forces.
“This is an irresistible law-governed process and inevitability of historical development. The independent forces will continue to grow stronger and the building of a fair and just multipolar world will be further promoted by their progressive struggle in the future, too. Right at the centre of it stands the DPRK.”
The party congress was followed by the first session of the newly-elected Supreme People’s Assembly, the country’s parliament, in March. Here Kim Jong Un doubled down on his analysis of the prevailing situation and the tasks of the DPRK, stating:
“The past decade clearly showed that no objective conditions and circumstances can ever check the advance of a state and people that have turned out in the struggle to shape their future, rallied as one with a firm faith, and that the most correct road to prosperity is to achieve self-reliance and self-sufficiency.
“The hostile forces wanted us to make a different choice, preaching a payment for our giving up of nuclear weapons, but the present situation clearly proves how just the strategic option and decision of our State were in rejecting the enemy’s cajolery and perpetuating our nuclear possession so that it is irreversible…
“Thus, our State has ushered in a new era of achieving security and safeguarding peace with strength, not by any declaration or through any appeal.
“The present world situation, in which the dignity and rights of sovereign states are being trampled upon feebly by unilateral high-handedness and tyranny, clearly teaches us what is a sure guarantee for the existence of our State and for defending peace.
“With an insight into the immutable nature of the imperialist and dominationist forces, for whom seeking hegemony has become an inveterate mental attribute and whose shamelessness would evolve to be more brigandish, we secured in a foresighted way a substantial capability for coping with the security threats that would face us in the future and their worst changes. We were absolutely right in doing so.
“Externally, the United States and its allies are constantly deploying nuclear strategic assets in the region around our country and threatening the security mainstay in the region, but in fact this is not something new to us, and security of our State is being maintained on a level higher than that in other regions of the world.
“I am sure to say: Ours is no longer a country that is susceptible to threats from others, and it has the power to threaten them, if necessary… Unpredictability is the only predictable future situation in the present world. If there is anything predictable, it is the aggressive nature of imperialism which can never change.
“Therefore, it will be the greatest error and a reckless gamble for us to predict the presently existing threats and prospective international political trend too easily and without adequate consideration and plan the future without careful deliberation. The surest way to predict future events and provide for unpredictability is to be prepared for everything. The correct way to turn unpredictability into predictability is to always worry about the worst situation, rather than seeking comfort, prioritise long-term and strategic benefits over short-term and visible benefits, and aspire to tomorrow’s sustainable prosperity, rather than today’s ease.
“We should have a powerful force to make peace a choice of the strong, not a sign of weakness. The DPRK has never refused peace so far and has not neglected in the slightest the efforts to have the most reliable means of defending peace from the most peace-loving stand. This is the most responsible choice not only for guaranteeing our own security but also for maintaining stability and durable peace in the region and the international community…
“Precisely, we know too well what we have to do, and will continue to do what we have to do as ever without fail. Whether our enemies choose confrontation or peaceful coexistence, it is their option, and we are ready to respond to any of their options…
“Although the United States is now resorting to acts of state-sponsored terrorism and aggression in various parts of the world, its arrogant high-handedness and rashness have failed to undermine the will of progressive humanity to oppose domination and subjugation and achieve independence and equality, but rather triggered off anti-American sentiments and hatred of the forces aspiring after independence, and they are pushing them towards unity and resistance.
“The forces aspiring after independence will surely overcome the present trials and get stronger than the hegemony-seeking forces, and the building of an equitable and just multipolar world will be further promoted.
“The government of the DPRK will, in the future, too, readily undertake the historic mission of leading the trend of global independence under the uplifted banner of independence. We should firmly guarantee the building of socialist society politically and diplomatically by pursuing an independent foreign policy that best conforms to our national interests, while regarding it as the foremost principle to defend national interests to cope with the changed international balance of forces and the uncertain international political situation…
“The DPRK will, in the future, too, discharge its responsibility in promoting international justice and regional and global peace and security, while firmly defending its sovereignty, security and fundamental interests.”
Securing the advance of the revolution
Kim Jong Un also made a series of important speeches during the October 2025 celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the WPK, which were held in a grand style and on a mass level. They are noteworthy in particular for the way they highlight the true role and standpoint of the WPK, standing in stark contrast to the incessant capitalist propaganda directed against it.
Speaking on a visit to the party founding museum, he said:
“Leading officials of the Party and the state should keep the Party’s original ideals and spirit as their mental attributes, have a correct understanding of the requirements of the times and reality and the essence and core of the Party’s policies, and firmly cherish the intrinsic nature of the communists who shoulder their responsibilities while directly connecting all issues to the future of the Party and the state.
“Our Party will accelerate the advance of the revolution, sweeping away all evil practices such as ignorance, incompetence, irresponsibility, self-protection, formalism and expediency, as well as arbitrariness, high-handedness and abuse of power which are rejected by the people and cause damage to socialism.
“When we feel tired and when we need greater courage, we should take to heart the spirit and fighting will of the Party-founding generation, who held high the red flag only in their empty hands and cut their way through bloody battles to bring about a new world of communism, and should display high enthusiasm for the revolution.”
Speaking at a national meeting held in the May Day Stadium, he noted:
“Always aware of and guarding against the possible budding of authoritarianism and a number of other problems which are likely to separate the Party from the masses as its ruling years get longer and one generation is replaced by another, we have made sure that an absolute spirit of serving the people prevails across the Party. This is an important factor in our Party’s winning the unchanging trust of the people and encouraging them to entrust by themselves their destiny to our socialist state as a whole.”
Towards the conclusion, he stated: “A party that is among the people, not standing above them, a party that shares with them aspirations and ambitions, wisdom and strength, and sweets and bitters, can never disintegrate and does not lose vigour and vitality forever.
“It always remains as iron truth that our Party cannot exist apart from the people and that the Party is great as the people are great.
“I would like to offer thanks once again to our great people who have always injected strength and wisdom into our Party and devoted pure mind and diligent efforts with belief in victory as well as the Party, while pioneering the arduous and yet sacred socialist cause for as long as 80 years.
“When we strive for some more years in the same spirit as now, we can well change our life remarkably and get closer to the goals we aspire to.”
It is on the basis of such solid foundations and firm and principled standpoints that the DPRK has proactively pushed forward its diplomatic agenda, raising the country’s international prestige in the process, with a clear emphasis on reinforcing its traditional alliances with Russia and China as well as with the other socialist countries and progressive forces in the world.
80 years celebrations
On September 3, 2025, Kim Jong Un joined the Beijing celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Although 26 foreign heads of state and government were present, the whole world saw that it was Kim Jong Un, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who were honoured as the chief guests.
The next month saw Chinese Premier Li Qiang participate in the WPK’s 80th anniversary celebrations, joined by the top leaders of Vietnam and Laos, Asia’s other socialist countries, the former president of Russia and currently leader of the United Russia party, and key figures from progressive Latin America – from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Mexico and Brazil.
Most recently, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko visited Pyongyang, following his first meeting with Kim Jong Un in Beijing last September, and the two countries signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. Subsequently, in a telephone conversation, Lukashenko and Putin discussed the prospects for mutual cooperation within a Belarus-Russia-DPRK ‘triangle’.
Conclusion
Taking all these developments together the conclusion that presents itself is that even a small country can defend itself and successfully build socialism even in the most difficult and invidious circumstances when it maintains fidelity to revolutionary principles and the clear-sighted leadership of the communist party.
Over the years many people, including many on the left, have criticised or slighted the DPRK – for its nuclear policy, for its staunch adherence to socialist principles in politics and the economy, and on this or that spurious pretext.
But as tragic and sanguinary events unfold one after another, in the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and elsewhere, they provide stark confirmation of the correctness of the policies consistently pursued by the DPRK and the WPK, even when other options might have seemed easier, or when superficially attractive blandishments had been put on the table.
Had the DPRK not stood firm on its principles at all times, the potential and all too tragic consequences are confirmed with each day. By standing firm, even in the face of temporary hardship, the people of the DPRK can now enjoy a steadily better and more fulfilling life – in an atmosphere of internal and external safety, security and stability that should rightly be the envy of people around the world.