This article is from the first edition (April-June 2025) of 38 North’s new quarterly product, North Korea Briefing, that monitors key internal developments in North Korea. For the full series, click here.
(Source: Korean Central News Agency)
During the second quarter, North Korea held a Party plenary meeting, made more headway with construction projects, and continued to deepen economic ties with Russia. The North Korean Workers’ Party of Korea’s (WPK) plenary meeting in June reaffirmed that the revitalization and modernization of industry, rather than extensive economic development, remain the core of North Korea’s economic policy, and that the WPK continues to employ a bottom-up approach by gathering each sector’s opinions. One major economic achievement during the second quarter was the opening of the long-awaited Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area. Construction projects are relatively low cost for North Korea, as it can locally produce the major raw materials and mobilize the military personnel needed for construction. North Korea continued to deepen economic ties with Russia by establishing transport infrastructure and stepping up educational cooperation; as well as with Belarus by holding an inter-governmental economic and trade meeting.
June Party Plenary Meeting
The Enlarged Meeting of the 12th Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK was held from June 21 to 23. The plenary meeting reviewed the implementation of key Party and state policies, presented at the Party plenary meeting in December 2024, in the first half of this year. The meeting approved a decision to convene the Ninth Party Congress, although reporting did not give a specific target date. It also discussed and decided on the issues of “radically accelerating the revitalization and modernization of major industrial sectors of the national economy.” “Sector-specific study and consultative meetings” were held for carrying out the Party-set plans for the second half of the year. As in 2024, state media did not provide much detail on any key industry’s production outcomes for the first half of the year.
Context and Implications
The plenary meeting reaffirmed that industrial revitalization, rather than extensive economic development, remains the core of North Korea’s economic policy, which is consistent with the goal presented at the Eighth Party Congress.[1] Although state media withheld details, the meeting also confirmed that the WPK continues to gather opinions from the grassroots level, at least to a certain extent, by holding sector-specific study and consultative meetings. The emphasis on this bottom-up approach is one of the distinguishing characteristics of North Korea under Kim Jong Un, and the North has consistently implemented this practice even during the pandemic.
National Economic Projects Bear Fruit
During the second quarter of 2025, North Korea continued to step up economic projects, some of which have started to bear results, according to state media. For example, garment factories built as part of the “20×10 policy for regional development” —launched by Kim Jong Un in January 2024 with the aim of establishing local industrial plants in 20 cities and counties over the next 10 years—have started manufacturing clothes, some of which were exhibited at the “2025 Spring Garment Exhibition” in April.[2] Furthermore, Kim Jong Un attended ceremonies to mark the completion of the third stage of a project to build 10,000 homes in Hwasong District in Pyongyang (April 15) and the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area (June 24), underscoring the importance he attached to these two initiatives.
At the inaugural ceremony of the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, Kim said the Area’s development was a “proud first step” toward implementing the Party and government’s policy on cultural tourism development, and that the Ninth Party Congress will present “an important plan for developing large promising tourist resorts of various types in different regions in the shortest time possible” based on the lessons learned from the development of the Kalma Peninsula.
Context and Implications
Improving the people’s livelihoods is one of Kim Jong Un’s long-standing commitments, and given the country’s limited economic resources, the regime seems to have come up with a workaround that would enable Kim to deliver his pledge at a relatively low cost: construction projects. North Korea has emphasized construction because it can source the necessary raw materials and manpower domestically: the primary raw materials for construction, reinforcing bars and cement, are domestically produced, and manpower comes from the Korean People’s Army (KPA). The construction of the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area began in 2018, but the project was delayed multiple times, first due to Kim’s redirections on architecture and aesthetics and then allegedly due to constraints procuring interior furnishings and fixtures.
DPRK Continues to Step Up Economic Ties With Like-Minded Countries
In addition to continuing high-level and people-to-people exchanges, North Korea and Russia have stepped up efforts to establish the necessary transport infrastructure to facilitate such exchanges. On April 30, 2025, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at a road bridge connecting Russia’s Far East and the DPRK.[3] North Korea followed up with an inaugural ceremony at the Kalma Railway Station in Wonsan, Kangwon Province on June 11. This event was held in the lead-up to the opening of the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, which has since hosted at least a group of Russian tourists before abruptly banning foreigners’ entry to the resort.
In May, the First Forum of Rectors of the Russian Federation and the DPRK was held at Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), bringing together leaders from 30 Russian and 10 North Korean universities.[4] The number of North Korean students in Russia stands at nearly 180 this academic year, and Russia has doubled their quota for the 2026 academic year.[5] Additionally, Russian Ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, said Russian has once again become the primary foreign language in North Korean schools, creating an urgent need to train more Russian language teachers.[6]
A delegation of the Belarusian government, led by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleiko, visited Pyongyang from May 6-9 to participate in the third meeting of the DPRK-Belarus intergovernmental joint committee for trade and economic cooperation and sign a protocol. North Korean media did not provide details of the protocol.
Context and Implications
Over the past year, Russia has been North Korea’s closest partner, followed by China. However, most of the trade between North Korea and Russia to date seems to have been limited to the military sector, and according to Russian statistics, fewer than 1,000 Russian tourists visited North Korea in 2024.[7] This number pales in comparison to the 2005-2007 period, when Mount Kumgang tourism was at its peak and between 240,000 and 350,000 South Korean tourists were visiting North Korea per year.[8] More importantly, North Korea’s efforts to step up educational cooperation with Russia—which it had deprioritized following the Soviet Union’s collapse—will be important for deepening economic ties with Moscow and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
It remains unclear whether North Korea still aims to normalize relations with the United States through a short- to medium-term “deal,” although there are few positive signals in that direction. More likely, if North Korea expects its hostile relationship with the United States to continue, it will prioritize cultivating economic relations with “friendly nations.” In this context, deep economic cooperation with Russia is crucial.
North Korea-Belarus trade has been limited so far. However, Belarus is part of the Union State with Russia and a founding member of the EEU. On December 25, 2023, Iran signed a free trade agreement with the EEU, and on December 26, 2024, it became an observer state. North Korea’s future external economic policies will show whether it will follow Iran’s path or strengthen relations with Pacific Rim countries. Also of note are Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan, which are also members of the EEU. How North Korea plans to develop ties with these three countries, which maintain friendly relations with Western nations, is worth watching closely.
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