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North's Kim visits cement factory to thank, encourage workers in first trip after Ninth Congress

Published: 02 Mar. 2026, 13:51 Updated: 02 Mar. 2026, 20:34

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits Sangwon Cement Complex in Sangwon County, North Hwanghae Province on March 1. [NEWS1]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sunday visited the country’s largest cement factory as his first economic move since the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in late February, urging workers to carry out a “new five-year plan” and boost production to support major state construction projects.

The new five-year plan refers to North Korea’s state-run economic blueprint that sets nationwide production targets and development priorities for a five-year period, which Kim unveiled at the Ninth Party Congress.

Kim toured the Sangwon Cement Complex in Sangwon County, North Hwanghae Province on Sunday and encouraged workers, North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported on Monday.

The Sangwon Cement Complex produces 2 million tons of cement annually and ranks as North Korea’s largest cement plant. The facility has supported large-scale state projects including the Pyongyang 50,000 Homes project, a housing initiative that aims to build 50,000 new apartments in Pyongyang.

In a speech during the visit, Kim described the complex as a key production base that has backed the party’s major construction initiatives by increasing cement output. He praised workers for their contributions to large construction projects.

“As I saw the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea end with success and have to launch a new struggle now, you were the first to come across my mind,” Kim said. “I truly wanted, all the time during the Congress, while recollecting the past five-year struggle, to offer my special thanks to you. As I have longed to see you, I am here at your enterprise as the first of my visits after the end of the Congress.”

During an on-site inspection after the speech, Kim stressed the scale of upcoming tasks.

“Supporting the Party and the country with boundless loyalty, aspiring after unlimited and daring innovation and consistently prioritizing science and technology — this is the key to the complex’s leaping forward and it is a formula for the increased production achieved by our workers and also for the development of our times,” he said.

Observers say Kim chose the cement complex to underscore the party’s construction policy ahead of renewed large-scale building projects and to boost worker morale. In fact, Pyongyang signaled at the Ninth Party Congress that it would expand construction projects nationwide, pledging to advance building efforts on a broader scale.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO [[email protected]]