N. Korea creates 10-year economic blueprint
By Lee Tae-hoon
North Korea, which is pushing for a third generation power succession, has crafted a 10-year economic development plan and will set up a new government agency to oversee and implement it, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Saturday.
The KCNA reported that North Korea has decided to adopt a 10-year state strategy plan for economic development and to launch the State General Bureau for Economic Development.
"This governmental body will handle all issues arising in implementing state strategy projects for economic development," the KCNA said. "This step was taken at a time when miracles and innovations are being performed in the socialist economic construction every day.”
The KCNA claimed that the 10-year plan will help the North achieve the goal of becoming a "strong and prosperous state" by next year and place the communist regime among the ranks of advanced economies by 2020.
Earlier the North pledged to revive the struggling economy by 2012, which marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, founder of North Korea and father of the current leader, Kim Jong-il.
"It, at the same time, helps lay a foundation for the country to emerge as a thriving nation in 2012 and opens a bright prospect for the country to proudly rank itself among advanced countries in 2020," the KCNA said.
“When the above-said strategy plan is fulfilled, the DPRK will emerge not only a full-fledged thriving nation but take a strategic position in Northeast Asia and international economic relations.”
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.
The KCNA pointed out that the new economic blueprint for the next decade puts an emphasis on building infrastructure and developing agriculture and basic industries including electric power, coal, oil and metal industries and regional development.
Cho Bong-hyun of the IBK Economic Research Institute told Yonhap News Agency that the North had been working on the 10-year plan since late 2009, under which it plans to inject $100 billion into 12 strategic sectors over the next 10 years.
They included the construction of roads with a total length of 3,000 kilometers, renovation of railways totaling 2,600 kilometers, the production of 20 million tons of iron, and other infrastructure, as well as agricultural development, Cho said.
"Setting up this 10-year plan is to help make breakthroughs for the North Korean economy to gain foreign investments, since the North has reached a point where it can't solve economic problems on its own," he observed.
The analyst noted that the latest move appears to be closely linked with the ongoing hereditary power transfer. He said Pyongyang wants to revive the flagging economy in order to achieve a smoother succession for Kim Jong-un, the heir apparent to the current leader, Kim Jong-il.