North Korea has started construction in at least seven towns across the country to kick off the third year of leader Kim Jong Un’s “20×10” rural development project, according to NK News analysis, with the focus still on populations working at key weapons factories and military bases.

Kim attended a groundbreaking ceremony for new factories in Unnyul County, southwest of the capital, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday. 

NK News analysis of Planet Labs satellite imagery shows that military construction workers have set up camps and begun demolishing buildings or clearing land in recent weeks in the town centers of Sinhung, Sonchon, Phyonggang, Phyongwon, Pongsan and Taean counties as well. 

The North Korean leader claimed in a speech at the Unnyul ceremony that the 20×10 project has already “transformed the backward regional economic foundations of the previous century.”

Kim said he wants to “raise to a higher stage the basic material and cultural standards of living of the regional people” and that the building of small factories making clothes and snacks has allowed rural areas to start “gaining competitive edge” on the national market.

The 20×10 project set out in 2024 to build modern health facilities and two to three factories in 20 locations per year for 10 years, targeting all 200-plus cities and counties in North Korea. The factories produce goods like plastic buckets, soap, crackers, simple clothing, furniture and fish products.

This year will mark the first time that hospitals and “leisure complexes” will be built in addition to light industry factory clusters in all 20 counties and cities selected as part of the “Regional Development 20×10 Policy.”

Each leisure complex appears to house a library, a few shops, a supermarket, an outdoor flea market, a small gym with a few machines, a hair salon, a one or two-room movie theater and other basic amenities.

These facilities were only included in a handful of counties last year on a trial basis, but Kim confirmed at Thursday’s ceremony in Unnyul that the project will commence at full scale in 2026. 

Kim did not mention “grain management centers,” which he vowed in 2024 would be built in all locations each year as well. 

He added that besides improving rural living conditions, he is using the project as a form of ideological training to ensure absolute obedience of conscripted soldiers who have been tasked with construction in special “124th regiments.” 

State media has yet to announce all 20 locations selected for 2026.

NK News surveyed dozens of counties in Planet Labs satellite imagery but found only seven with activity indicative of typical 20×10 project preparations, and most of these have ties to the military and weapons industry.

Unnyul, the first county selected for promotion under this year’s 20×10 project, appears to be important to the DPRK leadership for its mines connected to the iron and steel industry, which authorities typically prioritize for weapons production.

Sinhung County on the east coast is one of the most important military factory towns in the country, hosting plants that build missile launch vehicles and armored personnel carriers (APCs), as well as a sprawling unidentified complex to the east with visual signatures similar to plants dealing with chemicals and explosives.

Sonchon County in the northwest is home to the October 8 Factory, which state media has claimed is a “daily necessities” factory. However, the factory exhibited some relevance to the country’s missile program, due to key weapon development officials like Hong Yong Chil and Jong Sung Il visiting there with Kim in 2013 and 2014, according to NK News analysis.

Phyonggang County hosts the Korean People’s Army (KPA) 5th Corps command headquarters, which is one of the corps responsible for front-line operations against South Korea as it is near the border.

Phyongwon County to the north of the capital hosts a sprawling military site that may be a missile base, as well as a large artillery training site on the coast. 

Taean, located between Pyongyang and Nampho, hosts a key heavy machinery factory that may have military ties, as well as electronics and glass factories.

There are missile and military bases within Pongsan County boundaries, near Sariwon, but their administrative connections to the town center are less clear.

State media is likely to report on groundbreaking ceremonies in at least 19 other towns in the coming weeks, with leader Kim Jong Un potentially attending some. 

The counties selected in 2024 and 2025 similarly appear to have been selected with weapons and the military in mind, despite Kim Jong Un’s initial vow to focus on rescuing areas with the “most backward” and failing economic conditions first.

Edited by Bryan Betts