At the Eighth Congress of the Korean Workers' Party in 2021, North Korea announced the line of strengthening cities and counties. From that point on, North Korea has elevated local development to the status of a major party policy and is actively pursuing it at the level of the central party. Local development policy in the Kim Jong-un era may be understood as the result of inheriting the principles and developmental direction carried forward from the Kim Il-sung era while also reflecting the reality of decentralization that took hold in earnest during the period of economic stagnation and the growing disparities between regions and between urban and rural areas.

Local development policy in the Kim Jong-un era warrants attention in three respects. First, in connection with the comprehensive and balanced development advanced by the party, it is being pursued as a long-term undertaking centered on the line of strengthening cities and counties and the new-era rural revolution program. Second, regional development has been elevated to a major policy at the level of the central party, thereby enhancing its implementation capacity. As a result, various model units are being created at the central level, and projects reflecting the distinctive characteristics of individual localities are being pursued at the local level on that basis. Third, the roles and authority of local party organs and people's committees as the substantive implementing actors are being strengthened, while the center is assuming a supporting role encompassing institutionalization and cadre education, with responsibilities being divided accordingly.

For North Korea's recent local development policy to translate into tangible results, institutions must first be established at the regional level that enable localities to secure and manage the local fiscal resources necessary for plan implementation. Although the trend toward decentralization continues, constraints remain with respect to the securing and utilization of financial resources needed to substantively develop local economies. Furthermore, effectively advancing local development policy requires intensifying competition among regions, which in turn carries the risk of deepening inter-regional disparities. Realizing the comprehensive and balanced development that North Korea aspires to through regional development will require finding a balance between devolving authority to enable localities to secure competitiveness and intervening at the central level to prevent the deepening of inter-regional inequality. This will constitute an important challenge for North Korea in successfully advancing its local development policy.