''Byungjin'' () is a political term in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. It originally refers to

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

's policy in the 1960s to simultaneously develop the military and the economy. Under

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

, grandson of Kim Il Sung, it has referred to simultaneous development of nuclear forces and the economy.

''Byungjin'' under Kim Il Sung

The term ''Byungjin'' means "progress in tandem" or "move two things forward simultaneously" and refers to Kim Il Sung's stated policy, propagated in 1962, of developing both the military and the economy of North Korea together. In practice, resources were disproportionately allocated to the military at the relative expense of the economy.

''Byungjin'' under Kim Jong Un

In 2013, Kim Jong Un revived the policy with a focus on balancing economic development with development of North Korea's nuclear programme.

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction North Korea has a nuclear weapons program, and, as of 2024, is estimated to have an arsenal of approximately 50 nuclear weapons and sufficient production of fissile material for six to seven nuclear weapons per year.Juche ''Juche'', officially the ''Juche'' idea, is a component of Ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea#Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism, Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism, the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party o ...

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Songun ''Songun'' () is the "military-first" policy of North Korea, prioritizing the Korean People's Army in the affairs of state and allocation of resources. "Military-first" as a principle guides political and economic life in North Korea, with " ...

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Strong and Prosperous Nation "Strong and Prosperous Nation" () is a political slogan in North Korea which originally described the main policy objective of the country's second supreme leader, Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Il argued that the military-first policy of ''Songun'' was ...

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A Note on Byungjin
by B. R. Myers Economy of North Korea Kim Il Sung Political terminology of North Korea Militarism Military history of North Korea Politics of North Korea Nuclear program of North Korea {{Poli-term-stub