Pyŏngjin

Pyŏngjin
Hangul	병진
Hanja	并進
Lit.	parallel development
RR	byeongjin
MR	pyŏngjin

Pyŏngjin (Korean: 병진; Hanja: 并進; lit. 'parallel development') is a political term in North Korea. It originally refers to Kim Il Sung's policy in the 1960s to simultaneously develop the military and the economy; the term has been used in like manner under the direction of Kim Jong Un, grandson of Kim Il Sung.^[1]

The term pyŏngjin 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.

Pyŏngjin under Kim Jong Un

In 2013, Kim Jong Un revived the policy with a focus on simultaneous development of the military and the economy.^[2]

See also

• North Korea portal

• Economy of North Korea
• Korean People's Army
• North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
• Juche
• Songun
• Strong and Prosperous Nation

References

Citations

1. Easley 2018, p. 125.
2. Yeol, Kim So (1 April 2013). "Byungjin Lives as Kim Seeks Guns and Butter". Daily NK English. Retrieved 10 June 2025.

Sources

• Easley, Leif-Eric (2018). "North Korean Identity as a Challenge to East Asia's Regional Order". In Sohn, Yul; Pempel, T. J. (eds.). Japan and Asia's Contested Order: The Interplay of Security, Economics, and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 109–144. ISBN 9789811302565.

Further reading

• Cheon Seong-Whun (23 April 2013). "The Kim Jong-un Regime's 'Byungjin'(Parallel Development) Policy of Economy and Nuclear Weapons and the 'April 1st Nuclearization Law'" (PDF). Seoul: Korea Institute for National Unification. Online Series 1 CO 13-11.
• Hayes, P.; Cavazos, R. (2016). "North Korea in 2015: 'Yes I Can!' Byungjin and Kim Jong Uns Strategic Patience". Asian Survey. 56 (1): 68–77. doi:10.1525/as.2016.56.1.68. ISSN 0004-4687. S2CID 156734114.
• Lankov, Andrei (2017). "Is Byungjin Policy Failing? Kim Jong Un's Unannounced Reform and its Chances of Success". The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis. 29 (1): 125–145. ISSN 1941-4641.
• Tak Sung Han; Jeon Kyung Joo (2014). "Can North Korea Catch Two Rabbits at Once: Nuke and Economy? One Year of the Byungjin Line in North Korea and Its Future". The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis. 26 (2): 133–153. ISSN 1941-4641.
• Winstanley-Chesters, Robert (2016). "Treasured Swords: Environment under the Byungjin Line". In Cathcart, Adam; Winstanley-Chesters, Robert; Green, Christopher K. (eds.). Change and Continuity in North Korean Politics (1st ed.). London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315545646. ISBN 978-1-315-54564-6.

External links

• A Note on Byungjin by B. R. Myers