North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, delivers a speech during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new greenhouse farm and a vegetable science research center in the northwestern city of Sinuiju, provided by the Korean Central News Agency, Feb. 10. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a new greenhouse farm and a vegetable science research center in the northwestern city of Sinuiju, reaffirming his commitment to regional development, state media reported Tuesday.

The ceremony was held the previous day for the "largest-ever modern" 450-hectare greenhouse farm and a vegetable science research center, which will be built in Sinuiju, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Sinuiju is one of the regions in North Korea that suffered flood damage last summer.

Kim had promised to build a greenhouse farm in Sinuiju during a ceremony marking the completion of homes in the city late last year, as part of reconstruction efforts following flood damage.

Delivering a speech during the ceremony Monday, Kim said the construction site will "symbolize our cause of rejuvenating the whole country" and demonstrate progress in regional and rural development.

"Our party and government are planning to implement a new, promising regional development project on the shore of this Amnok River, where damage caused by a natural calamity was removed and a new socialist life has settled," Kim noted.

The North Korean leader also commended servicemen in the Navy and the Air Force, as well as members of the Paektusan Hero Youth Shock Brigade, expressing confidence they will build "the most splendid and satisfactory structure" for the country and its people.

He later met with the commanding officers of the military units involved in the construction, encouraging them and giving a series of instructions, according to the KCNA.

A group of top-tier party and military cadres accompanied Kim to the ceremony, including Premier Pak Thae-song, Defense Minister No Kwang-chol and Jong Kyong-thaek, director of the military's General Political Bureau, as well as the chiefs of the Navy and Air Force.

The Sinuiju facility is the fourth large-scale greenhouse farm launched since Kim came to power in 2011, following three others built in North Hamgyong, South Hamgyong and near Pyongyang in 2019, 2022 and 2024, respectively.

While the previous three farms ranged from 200 to 300 hectares in size, the Sinuiju farm is the largest, covering an area about 1.5 times the size of Seoul's western financial district of Yeouido, according to South Korea's unification ministry. (Yonhap)