North Korea is promoting artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced information technology (IT) as essential tasks for nationwide regional economic development, not limited to Pyongyang or central agencies. The February 2026 issue of North Korea’s economic magazine *Economic Research* emphasized that adopting AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and big data is essential for self-reliant and sustainable regional economies. The magazine proposed first conducting pilot projects in specific regions before scaling results nationwide. It argued that each region’s “Science and Technology Dissemination Hubs” should be utilized as big data centers to analyze region-specific data, and that local economic institutions must independently cultivate IT and AI talent. Noting that there will be no regions that do not utilize AI in the future, the magazine called for continuous upgrading of IT infrastructure and establishing a “flexible and robust security system based on advanced technology.” The key point is that North Korea views the success or failure of its current regional development policy as hinging on the active utilization of IT and artificial intelligence technologies, treating this as a nationwide agenda.