North Korea has been ramping up the opening of new regional factories, including one in the northeastern county of Kilju, where a nuclear test site is located, ahead of next year's key party congress, according to state media Wednesday. North Korea held a ceremony the previous day to inaugurate a light industry factory in Kilju, attended by senior party, military and government officials, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. Kilju County in North Hamgyong Province is home to the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, where the North conducted all six of its nuclear tests, including the latest one in 2017. "Modern light industry factories have risen up in the nation's northern mountainous areas of Kilju here," Ri Il-hwan, a party secretary for propaganda, said in a speech at the ceremony, noting that a key project to build regional factories will further expand. In January last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un unveiled his signature regional development policy to build modern factories in 20 cities and counties each year over a 10-year period to improve the living conditions of peo