North Korea completed a five-year project to build 50,000 apartments in Pyongyang, state-run media reported Tuesday. Leader Kim Jong Un, seen here at a Feb. 8 event, attended the inauguration ceremony and touted his regime’s domestic accomplishments. Photo by KCNA/EPA
North Korea has completed a five-year project to build 50,000 apartments in Pyongyang, state-run media reported Tuesday, touting the effort as a signature achievement ahead of a key ruling party congress later this month.
An inauguration ceremony was held Sunday for the final 10,000 units in the Hwasong district, marking what the Korean Central News Agency described as the “over-fulfillment” of a housing construction plan set out at the Eighth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea in 2021.
KCNA said nearly 60,000 homes and public buildings overall were constructed in the Songsin, Songhwa and Hwasong areas, creating “new majestic and beautiful ideal streets” and giving the capital a “radical face-lift” over five years.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended the ceremony accompanied by his daughter, Ju Ae, who has frequently appeared at high-profile public events in recent months. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers last week that Ju Ae, believed to have been born in 2013, is in the process of being designated as Kim’s successor.
After a ribbon-cutting ceremony and fireworks display, Kim toured the new district and met with workers and families receiving apartments.
Speaking at the event, Kim said it was the ruling party’s “faith, absolute outlook on the people and thoroughgoing spirit of serving” to provide citizens with improved living conditions.
“Our party will make strenuous efforts without a moment’s stagnation and deviation to bring earlier the future in which our people will enjoy a civilized and affluent life to their heart’s content,” he said, according to KCNA.
The housing drive has been one of Kim’s flagship domestic initiatives, alongside a broader regional development campaign to build modern factories and public facilities outside Pyongyang. Last month, he presided over a groundbreaking ceremony in Unnyul County to launch this year’s projects under that program.
The flurry of ribbon-cuttings comes as North Korea prepares for the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party later this month, where Kim is expected to outline domestic and foreign policy priorities and showcase achievements. In another recent appearance, he publicly dismissed a vice premier during a factory inspection, underscoring pressure on his regime to deliver results ahead of the gathering.
The completion of the Pyongyang housing project also follows this week’s inauguration of Saeppyol Street, built for families of soldiers killed while deployed to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, another high-profile domestic initiative showcased by Kim.
