As North Korea slowly emerges from five years of self-imposed pandemic isolation, a glittering new high-rise neighborhood in the capital Pyongyang is taking center stage.
Photos of the 10,000-apartment development, released by state news agency KCNA after the country’s leader Kim Jong Un inspected the site Saturday, show residential skyscrapers spilling out from a wide boulevard in the new district, Hwasong.
The project is part of a major construction drive in the capital, and across much of the internationally isolated, authoritarian nation, intended to improve living standards.
The homes are part of an ambitious five-year plan, announced in 2021, to build 50,000 additional apartments in Pyongyang, where residents’ quality of life is considerably higher than elsewhere in the impoverished country.
But despite the gleaming images of Pyongyang’s new skyline, high-rise living in North Korea is not necessarily a symbol of luxury. Frequent power outages mean that elevators in residential buildings often do not function, making daily life difficult for those living in upper floors. As a result, younger residents are typically assigned higher apartments, while older residents are moved to lower floors to minimize the physical strain of climbing stairs, as witnessed by CNN during multiple visits to the country.
Housing shortages remain a significant challenge for North Korea, which is also grappling with a faltering economy, surging commodity prices, and ongoing food insecurity. A 2021 study by researchers from South Korea’s Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology suggested that the country only has enough homes to accommodate 70% to 80% of its households. Outside of the showpiece capital, many homes are dilapidated and lack consistent access to electricity, clean water and sewage services.
The new neighborhood features numerous tall towers — two of which are connected by a soaring skybridge — as well as “educational, commercial and service facilities,” according to state media. KCNA claimed that Kim was closely involved in the design and “energetically led the work of drawing up the construction plan.”
Kim’s site visit comes ahead of the official opening ceremony on April 15, one of the country’s most important public holidays, celebrating the birthday of his grandfather, North Korea’s late founder, Kim Il Sung.
