Two major construction works, including the reconstruction of Kim Il Sung Stadium and a new maze, are now fully operational in central Pyongyang, North Korean media reported on Monday.

“Upholding the decision made during the Seventh Congress of the Worker’s Party of Korea (WPK)…the whole of Kim Il Sung Stadium has gone through renovation work,” party organ Rodong Sinmun reported on Monday.

The renovation of the stadium began in October last year, making the full reconstruction time roughly a year, Rowan Beard of Young Pioneer Tours told NK News. 

The North Korean media said the newly renovated stadium is a “model sports facility” that can now hold around 40,000 people.

The building dedication ceremony was held on Sunday, with high-ranking government officials such as Pak Pong Ju, Choe Ryong Hae, and Ri Su Yong in attendance, Rodong reported.

On the same day, Pyongyang also announced the launching of a new maze on Rungna Island, only 800 meters east of Kim Il Sung Stadium.

“The newly constructed maze in Rungna People’s Pleasure Ground started to operate on October 1,” state-run website DPRK Today said.

“We have to speed up in the construction of Civilized Socialist State…to provide our people with a civilized way of life,” it read, quoting a speech by Kim Jong Un.

According to Google Earth, construction of the maze began sometime before May of last year, with a satellite image taken that month showing the base part of the maze already under construction.

DPRK Today said the state had used thousands of Oriental arborvitae to build the maze, that its total length was around 550 meters, and that it contained three labyrinths and nine dead ends with multiple lights, speakers, and cameras to bring “both tension and romance” to the customers.

“Sometimes the first comers only find the exit after spending a good while in the maze, while some get stuck in there and lost,” the article read. “Using the cameras, the controlling room keeps an eye on lost customers to guide them out of the maze.”

But the country’s press has remained silent about the ongoing construction of a large shopping complex located on the other side of the river.

The project under construction is around 140 meters in its length and 80 meters in width, which makes it the largest single shopping mall ever built in the country, NK News previously reported.

Located only around 700 meters to the southeast from the new maze, satellite imagery taken on October 9 showed that the exterior construction of this complex is almost complete.

A Seoul-based professor explained why Pyongyang might be silent about the project.

“It is standard practice for the North to not officially acknowledge a joint project with China, which in this case would be most likely be one,” Lim Eun-chul, research director of Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University told NK News.

“The reason for frequent new construction projects around the Rungna Island is because of the zone’s location – the center of the city – and what it symbolizes.”

The news comes a month after Pyongyang announced that it would halt several major building works in Pyongyang for flood recovery, NK News reported in September.

Edited by: Oliver Hotham

Featured Image: Google Earth and Rodong Sinmun, edited by NK News