North Korea has elevated the recently-reconstructed and politically-symbolic Samjiyon county to the status of "city," the country's state media reported Wednesday.

The elevation of the area's status by a decree from the DPRK's Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly comes a week after leader Kim Jong Un visited the area for a grand opening ceremony of the newly-reconstructed "utopia" town, covered in extensive detail by state media at the time.