This article is the first in a series about progress on major construction projects around North Korea in 2021, and focuses on the capital, Pyongyang.

North Korea appears set to celebrate the completion of a new skyscraper street project and a smaller elite residential project in Pyongyang in the coming weeks, according to NK News analysis of satellite imagery, as workers have paved most roads and begun to clear out of temporary camps.

Holding big ceremonies on time around their end-of-year deadlines, possibly with the DPRK leader in attendance, would be a first for one of Kim Jong Un’s top construction projects since early 2020.

Shortages and economic problems upended some of his other pet projects last year, such as a new modern hospital in the capital and a giant beach resort on the east coast. Both remain unfinished and without updated deadlines.

Even if public ceremonies go ahead, it likely won’t be possible to determine whether work has finished on the inside of the skyscraper and residences — plumbing, wiring, interior work and furnishing, for example. Authorities may nonetheless promote the projects as examples of the party’s efforts to improve the lives of ordinary citizens in the face of economic hardships.

10,000 HOMES 

Conscripted soldiers and construction workers built an 80-story skyscraper and around 50 public buildings and high-rise apartments for 10,000 residents in the Sadong district of southeast Pyongyang starting in March this year. 

Some of the buildings have recently been painted and tiled, according to images published in state media, and Planet Labs satellite imagery taken in recent weeks shows that roads are being paved and temporary construction worker camps have started to be cleared, possibly in preparation for an opening ceremony.

The clearing of such camps has often signaled the end of major construction projects. However, the action also appeared to coincide with indefinite delays to the Pyongyang General Hospital and Wonsan-Kalma beach resort projects.

The sprawling camps at the Sadong district project also likely won’t be cleared completely, as at least some of an additional 10,000 homes slated for construction in Pyongyang next year will be built in the same area. They are all part of a grand plan to build 50,000 homes in the capital by 2025. 

State media has provided mostly scant details about the mega-project, but a top official reportedly said it was in the “final stage” during a visit in early November.

Finishing the Sadong district project within its set nine-month window would be quite the feat, even by North Korea’s speedy construction standards.

The state-run Pyongyang Times reported last month that the project requires “workloads that are several times greater” than 2016’s Ryomyong Street skyscraper project, and suggested that current economic difficulties pose greater challenges to construction than ever before. 

The Ryomyong Street project kicked off in March 2016, with Kim Jong Un imposing a year-end completion date. However, it ran into problems and missed this deadline by several months.

ELITE DISTRICT 

Kim Jong Un visited the 10,000 homes project once, to kick off its construction in March. But he has appeared to place much greater importance on a smaller project in central Pyongyang for 800 elite families, making on-the-spot inspections of the latter three times this year. 

The new neighborhood, called “Kyongru-dong” or “Pothong Riverside Terraced Residential District,” is also due for completion by the end of this year. Top scientists will occupy the houses, along with others whom Kim and the party consider vital to the country’s economic and scientific development. 

In a possible sign that these elite residents will soon be able to move in, parts or all of a temporary construction worker camp situated along the banks of the Pothong River disappeared by late November, according to Planet Labs satellite imagery.

Like the Sadong district project, state media has not published photos showing progress on “Kyongru-dong” outside of reports on Kim’s visits and has not signaled whether it will be completed on schedule.

TAEPHYONG DISTRICT

NK News was first to report details of yet another large-scale housing project sprouting up since July in the Taephyong district of western Pyongyang, and state media has since described it as part of the overall goal of building 10,000 homes this year.

However, satellite imagery taken of the site in recent days suggests it will not be completed by the end of this month, while state media has not outlined a specific deadline. 

Edited by Arius Derr