April 27, 2024
Analysis

North Korea boasts of successful kids camp project despite 14-year delay

State media credits Kim Jong Un but ignores drawn out construction, likely due to chronic shortages and mismanagement

A small “new” political camp for children recently promoted in North Korean state media actually took over 14 years to build, according to NK News analysis, in the latest sign that chronic material shortages and top-down management problems are contributing to long construction delays.

The Rodong Sinmun reported on Nov. 10 that the “Mother Party spared no expense” to build the Kyongsong Children’s Camp for “the new generation,” but satellite imagery shows the basic structure of the seven-story hotel-like building was originally constructed in summer 2009 before multiple periods of abandonment.

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