North Korean authorities have sent thousands of people to live and work at a large construction site for a mixed residential and industrial project in eastern Pyongyang, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery.

State media is not promoting the project despite its significant size, boasting over 30 apartment buildings and a 400,000 square-foot (3.7-hectare) manufacturing facility or warehouse.

The entire site covers around 160 acres (65 hectares) on the banks of the Taedong River in Samsok District, at the eastern edge of the capital. It’s situated next to a sprawling fruit farm and between two long-range ballistic missile launch sites frequented by leader Kim Jong Un.

The temporary camp set up at the site covers over 24 acres (10 hectares), where workers, likely a mix of conscripted soldiers and civilians, will stay for the duration of the project. 

The camp appears similar to those set up around the country in recent years under important projects spearheaded by Kim, like the “20×10” rural development initiative. 

Planet Labs satellite imagery shows preparations for construction started in the second half of April. A Maxar high-resolution image taken on Aug. 6 shows walls of the industrial buildings being erected and multiple floors of structural framework completed on the apartment buildings. 

The residential buildings appear similar in size and layout to those built at Kim’s greenhouse farm projects in recent years, while the arrangement of the housing complex next to the industrial buildings suggests the homes will be for workers of the unidentified facility.

It may be another agricultural facility, as it is located in front of the Taedonggang Combined Fruit Farm and Processing Factory. Its large main building, with an open central hall about three football fields long, also resembles those at machine factories and other material manufacturing plants.

Despite the project’s large size, state media has not been promoting it as it has done with other ongoing “major construction sites” like Hwasong Street, and the light industry factories and hospitals being built in 21 towns this year under the “20×10” rural project.

The project’s lack of publicity in state media may mean it is related to a sensitive subject — like the sprawling tree nursery built to the south in Samsok at one of the missile launch bases. NK Pro also reported earlier this month on secretive new construction at a telecommunications complex.

It’s also possible the project has been mentioned in passing in state media, though without referencing its location and without the fanfare typically associated with construction of this size.

Meanwhile, satellite imagery shows that another large construction project finally kicked off in southern Pyongyang in late April, two years after an expansive camp for workers was built at the site.

The purpose of the construction, which is near several key missile bases and military headquarters, is unclear and state media does not appear to have reported on it yet. 

Edited by David Choi