North Korea has built a giant construction workers camp at the site of a former joint inter-Korean tree nursery project, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, underscoring its rejection of cross-border cooperation six years after a South Korean organization started investing a promised $16 million in the site.

Planet Labs imagery shows the camp was built throughout July at the existing Central Tree Nursery under the Ministry of Urban Management (도시경영성 중앙양묘장) south of Pyongyang, but that construction has yet to start on the tree nursery.

The camp covers about 67 acres (27 hectares), larger than the one built last year for the sprawling Kangdong General Greenhouse Farm project.

This suggests the construction project will be one of the country’s largest in scale for the coming year.

The camp is likely related to building up the tree nursery, but it could also have to do with the military as it is located down the road from the army special forces Unit 525 headquarters and Majang-ri missile base, as well as the recently demolished Kim family Ryokpho palace across the street, where a separate construction project is underway.

The Association for the Promotion of National Unification (APNU, 민족통일촉진회), a private South Korean organization, led the joint project to rebuild the Central Tree Nursery, and its members made at least six trips to Pyongyang between July 2018 and April 2019.

It started soon after the two Koreas agreed to initiate a range of joint projects on “forest creation and protection.”

But such projects were abandoned after inter-Korean relations and DPRK-U.S. talks broke down in 2019.

APNU’s website said the project included an investment of 20 billion won (about US$16 million) in two stages.

The ROK firm Haim Horticultural Architecture (하임원예건축) said it would be the “largest cutting-edge tree nursery in Asia” in a blog post about the start of construction in Aug. 2018.

Planet Labs and Google Earth satellite imagery shows that construction quickly stalled and that only lines of square holes meant for greenhouse foundational supports remain. Photos on APNU’s website and Facebook page show North and South Koreans working on the construction together.

Neither APNU nor Haim responded to requests for comment at the time of publication, and APNU’s website is currently down.

A spokesperson from South Korea’s Ministry of Unification told NK Pro on Friday that the ministry did not contribute any money to the project and that while APNU submitted the necessary documents regarding trips to the North and contact with their DPRK partners, there’s no record of them taking supplies related to the projectover the border.

Construction on the Central Tree Nursery under the Ministry of Urban Management, located in the Nunggum-dong area of Pyongyang’s Ryokpho District (평양시 력포구역 능금동), first started between 2000 and 2006, according to Google Earth imagery. A new administrative complex was built on site between 2013 and 2015.

There is a separate Central Tree Nursery under the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection (국토환경보호성 중앙양묘장), which is located on the other side of the city near Pyongyang International Airport. Kim Jong Un used that site to launch a ballistic missile in Sept. 2022.

A design render on APNU’s website suggests the renewal project would not involve much new construction besides a few large glass greenhouses and administrative buildings. 

The rest of the work would relate to improving productivity in the hundreds of acres of plots in the complex meant for planting various types of trees.

Past South Korean administrations and private groups have long sought to work with North Korea on solving the country’s deforestation problem, saying it contributes to dust pollution issues in the South and is a non-political avenue for addressing climate change and improving relations.

Another joint tree nursery project in Kaephung just across the inter-Korean border previously failed to be completed after starting in 2007. The South Korean side attempted to restart it in 2019, but North Korea rejected the offer.

DPRK state media frequently publishes articles on the importance of afforestation work, while new large-scale tree nurseries have been built all over the country in recent years. Kim Jong Un last conducted a traditional leadership photo-op to encourage tree planting in March 2022.

The ROK government has reportedly continued to spend money on seedlings destined for North Korea after the breakdown in relations, but Pyongyang has gone out of its way to demonstrate it will no longer engage in any joint projects with the South.

Kim Jong Un ordered the demolition of the famous National Reunification monument in January this year soon after introducing his new major anti-unification policy, while satellite imagery shows North Korea is continuing efforts this month to block roads and railways connecting the two Koreas.

Meanwhile, Planet Labs imagery shows that North Korea also restarted construction late last year on a new building at the Pyongyang Cardiac Hospital, another former inter-Korean project. 

It started in 2007 east of the Taedong River, spearheaded by the ROK-based Yoido Full Gospel Missions Foundation, and has sat abandoned as a concrete shell since around 2009.

Edited by Alannah Hill

Updated at 6:34 p.m. KST with unification ministry comment