Dozens of homes surrounding a suspected uranium enrichment facility on the outskirts of Pyongyang were recently demolished, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, likely as part of a nationwide rural development project.

The demolition activity just meters from the outer walls of the Kangson facility is likely to raise questions among close observers of the site, though there is no evidence yet to suggest it is related to any nuclear expansion plans. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeated in recent years that Kangson is a “relevant” facility to North Korea’s nuclear program that remains active, following the first open-source analysis of the site in 2018, but North Korea has not confirmed the suspicions. 

The facility was constructed on the southwestern edge of Pyongyang starting in 2007, and the U.S. intelligence community reportedly determined as early as 2010 that it played a role in the country’s nuclear program.

Now, Planet Labs imagery reveals that a cluster of around 50 small homes was demolished directly across the street to the south of the Kangson compound between March 13 and 18 this year, with around 35 more homes across a field to the north demolished earlier in March.

Slide to compare before (March 10) and after (April 2) images of the demolition of the neighborhood of homes closest to the Kangson compound (please refresh page if images do not load) | Images: Planet Labs; edited by NK Pro

Around the same time, a neighborhood of over 100 homes across the Taedong River to the east was demolished and foundations for new apartment buildings appeared in their place, while 60 more small homes were razed 1.8 miles (3 km) to the northeast.

New construction work had not appeared to start in either of the two locations nearest Kangson as of June 3, but the timing and appearance of the demolition suggest it is part of a rural housing redevelopment project leader Kim Jong Un initiated in Jan. 2022.

The other three recently-demolished neighborhoods in the vicinity of the Kangson compound are indicated by red dotted-line boxes in this comparison of images taken in late February and early April this year | Images: Planet Labs; edited by NK Pro

The project saw less than 50 new neighborhoods built at farms across the country in 2022 — including the Kochang Vegetable Farm also near Kangson. But work has accelerated this year, and official North Korean state media has claimed nearly 100 more new neighborhoods have opened so far in 2023. 

Analysts have determined that the Kangson compound contains worker dormitory buildings, meaning there is no clear indication that the inhabitants of the recently demolished homes in its vicinity are in any way related to the suspected nuclear site. 

However, the facility’s assumed importance to the government means it cannot be ruled out that it has been selected as one of the few recipients of new modern-looking homes among the country’s thousands of farms and factories.

Edited by Arius Derr