[News analysis] North Korea’s construction boom under Kim Jong-un

Posted on : 2019-04-14 19:29 KST Modified on : 2019-04-14 19:29 KST
The North Korean leader plans to build his country into “socialist civilization”
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspecting plans for a development project in Sinuiju
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspecting plans for a development project in Sinuiju

The Feb. 15, 2015, edition of North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun ran several photos of leader Kim Jong-un conducting “on-the-spot guidance” at various sites of economic significance. There were drone shots of Kim’s official airplane, the Chammae-1, flying through the sky; a bird’s-eye photograph of Future Scientists Street in Pyongyang, then under construction, taken from the air; and a photo of Kim himself looking out through a window at the construction site. This was the first time that North Korea’s on-the-spot guidance had included footage of guidance from above.

Whereas photography of such on-the-spot guidance by former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had tended to be low-key shots focused on the leader, Kim Jong-un has made an effort to provide a three-dimensional view of cities and construction sites, making use of diverse angles. Most of the photos taken of Kim’s visits to construction sites show the leader looking down from above, offer a panoramic view of the city or construction site or pack the scene into a fisheye lens. Such photos express the perspective of a leader who is unveiling an urban landscape.

Civilization, urban construction and mobility

Kim has a particular fondness for urbanization. Since coming to power, his domestic ruling code can be summed up with the terms “civilization,” “urban construction” and “mobility.” The phrase “socialist civilization,” which first appeared in 2012, is a keyword that symbolizes Kim’s “construction politics.” Construction is a “yardstick that intuitively reveals the height of a nation’s power and civilization,” Kim said in his 2016 New Year’s address. North Korea has defined the Kim Jong-un era as a “period of great prosperity in construction and a new age of civilization and enlightenment.” The narrative of socialist civilization and the politics of construction have promoted marketization and have triggered a revolution in urban mobility. Marketization has brought an explosive increase in mobility connecting the inside and outside of cities, or in other words the flow and network of people, products, currency, information, and technology. The city has evolved into a single market system. Marketization is the background of Kim’s construction politics and affection for the city.

Korean Central Television reported on Apr. 6 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un conducted “on-the-spot” guidance of construction at the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area. (KCTV/Yonhap News)
Korean Central Television reported on Apr. 6 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un conducted “on-the-spot” guidance of construction at the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area. (KCTV/Yonhap News)
The political message of urban construction

The photographs of Kim’s on-the-spot guidance at construction sites since he took power are also part of the process of creating the image of a leader who creates urban order. Whereas Kim was associated with an ignoble and secretive background when he first came to power, he has gradually been presented as a key figure in a skyline made of grand and inviting buildings. Kim is using the city as a visual spectacle that shows off his personal status and authority.

In North Korea, urban development plans carry a political message. Large-scale apartment projects in Pyongyang have been planned to coincide with the birthdays of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung (his 60th, 70th, and 80th) and at 10-year intervals of the ruling party’s establishment. Eye-catching construction projects have also been launched as a response to shifting dynamics, such as the reform and opening of the socialist bloc and the Seoul Olympics. But big construction projects in Pyongyang came to a temporary end with the completion of Unification Street in 1992. This was tied to an economic crisis in the country. The project to build 100,000 units in Pyongyang that began in 2010 signaled the resumption of large-scale construction projects after a hiatus of 18 years as well as the emergence of Kim Jong-un.

This project, which was scheduled to conclude on the 100th anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s birthday in 2012, sparked a construction boom that eventually spread around the entire country. It led to an explosion in housing demand, which had previously been suppressed. The narrative of the socialist civilization both rationalized and fueled this construction boom. Since then, construction has also been used as a way of demonstrating the futility of intense sanctions on the country as well as the vitality of the regime.

Global trends and the creation of an urban spectacle

Since taking power, Kim Jong-un has placed an unusual emphasis on “global trends.” He has stressed the need to model and emulate the sophistication and modern styles demonstrated by global cities. That’s a narrative that reflects the desire to rehabilitate the backward image of the country that formed in the 1990s and has persisted for two decades; it also reflects the desire for development and opening. The construction of the Pyongyang International Airport, the creation of several large streets, plans for a skyline, the formation of a waterfront along the Taedong River, the installation of “4D” theaters (showing 3D films with physical and atmospheric effects), the development of various tourism products and the emphasis on lighting up cities at night – all are linked to the city as a product grounded in visual experience.

The image of a sophisticated city is also realized through the daily lives and the consumption patterns of the people of Pyongyang. Most recent visitors to Pyongyang have consistently testified to the city’s drive, polish, and glitter. Pyongyang’s conversion into landscape reaches its pinnacle in the increased illumination of the city at night. Kim has described good decorative lighting as a key mission, leading to the establishment of the Intuitive Light Decoration Guidance Bureau under the cabinet and the Fairyland Light Decoration Institute under the guidance bureau, with the two bodies charged with maximizing the effectiveness of urban light displays. Lighting up the city at night as a “socialist fairyland” is also designed to increase residents’ confidence and pride in their government.

Unifying the people through creating a story of construction

The building of large streets and apartments is reconfigured as a dramatic tale of construction. There’s something very dramatic about the very act of scheduling such projects to be completed on Party Foundation Day or the Day of the Sun (as the birthday of Kim Il-sung is known). If everyone works together and finishes the project on time despite the tight schedule, it has the effect of redoubling and enhancing the significance and symbolism of these commemorative days. These are issues of interest for the entire nation, for all of society, and every North Korean media outlet focuses on sharing touching stories and updates from the construction site each day, as if they were producing a dramatic show about the construction. The dramatic effect is heightened by the periodic appearance of photographs of Kim Jong-un visiting the construction site.

The future of economic development amid the demand for urban development

Last week, Kim resumed his on-the-spot guidance after a gap of four months with visits to Samjiyon County and Wonsan. The completion date for the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, one of Kim’s pet projects, was delayed for six months, until Party Foundation Day in October. That was the second delay of the project, suggesting that sanctions on North Korea have made domestic affairs challenging, even desperate. Since Kim came to power, urban development projects have been continually unveiled in the form of a master plan that covers Wonsan, Samjiyon, Sinuiju, Chongjin, Hyesan, and Yangdok County, just to mention the areas reported so far. The projects in each city provide visual confirmation of the economic development strategy that Kim has in mind. That’s not a strategy that can be implemented without denuclearization or the lifting of sanctions on the North. Beyond words and deals, the sincerity of Kim’s commitment to denuclearization is already evident in these urban development projects.

By Hong Min, head of North Korea research at the Korea Institute for National Unification

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