North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has cut the red
ribbon at the new town, Samjiyon, near Mount Paektu.
The North Korean media called the town as the
“epitome of modern civilization”.
It is hailed as one of the country’s most important construction projects.
State media KCNA said Samjiyon – which is able to accommodate 4,000 families
– boasts new apartments, a ski slope, and a stadium amongst other facilities.
However, forced labor is said to have gone into the construction of the new
town.
Samjiyon – even if it lives up to state media billing – will be an outlier
in North Korea, where the majority of people live in poor conditions.
According to non-governmental organization the National Committee on North
Korea, many “suffer from shortages of food, fuel, electricity, running
water and other necessities”.
However, Samjiyon has not exactly
been built from the ground up.
A town already existed before the
reconstruction. Some buildings were remodeled, while many more were torn down
and replaced with new buildings.
State media previously reported that
more than 450 new buildings would be constructed, including industrial and
recreational facilities.
KCNA said Samjiyon had undergone a
“drastic change”, describing it as a “utopia town under socialism”.
It is not clear if anyone has moved
in, but Samjiyon was previously home to some residents – though it is also
unclear how many.
It is not known how much money has
gone into construction of the town.
Construction happened at a time when
North Korea is under tough sanctions, and its completion shows how much
importance the government placed on the project.
The town is important for its proximity to Mount Paektu – considered to be a
sacred mountain in North Korea and said to be the birthplace of Kim Jong-un’s
father.
Samjiyon has also been presented as a model for other towns in the country
to look up to.
In his annual new year’s address this year, Kim Jong-un directly referenced
Samjiyon, calling it an “ideal socialist village”.
He said in his speech: “The whole
party, the entire army, and all the people should turn out to transform
Samjiyon into a model of modern mountainous city, an ideal socialist village.”
Samjiyon opening is just one part of a bigger scheme. It’s the second stage
of a three-stage plan to boost the entire county the town is located in.
The three-stage construction project is expected to be complete by October 2020.
Kim Jong-un has climbed North Korea’s highest
mountain, Mount Paektu, on horseback, according to state media.
A series of photos released by KCNA show the North Korean leader astride a
white horse on a snow-covered mountain.
This is not the first time Kim Jong-un has scaled the 2,750-meter peak and
analysts say such gestures have been known to precede major announcements.
Mount Paektu holds a special place in North Korea’s identity and is feted as
the birthplace of Kim Jong-un’s father.
A KCNA report released on October 16 said: “His march on horseback in Mt Paektu is a great event of weighty
importance in the history of the Korean revolution.
“Sitting on the horseback atop Mt
Paektu, [he] recollected with deep emotion the road of arduous struggle he
covered for the great cause of building the most powerful country, with faith
and will as firm as Mt Paektu.”
In 2017, Kim Jong-un visited the mountain a few weeks before his New Year’s
address, where he hinted at a diplomatic thaw with South Korea.
The North Korean leader has reportedly climbed Mount Paektu at least three
times, and made a joint visit to the mountain with South Korean president Moon
Jae-in in 2018.
KCNA previously released photos of Kim Jong-un atop the mountain, after
apparently climbing it in black leather shoes.
Mount Paektu, an active volcano, is
said to be the birthplace of Dangun, the founder of the first Korean kingdom
more than 4,000 years ago.
The mountain is hundreds of kilometers
from the capital Pyongyang, and sits right on the border between North Korea
and China.
Earlier this month, North Korean officials held talks with US officials in Sweden, the first since President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un met briefly at the DMZ in June.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has climbed Mount Paektu, the country’s highest mountain, KCNA reported.
Photos of Kim Jong-un show him standing on a snowy mountaintop, with the sun behind him.
His father, Kim Jong-Il, is said by the state to have been born on the mountain, however many historians say he was actually born in Russia.
Reports say Kim Jong-un reached the 2,750-metre peak alongside hundreds of fighter pilots and party officials.
“Climbing Mount Paektu provides precious mental pabulum more powerful than any kind of nuclear weapon,” the Rodong newspaper quoted Kim Jong-un as saying to troops.
The purpose of the visit is said to have been to see pilots from the Korean People’s Army who have completed a tour of battle sites in the area.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines “pabulum” as “bland or insipid intellectual matter, entertainment”.
The peak of the volcanic mountain, lying on the border with China, is considered a sacred place in Korean folklore.
It is also part of the propaganda which glorifies the Kim family, who are said to have a “mount Paektu bloodline”.
Recently it has been claimed that Kim Jong-un could drive by the time he was three years old.
The regime also says that Kim Jong-Il, who ruled until his death in 2011, scored 11 holes-in-one the first time he ever played golf.
Like his father before him, Kim Jong-un makes many “field guidance trips” to army bases, factories and other important sites.
Analysts say this is his way of showing himself as an energetic man of the people.
North Korea has a troubled economy, with two-thirds of the population, approximately 16 million people, not knowing where their next meal is coming from, according to the UN.
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