DPRK's Growing Prosperity

Construction Boom Brings Amazing Transformation to the DPRK

In the DPRK there is a saying which goes “Ten years is an epoch.” But now a year is enough to be an epoch in the country.

Since 2022 every year has seen the appearance of new modern streets in the capital city of Pyongyang, namely Songhwa Street, Pothong Riverside Terraced Houses District, Hwasong Street, Jonwi Street, Rimhung Street and third-stage 10 000 flats in the Hwasong area. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of modern rural houses have sprung up in over 1 500 new villages across the country for three years.

In addition, large-scale greenhouse farms, such as the Jungphyong Greenhouse Farm, Ryonpho Greenhouse Farm and Kangdong Combined Greenhouse Farm, and recreational facilities including the Masikryong Ski Resort, Rungna People’s Recreation Ground and Yangdok Hot Spring Resort have been built over the past 10 or so years.

In 2024, modern regional-industry factories were built in 20 cities and counties and a model offshore farm was inaugurated according to the Regional Development 20×10 Policy.

This year, the fourth-stage project for building 10 000 flats in the Hwasong area is in full swing as part of the overall plan for building 50 000 flats in Pyongyang. Regional-industry factories are being built in another group of 20 cities and counties and, in parallel with this, modern healthcare facilities, leisure complexes and grain storage stations are under construction in different parts of the country. Rural housing construction continues apace.

Furthermore, the largest-ever greenhouse farm and vegetable science research centre are being built in the country’s northwestern border area.

The current construction boom in the DPRK tells the following facts:

Each of the construction projects for the people’s wellbeing has been launched under the initiative and guidance of General Secretary Kim Jong Un. Those projects for building 50 000 flats in Pyongyang, rural houses and regional-industry factories for regional rejuvenation were all planned by him. Reportedly, he went over up to thousands of layouts of the projects.

All the structures are designed and built on a world level. A typical example is the Hwasong area that has formed an administrative district.

The ongoing construction is so large in scale and so sweeping in scope that it can bring about a simultaneous and multiple transformation across the country. It is pushed ahead all at once up and down the country—the capital and regions, urban and rural areas—and it encompasses every sector of construction such as dwelling houses, recreational and welfare facilities and industrial establishments.

Every project is carried out at a considerably high speed. In general, it takes no more than a year to complete a project, no matter how huge it is. Each year new streets and new villages are so unfailingly inaugurated that such byword as “house moving season” has been coined.

Unique Attraction in Songhwa Street

Hwasong Ragwon Barbecue Restaurant Newly Opened

Night Views of Hwasong Area

Pyongyang’s New Streets Showcase Civilization and Progress

In recent years new streets have sprung up in the Hwasong area of the DPRK’s capital city of Pyongyang, showcasing modern civilization and remarkable progress of Korean architecture. They are spectacular enough to catch the eyes of every foreign visitor to the city.

As many as 30 000 flats sit on an area of 320-odd hectares, creating a magnificent spectacle.

Each of the streets built at three stages has a landmark that is of vital importance in the overall architectural composition, influencing the contours, colours and shapes of other structures and highlighting an artistic and formative mix of skyscrapers and high-rise and low-storied apartment buildings. The design of neighbourhood-serving amenities on the mezzanine is stylish and peculiar. In particular, the Hwasong Taedonggang Beer House and a chain of neighbourhood-serving amenities built in the form of an overpass are so impressive.

Each street in the area is distinctive in terms of architectural style and artistic and formative features and it is three-dimensional and deep in the light of architectural space. Also varied are the roof style, external decoration and landscape.

According to a tour guide, Hwasong’s per-capita wooded area is almost equal to that of eco-friendly cities in the world. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a model of modern urbanity as it incorporates practicality, diversity, connection, and formative and artistic quality into one.

The DPRK government has reportedly provided such modern and decent houses to citizens free of charge. Many will find it hard to believe that those flats, each worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars, have been given free to ordinary working people. But this is true.

Furthermore, the Korean builders have built a new street with 10 000 flats each year over the recent four years.

Another street of the same size is under construction in this area. Such speed amazes all tourists.

“These streets and structures were all built under the direct guidance of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un,” guide U Sol Hyang says to a group of tourists. “At the Eighth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, he proposed building 10 000 flats in Pyongyang each year for five years. He chose the site of new streets, examined thousands of layouts and attended every groundbreaking and inauguration ceremony to signal the start of the projects and cut the ribbon to inaugurate the streets.”

Coastal Resort Town Emerges in DPRK

On June 24 a world-class coastal resort town was inaugurated with a splendid ceremony on the scenic Kalma peninsula of the East Sea of Korea.