DALIAN, China/TOKYO -- North Korea appears to have finished rebuilding a rural area ravaged by flooding last summer, consolidating spread-out settlements into five compact towns, a Nikkei analysis shows.
A ceremony for the completed housing was held in December, the Korean Central News Agency reports. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the area "will remain durable in another severe flooding."
Nikkei looked at an especially hard hit 20-kilometer stretch from Sinuiju to Uiju along the Yalu River on the Chinese border. Satellite photos, combined with local reporting, were used to compare the locations of torn down buildings and new construction.
Many of the houses that once stood alongside farms were demolished. These settlements were consolidated into five new towns.
All of the new housing was constructed in places that can be seen from China with the naked eye, with rooms facing the Yalu River. During the monthslong construction, Chinese people living on the opposite bank shared footage of the in-progress apartments on media platforms such as Douyin, China's version of TikTok.
To examine the completed project more closely, Nikkei visited the Chinese city of Dandong, on the opposite bank of the Yalu River, in late December.
The buildings that had stood on the North Korean side were almost completely gone, with a new town built in their place. Laundry could be seen drying on many of the balconies, indicating that people had settled in.
The apartment buildings varied from more than 10 floors to just three or four, some with multicolored exteriors. One area had blocks positioned at an angle, keeping the town's overall structure from becoming too monotonous.
The first floor of many buildings had few windows, suggesting that the living spaces are positioned on the second floor or higher in case of another flood.
The town includes a park with playground equipment and benches, as well as a building that looked like a school. Children were playing soccer on the grounds. Signs in Korean for "clinic," "clothing store" and "reading room" appeared on some of the buildings.
Inequality between urban areas and farming villages has long been a problem for North Korea.
Kim said in a speech last year before the flooding that it had been taken for granted that rural areas would lag behind the center, calling it a challenge that needed to be met with bold action. Kim has visited the flood-stricken area six times in the roughly five months since the disaster.
In the past, Kim's government "could control the public through fear," said Atsuhito Isozaki, a professor at Japan's Keio University. "Recently, he has shown more of a desire to inspire voluntary loyalty from the rural poor in order to perpetuate his rule."
How the residents feel about the new housing is unknown. Much of the area consists of farmland, and the finished settlements may not be conveniently located for the farmers likely living there.
"Ideally, reconstruction planning for disaster areas should listen to and reflect the opinions of the residents," said Naomi Shimpo, an associate professor at the University of Hyogo and an expert on urban planning and landscape planning.
Doubts remain as to whether reconstruction work is completed. From the Chinese side, it appeared that construction was continuing. In the area where the river overflowed, uniformed workers were lined up on the embankment, doing some kind of work. The site included tents that looked like rest spaces.
Near the apartment buildings, a group of people carried water tanks down to the river, filled them and carried them to their homes. It was below freezing around the river that day, but some people worked without gloves. Behind them was an armed man who appeared to be a guard.
In an article in late December announcing the completion of the work, the KCNA described the reconstruction projects as "the most noble gift that the people of the whole country will give to the December Plenary Meeting of the Party Central Committee."
The Workers' Party of Korea usually holds an important general meeting every December. The completion announcement might have been rushed in order to report the results at the meeting.
