In the southeast of downtown Pyongyang sprawls a street dotted with sky-scrapers, high-rise apartment houses, educational and health facilities, neighbourhood-serving amenities, overpass and decorative structures, all in unique harmony. It is Songhwa Street built in April 2022.

Several years ago, the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un inquired into the number of houses needed for solving the housing problem in the capital city. He took it as one of the vital issues facing the Workers’ Party of Korea and government, and described the housing construction in Pyongyang as a very important task that should be carried out in any unfavourable conditions and environment.

The housing construction was among the agenda items of the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee in February 2020 and the 13th meeting of the Political Bureau of the Seventh WPK Central Committee in June that year.

At the Eighth Party Congress in January 2021 Kim Jong Un set forth the construction of 50 000 flats in Pyongyang as one of the main targets of the new five-year plan, and made sure that the construction started with a huge project for 10 000 flats in the Songsin and Songhwa area.

At the second Plenary Meeting of the Eighth WPK Central Committee, he took substantial and innovative measures concerning the project and meticulously led the preparatory work.

He examined as many as 1 000 design plans, referring to the need to reshape the elevation of the buildings, connect platforms in a big way, make buildings different in height, build an overpass and allocate perforated buildings.

He attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the project in March 2021.

Addressing the event, he said that building 50 000 flats in Pyongyang is an undertaking our Party has long aspired to and made preparations for so as to provide the citizens of the capital with stabler and more cultured living conditions, and an ennobling undertaking to turn the assets of the state and fruits of creative labour of the working masses thoroughly into their benefits.

The project was massive in terms of architectural style, content and scale, given that over 160 buildings including skyscrapers and high-rise apartment blocks, public buildings and service networks covering a total floor space of over a million square metres should be built in a matter of a year on a vast area of 56 hectares.

Kim Jong Un led the project in such a way that the flats could be built at the highest level by dint of the army-people joint operations, and took measures at major Party and state meetings to step up the project, while addressing the issues arising in the supply of cement, steel, timber and other materials and even supply service for the builders.

During his visit to the construction site of the near-to-completion street in March 2022, he expressed great satisfaction over the panoramic view of the street and indicated the tasks to be served as guidelines for further refurbishing the capital city.

Not long after this, he took part in the inauguration ceremony of the people’s ideal street to cut the tape and wished the new residents happy and civilized life at modern houses.

Kim Hyon Hui