Collapsed building meant to show “strong and prosperous” N. Korean state

A North Korean official bows in apology to citizens over an apartment building collapse at a construction site in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday. / Yonhap

By Kim Young-jin

An apartment building that collapsed in Pyongyang recently was built as part of a “speed housing construction campaign” to mark the 100th anniversary of the country’s founder.

In a stunning admission, the Kim Jong-un regime on Sunday reported that a building in the Pyongchon district collapsed on May 13, describing the accident as “serious.”

South Korean officials feared the death count could be high.

North Korean Economy Watch, a North-focused blog, said construction began between May and September of 2012, citing satellite imagery.

The blog added that the buildings in neighborhood were built for the landmark occasion.

For years, the North had promised to emerge as a “strong and prosperous” state by April 2012, when the country marked the birth centennial of “Eternal President” Kim Il-sung.

The impoverished North had promised to emerge as a “strong and prosperous” state by the landmark date in 2012 and went into overdrive to renovate the capital, mobilizing university students for construction work.

North Korean authorities have ordered some Pyongyang residents to live in unfinished high-rise apartments in a bid to showcase the country’s supposed development, a website reported Tuesday.

Defectors with lines into the North said at the time that authorities ordered citizens into some units ahead of the centennial, even before their interiors were complete.

According to the blog, the neighborhood where the building collapsed contains “no less than 17 high-rises that are either under construction or recently completed.

“If I was living in one of these buildings I would not be feeling very confident right now,” wrote Curtis Melvin, editor of the blog.