N. Korea's youth mobilization project seems meant for tighter state control: ministry

This image, captured from footage of North Korea's Korean Central Television on Feb. 26, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, third from right, and his daughter, Ju-ae, attending a groundbreaking ceremony to construct new homes in the Sopho area of Pyongyang. Yonhap

North Korea appears to be mobilizing the youth for a new housing project in a bid to tighten state control over the younger generation and elicit their loyalty to leader Kim Jong-un, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday.

Kim attended a groundbreaking ceremony last Saturday for new homes in the Sopho area of Pyongyang, stressing that some 100,000 youths volunteered for the construction project, according to state media.

The ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said with the large-scale construction project, the North seems to be tightening its control on youths and encouraging them to show patriotism and loyalty to the authorities.

"The North also appears to be pursuing an improvement in its construction technology in provincial regions through construction projects led by youths mobilized from all parts of the nation," Lee Hyo-jung, the ministry's deputy spokesperson, told a regular press briefing.

At a key party congress in 2021, the North's leader announced a plan to build 50,000 new homes in the capital by 2025 amid deepening economic hardships. (Yonhap)