The Improbable High-Rises of Pyongyang, North Korea

On September 9, North Korea celebrated the 70th anniversary of its founding in its usual manner: with a vast military parade. But ballistic missiles––a mainstay of the autocratic nation’s famously theatrical displays of might––were conspicuously absent. In their stead, uniformed construction workers marched and torchlight parades spelled slogans like “economic construction.”

It was a sign of the times in North Korea, where saber-rattling has been partially replaced by boosterish displays of the country’s economic development prowess. As some observers have suggested, this offers some hope for the dreams of a de-nuclearized Korean peninsula. But the building boom has been years in the making, as Pyongyang’s rapidly changing skyline illustrates.