N.KOREAN CAPITAL UNDERGOES TRANSFORMATION

[Anchor Lead]

The North Korean capital has undergone a major transformation recently, with an 80-storey high-rise complex towering above the city. It's aimed at underscoring leader Kim Jong-un's achievements as the regime struggles with economic hardships.

[Pkg]

Colorful lights dazzle the night sky of Pyongyang. An 80-storey apartment complex has been built in Songhwa District recently. What used to be a deserted plot of land was transformed into a fancy neighborhood in just a year. There is also a cluster of high-rises on Mirae Scientists Street and Ryomyong Street, known as the Manhattan of Pyongyang.

[Soundbite] Kim Ju-seong(Writer, N. Korean defector) : "They scrapped a greenbelt and created Ryomyong Street there. North Korea used to ban high-rises altogether."

A terrace-style apartment complex along the Pothong River is among the newly built neighborhoods in Pyongyang. One of the units was presented by Kim Jong-un to the state television announcer Ri Chun-hee.

[Soundbite] Kim Ju-seong(Writer, N. Korean defector) : "The Pothong River area used to be flooded whenever it rained. The construction of apartments there shows that Kim Jong-un has solved a problem that his descendants failed to solve."

Kim Jong-un's achievements have been increasingly highlighted since the five-year plan to build 50,000 apartments in Pyongyang, ten thousand units a year, began producing tangible results.

[Soundbite] Prof. Lim Eul-chul(Kyungnam Univ.) : "Everything is in low supply during lockdown. What's noteworthy is that the North is coping well and even showing results."

The construction project gained pace after the border between North Korea and China partially re-opened and the supply of construction materials stabilized. Some watchers say Pyongyang's transformation is aimed at improving the economy, while others say it's intended to publicize "socialist civilization."