Collapse of a residential building in Pyongyang on May 13, 2014

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On May 13, 2014, a residential building in Pyongyang collapsed and probably caused around 500 deaths. The misfortune was communicated unusually openly by North Korean standards. Four engineers on the construction project are said to have been executed a few days later.

The 23-story residential building was located in the P'yŏngch'ŏn-guyŏk district of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang . However, it remained unclear whether the building collapsed completely. Likewise, no pictures of the collapse site were published. At the time of the accident, the building was still under construction, but around 92 families were already living here. The exact number of fatalities has not been officially announced. According to KCNA , the rescue work ended on May 17, 2014. The accident became public when the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported on it on May 18, 2014.

prehistory

In honor of the "eternal president" Kim Il-sung , North Korea began a later failed building project to build a total of 100,000 apartments in three districts of the North Korean capital. The construction work was overshadowed by a famine. According to South Korean media reports, students and soldiers were called in for the construction in July 2011 due to a lack of resources. Families related to the government apparatus had already moved into the shell before it was completed, including high-ranking police and intelligence officials and people who would have done special “services to the fatherland”.

causes

The government has not disclosed the exact cause. However, various sources indicated deficiencies in the design and the use of inferior materials, as well as the unqualified personnel recruited from the army. Construction workers and engineers have also stolen building materials such as cement and steel and sold them on the black market. Improper construction work could also have resulted from the “ Korean speed ” maxim , which calls for construction workers to carry out their work quickly.

consequences

Exceptionally, the North Korean media reported openly a few days later about the accident and its background, which is why the incident was also reported internationally by the press. Most recently, North Korea is said to have spoken publicly about the Ryongchŏn railway accident that occurred ten years earlier . The government admitted that construction had not been carried out properly. According to the South Korean agency Yonhab , a photo of the official apology ceremony was published by the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun , the organ of the Central Committee of the Labor Party of Korea . According to speculation by the agency and the Japanese media, North Korea's choice of this relatively offensive step for the country was influenced by the crisis management of South Korean President Park Geun-hye , which was criticized in South Korea . Park was under pressure to deal with the sinking of the Sewol ferry , which had killed over 300 people the previous month. In other media too, the way in which both governments dealt with the two incidents was compared and contrasted.

The Minister for Public Security Choe Pu-il , who had insufficiently monitored the construction site, was named responsible for the accident . Choe and the chief of the local party committee Kim Su-gil apologized publicly for the accident. Choe said he "failed to uphold the party's love of the people" policy.

Kim Jong-un is said to have hit the news in such a way that he "stayed awake all night in pain," the state news agency reported.

A few days after the incident, according to the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, four engineers and architects were shot to death and a fifth army officer was taken to a labor camp.

While reviews of the North Korean leader at production sites in North Korea that are effective for the media are part of daily political business, after the accident, the ruler Kim Jong-un is said to have primarily visited construction sites, which was rated by outside media as a targeted propaganda strategy. In addition, a few days after the accident, there were several personnel changes within the administration.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pyongyang residential high-rise collapse (UPDATED). In: North Korean Economy Watch. Retrieved December 21, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b Accident on construction site North Korea admits wrongdoing , Zeit Online from May 18, 2014
  3. ↑ Kim Jong-un "awake all night full of pain" , welt.de of May 18, 2014
  4. ↑ North Korea admits the collapse of a residential complex , welt.de of May 18, 2014
  5. ↑ a b c Kim Jong-un had four engineers executed , welt.de from May 2014
  6. ^ Economy in North Korea , Federal Foreign Office
  7. ↑ North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un is in a hurry to make his country more attractive to tourists - the poor state can use their money well. A new major airport is supposed to help. Thousands of workers toil at "Korean speed". , spiegel-online.de from October 23, 014
  8. ↑ 23-story skyscraper collapsed in North Korea , Hamburger Abendblatt, May 18, 2014
  9. ↑ Many dead in high-rise collapse: The accident that shook North Korea , Spiegel-Online from May 18, 2014
  10. ↑ https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/weltgeschehen/article128184683/Der-Traenenwettbewerb-von-Marschall-Kim-Jong-un.html , welt.de of May 19, 2014
  11. ↑ Many dead in high-rise collapse: The accident that shook North Korea. In: Spiegel Online . May 18, 2014, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Why Kim Jong Un couldn't sleep , n24.de, August 17, 2014

Coordinates: 39 ° 1 '4.4 "  N , 125 ° 43' 33.3"  E