November 12, 2013 11:39
The North Korean regime is busy consolidating the personality cult around leader Kim Jong-un while paying scant attention to improving the wellbeing of its people, observers say.
Analysis of the North's official Rodong Sinmun daily from January 2012 until June this year highlights a whopping 141 projects involving statues, murals, towers and other structures dedicated to the North Korean leader, his late father Kim Jong-il or nation founder Kim Il-sung, either being renovated or newly built.
That compares to just 72 such projects pursued in 2010 and 2011 when stone-age dictator Kim Jong-il was still alive.
Meanwhile, infrastructure projects like highways, railroads and power plants have dwindled. In 2011, North Korea built 520 km of new roads, but last year it managed a grand total of 4 km. And the 33 km of new railroads built in 2011 still dwarf the 5 km built last year.
Power generation capacity was bolstered by 70,000 kW in 2011 but only by 30,000 kW last year.
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