Insufficient safety measures

How are the preparations going for 2012, then? That's Juche 100 according to the North Korean calendar: 100 years since the birth of the Great Leader Kim Il Sung, and the year when the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will finally show itself to the world as a Great and Prosperous Nation.

As we know, there's currently something of a building frenzy in Pyongyang, with universities closing and students being drafted in as construction workers. Unsurprisingly, there are problems:

With 2012 and the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung right around the corner, North Korea is focusing heavily on securing funds for the completion of Pyongyang civil engineering projects.

The authorities are working at high speed on the construction of apartments, a department store, theaters and the Ryukyung Hotel, all the while working to create competition between organizations. 

As is well known, this has included the mobilization of student labor. However, a South Korean source has now alleged that this has led to a series of accidents and the death of large numbers of the mobilized students.

The source revealed, “Due to the speed of the work and insufficient safety measures at the construction site, college students unfamiliar with the work environment are suffering fatal accidents, and word has spread in Pyongyang that hundreds of college students have died.”

Another source familiar with the situation agreed, saying, “Recent foreign visitors to Pyongyang say they heard rumors that hundreds died in accidents on construction sites, if these rumors were even heard by foreigners then it seems it must be a significant number of people.”

Well...it's all in a good cause.

Meanwhile, a preparatory committee has reportedly been formed and is in the midst of organizing international events for next year.

Last April, North Korea announced that 2012 will see an ‘International Friendship Meeting’ in commemoration of Kim Il Sung’s birthday, a ‘Pro-Unification International Convention’ and a ‘International Juche Convention’.

Accordingly, the committee is selecting influential foreign officials to invite and recruiting appropriate artists and organizations for the various events, and overseas organizations have begun recruiting applicants wishing to visit North Korea to add color to the audiences.

A great opportunity to visit, then - if you're fairly sanguine about the prospects of a collapsing hotel.

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[No Good Boyo]

Shades of "The Ghosts of Manila".