Recently, a series of videos about reconstruction efforts in North Korea, uploaded to Chinese video platforms, has attracted significant attention. This reflects a growing curiosity among the Chinese public about their mysterious neighbor to the north.
These videos are believed to have been filmed in Dandong, a city in northeastern China, which faces Sinuiju City in North Korea across the Yalu River. What stands out in these videos is the sight of newly constructed high-rises on the North Korean side. Viewers' attention is largely focused on the quality of the reconstruction following recent flooding. Sinuiju, often referred to as the "window to China," was once a popular day-trip destination for Chinese tourists before the pandemic. According to South Korean media outlet YTN and North Korean state media, this summer, the northwestern part of North Korea, including Sinuiju, experienced record rainfall, leading to severe flooding and widespread damage. In response to what has been described as a "grave crisis," North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the affected area several times and ordered rapid reconstruction progress.
Construction has continued day and night, with remarkable speed. The framework of a 16-storey building is reported to have been completed in just a month. However, many viewers of these videos have expressed concerns about the rudimentary methods and poor quality of the construction work. In one of the videos, this unfinished high-rise is visible, with a slogan reading “Revolution of Speed” and posters emphasizing the importance of quality on the surface. Yet, the building’s windows and columns appear crooked.
Construction workers are manually fetching water from the river, and many workers are standing on the top but “not actually working” according to the narrator of the video. The slogan meaning “Leap of the Youth” can also be seen. The Chinese attention to this evident as a relevant news clip of YTN in Hangul on YouTube has garnered only around 23,000 views, while similar videos on the Chinese platform Bilibili have received over 500,000 views. Additionally, video clips showcasing street scenes and subtitled local TV programmes in North Korea have become popular on this Chinese platform.
The governments of North Korea and China have long maintained a “traditionally friendly relationship”. Meanwhile, it seems that a part of China’s younger generation is eager to learn more about its neighbor from a fresh perspective—one that offers a glimpse into the daily lives of ordinary North Koreans.