North Korea is busy completing the construction of buildings on the new campus for the Central Cadres Training School, which is responsible for training top officials for the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK).
An analysis of the construction site using high-resolution Maxar satellite imagery shows that the exterior of the new buildings is largely complete as the project deadline of mid-May approaches. Visible infrared satellite imagery taken at night also shows that lights remain on into the wee hours of the morning, indicating that work is progressing rapidly.
Once completed, the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new campus is expected to be a lavish affair, with all eyes on whether North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter will attend. The opening ceremony of the new campus is expected to take place on June 1, the 78th anniversary of the founding of the school.
The new campus for the WPK Central Cadres Training School
The new school buildings overlook the confluence of the Hapjang and Taedong rivers in the Imhung area of Pyongyang’s Taesong district. The site of the new campus was personally chosen by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has visited the construction site to check on progress and cheer on the workers. Kim is also expected to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which will likely be held on a grand scale, to tout one of his signature leadership achievements.
An examination of progress on the construction using satellite images (with a resolution of 50 centimeters) taken on May 3 by the Maxar WorldView-2 satellite shows that the facades of most of the buildings on the new campus have been completed. The campus replaces the Ryongsong Airfield, which was reserved for Kim’s personal use, and is located 500 meters from the Paekhwawon State Guest House, a building used to house foreign dignitaries. The campus is expected to cover about 30 acres.
The school will continue educating elites destined for key political roles
The WPK’s Central Cadres Training School is highly regarded in North Korea as “the sanctum and apex of the training of party officials, which provides education and training for Juche-type party officials who have infinite loyalty to the leader.” Notably, only Central Cadres Training School graduates can be appointed WPK Central Committee secretaries or party secretaries in the country’s largest enterprises. It is thus essential to attend this school in order to enter the upper echelons of the political elite.
Site of new campus used to be Kim’s exclusive Yongsong (Ryongsong) Airfield
The image above shows Kim Jong Un’s personal Yongsong Airfield in the Imhung area of Pyongyang’s Taesong district before its demolition. A review of satellite imagery from Planet Labs’ SkySat (with a resolution of 50 centimeters) shows that work to demolish the airfield began in late March 2023. There was a concrete runway, 30 meters wide and 800 meters long, that appeared to have been built in 2015.
Night view of construction at the Central Cadres Training School
A night view of the school’s new campus was also analyzed using visible infrared satellite imagery taken on May 1. The images show that the Paekhwawon State Guest House and half of the new campus are illuminated by floodlights at the late hour of 1:30 AM. This suggests that workers were working late into the night to complete construction before the scheduled completion date in mid-May.
The site of the old campus in Tongdaewon-2 in the capital’s Tongdaewon district was rather small at seven acres, and the facilities were old and dilapidated. North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung, took the lead in establishing a school (originally called the Central Party School) to train high-level officials on June 1, 1946, the year after Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule. The school was renamed Kim Il Sung Higher Party School in April 1972 to celebrate Kim’s 60th birthday. Then, in 2021, under Kim Jong Un, it received its current name of Central Cadres Training School. The new expanded campus is 4.3 kilometers from the school’s current location.
Construction of the school buildings on the new campus is expected to be completed in mid-May 2024, which will likely be marked by an extravagant ribbon-cutting ceremony. The school’s opening ceremony is expected to take place on June 1, the 78th anniversary of the school’s founding. There is considerable interest in whether Kim Jong Un will bring his daughter Ju Ae to these official events.
Incidentally, there is some speculation that the name “Ju Ae” given by NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman in a television interview following his trip to North Korea in 2013 may not even be correct. The story goes that Rodman may have misunderstood Kim Jong Un’s use of the Korean phrase “Jeo ae,” which means “that girl,” as the name “Ju Ae” when introducing his daughter.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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May 10, 2024 at 01:04PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)