Yahoo – AFP,
Park Chan-Kyong, 2 July 2015
 |
The opening
ceremony for the new airport terminal for Pyongyang International
Airport takes
place in the North Korean capital on July 1, 2015 (AFP Photo)
|
North Korea
has opened a sleek new airport terminal, hailing it as a showcase of leader Kim
Jong-Un's achievement after its construction had to be stopped halfway and
redone at his whim.
Terminal 2
of Pyongyang International Airport, which is reserved for international
civilian flights, opened for service on Wednesday, state media said.
"The
terminal was built in a modern way from the gatepost to the airport to
departure lounge, entry formalities hall, service halls, etc.," the Korean
Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
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A general
view of the new terminal at
Pyongyang International Airport, seen
on July 1,
2015 (AFP Photo)
|
Pictures
released by KCNA showed a glass-fronted, marble-floored terminal, a far cry
from the old, drab socialist-style building.
One of the
most outstanding differences was the presence of elevated passenger boarding
walkways. In the past, travellers had to walk or drive across the tarmac to
board their aircraft.
The
terminal also appears to be fitted out with a coffee bar and a duty-free store
stocked with chocolate Mars bars, Werther's Original candy and bottled beers.
During the
opening ceremony, Prime Minister Pak Pong-Ju credited Kim's "ardent
patriotic will and unremitting efforts" for putting the country's aviation
sector on "a world level", according to KCNA.
Aviation
enthusiast
Kim took
power in 2011 after the death of his father Kim Jong-Il, who was afraid of
flying and travelled everywhere by train.
But his
son, who studied in Switzerland as a teenager, has shown a keen interest in
aviation, flying a North Korean-made light plane himself in March, according to
a video released by the North.
He has issued
directives to improve the nation's inflight services and redesign Koryo Air's
flight attendant uniforms, after the country's sole civilian airline came in
for international mockery.
In July
2012, Kim ordered construction of the new terminal because the existing
facility was considered too small and shabby compared with foreign rivals.
But in
November last year, Kim stopped work on the project after inspecting the site.
The new
terminal had to be partly demolished on Kim's order after he said the layout
looked like "a copy" of a foreign facility.
He
reproached workers for failing to carry out an earlier order from July that the
project should reflect North Korea's "Juche" (self-reliance)
philosophy and national identify.
Kim said
there were "deviations in the interior layout including halls for check-in
and departure", KCNA reported last November. Parts of these facilities had
to be rebuilt as a result.
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North
Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-Ju, inspects
the new
terminal at Pyongyang International Airport, on June 25, 2015 (AFP Photo)
|
North
Korean architecture is characterised by its monumental but sombre, socialist
style that incorporates propaganda symbols of the communist state.
With the
new terminal in place, the airport's other existing terminal is expected to be
used only for the country's few domestic routes.
But the
facility risks being virtually empty as Pyongyang receives few foreign flights,
which mostly originate from Beijing and Moscow.
The new
terminal is six times larger than the old one, but it remains unclear how North
Korea will be able to generate the passenger numbers that would justify its
construction.
However,
the young leader has a penchant for showpiece construction projects.
Under his
direction, a ski resort, water park and equestrian course have been built, but
they are beyond the reach of the average citizen in the impoverished Stalinist
state.
Since
taking power, Kim has mobilised twice as many soldiers as his father, deploying
some 200,000 soldiers -- one out of every five active servicemen -- to construction
sites nationwide, including the airport terminal, resorts, public buildings and
apartments.
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