North Korea’s Mubong Special Zone for International Tourism on the Chinese border has finally seen construction pick up and accelerate since summer after years of stalled progress, according to satellite imagery reviewed by NK Pro.

DPRK state media reported in the year following its initiation in 2015 that a Hong Kong-based company had exclusive rights to develop the zone and that it had made some progress, but imagery shows new structures only making significant progress in the latter half of 2019.

Previously-unreported local government reports also show that Chinese authorities just across the border have in