North Korea’s ambitious project to build new “modern” villages in rural areas picked up steam in 2023 after a slow start the previous year, according to NK Pro analysis of state media, resulting in new neighborhoods in nearly every city and county nationwide.

State media reported four times as many new village openings last year compared to the first year of the project in 2022, and NK Pro analysis suggests that authorities have built at least 20,000 new homes at farms across the country in 2023. 

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un appeared to underestimate this number of new