Kim Jong Un, the
Supreme Leader of North Korea, visited a city being built near the country’s
border with China and Mount Paektu, a holy mountain Kim’s family claims
descendance from, on Tuesday in what was his first public appearance in nearly
a month.

The North Korean
dictator, who has kept a low profile for the last several months, returned to
the public eye to inspect the workings of the new city which houses apartments,
ski resorts and commercial, cultural and medical facilities, according to state
media, and has prompted officials to call it a ‘socialist utopia’.

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Kim has been a
regular visitor to this developing city since 2018 and often called it “epitome
of modern civilization”. Tuesday’s trip was meant to inspect the third and
final phase of construction. The city is expected to be completed by the end of
this year after work got delayed several times due to international sanctions
and the coronavirus pandemic.

The 37-year-old reclusive
dictator’s rare public appearances are watched closely by the international
community. A few months ago, there was speculation about Kim’s health and whether
he was thinking of a successor.

Those speculations
were however laid to rest by a report which came out of South Korea last month which
stated that Kim had no health issues.

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Quoting the
Supreme Leader, North Korean state news agency KCNA said, “He (Kim Jong Un)
said Samjiyon has turned into an example of a mountainous modern city under
socialism and a standard of rural development thanks to the workers’ steadfast
struggle despite the unfavourable northern environment.”

According to Kim
Jong Un, the construction of this city would give the nation and its people
much-needed experience in construction, design and technologies that would spur
economic development and spread growth to other regions.

The city near the
Chinese border is Pyongyang’s biggest push for a self-reliant economy that
faces international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes.