SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un petted puppies and kittens with his delighted daughter as they toured a new Pyongyang housing district, state media said Friday (April 3).
The Hwasong area, formerly mostly farmland, is a newly developed residential district with about 40,000 housing units built through a series of projects launched in 2022 under Kim's orders.
It is part of a broader construction push in the capital and across the diplomatically isolated, poor country aimed at improving living standards after years of Western sanctions and state-controlled economic policies.
Streets of the district were "brimming with the joy and excitement of citizens who greeted the auspicious event of moving into new houses", Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Accordingly, "various service bases to contribute to improving the wellbeing of the inhabitants are stepping up the preparations for inauguration," it said.
Kim, with his teenage daughter Ju-ae, visited a pet shop in the district, where he said: "Households rearing pets are increasing in the capital city and local areas nowadays.
"I saw to it that a new shop was built to sell pets and various accessories and offer the specialized service."
Images released by state media showed a visibly delighted Ju-ae watching cats with her father and petting one perched on a tower while Kim sat just behind her.
In another photo, Kim cradled a white puppy as officials looked on with broad smiles, while Ju-ae sat beside him watching.
"Referring to the production of various kinds of pet-care tools, feed and veterinary medicines, he (Kim) stressed the need to take measures to increase production in the future," KCNA said.
Kim and his daughter also visited a musical instrument store, with state media images showing the duo looking at guitars and saxophones.
Properly managing and operating the leisure facilities would "serve as a valuable foundation for the development of socialist civilisation", Kim said, according to KCNA.
The North Korean leader and his daughter also visited a hair salon, and said welfare amenities were "essential" for "ensuring a cultured and hygienic environment and highly civilized living space in the formation of urban districts."
He called for "steadily improving the quality of service on the principle of fully meeting the aesthetic tastes", and "creating a new Korean-style service culture".
In February, South Korea's national intelligence service said that Pyongyang appears to have started the process of designating Ju Ae as leader Kim's successor.
This perception has been stoked by a string of recent high-profile outings including watching a test of nuclear-capable rocket launchers, firing a pistol and trying out the country's new battle tank in large-scale military drills.
Kim ordered the shops to open for the Day of the Sun, the April 15 birth anniversary of his grandfather and national founder Kim Il Sung, KCNA said.- AFP
