North Korean leader inaugurates Samjiyon township close to Mount Paektu

North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-Un inaugurated ambitious construction project, on December 3, in Samjiyon, which is considered as a “utopia” town close to Mount Paektu. The project went through large scale demolition and reconstruction to complete the rebuilding of Samjiyon. North’s state news agency released a photograph of Kim, in a black trenchcoat, cutting the ribbon at the ceremony, with a statue of his father, Kim Jong Il, in the background.

Read: Kim Jong Un Orders Artillery Firing Near Disputed Sea Boundary With South Korea

'Utopia town under socialism'

Following the inauguration, a massive celebration was held in the city near Mount Paektu, the highest point in the Korean peninsula which is considered sacred for the North Koreans and symbolic of the Kim family’s dynastic rule. According to North’s propaganda news agency, the supreme leader worked heart and soul for turning the township into the “utopia town under socialism”. Kim has been closely following the rebuilding project and recently visited the area riding a white horse.

“He, sitting on the horseback atop Mt Paektu, recollected with deep emotion the road of arduous struggle he covered for the great cause of building the most powerful country with faith and will as firm as Mt Paektu,” the North’s official news agency said.

Read: Kim Jong-un & Trump Have 'special Relationship', Says N Korea Official

Deadline of nuclear negotiations

Opening of the Samjiyon township comes at a time when the Pyongyang-proposed deadline of nuclear negotiations with the United States nears. In October, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry adviser Kim Kye Gwan accused the United States of maintaining hostility against them. Hinting at the end-of-year deadline set by Kim Jongf Un for a mutually acceptable term for nuclear negotiations, the official had urged Washington to act “wisely”.

Read: Kim Jong-Un & Vladimir Putin Horse Riding Memes Take Internet By Storm

There has been a dash of unpredictability in the relationship between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un. In August, Trump informed that Kim sent him a letter in which he had wished to start the negotiations as soon as the joint US-South Korea joint exercise was over. Trump had claimed that the North’s supreme leader also wrote a small apology for testing the short-range missiles.

Read: North Korea: Kim Jong-un Makes First Public Appearance After US Talks

(With inputs from Agencies)