Editing Economy of North Korea (section)

===Construction===
[[File:PYONGYANG CITY DPRK NORTH KOREA OCT 2012 (8647588769).jpg|thumb|Mansudae People's Theatre, opened in 2012]]
Construction has been an active sector in North Korea. This was demonstrated not only through large housing programmes, of which most were visible in the high-rise apartment blocks in [[Pyongyang]], but also in the smaller modern apartment complexes widespread even in the countryside. These are dwarfed in every sense by "grand monumental edifices". The same may apply even to apparently economically useful projects such as the [[Nampo Dam]], which cost US$4bn.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Korea North Country Study Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments|publisher=International Business Publications, USA|isbn=978-1433027802|pages=187|date=April 13, 2015}}</ref>

The years of economic contraction in the 1990s slowed this sector as it did others; the shell of the 105-story [[Ryugyŏng Hotel]] towered unfinished on [[Pyongyang]]'s skyline for over a decade. The [[Bank of Korea]] claims that construction's share of GDP fell by almost one-third between 1992 and 1994, from 9.1% to 6.3%. This accords with a rare official figure{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}} of 6% for 1993, when the sector was said to have employed 4.2% of the labour force. However, the latter figure excludes the [[Korean People's Army]], which visibly does much of the country's construction work.<ref name=38north-20170718/>

Since about 2012, when 18 tower blocks were built in Pyongyang, a construction boom has taken place in Pyongyang. Major projects include the [[Mansudae People's Theatre]] (2012), [[Munsu Water Park]] (2013), the modernisation of [[Pyongyang International Airport]] (2015) and the Science and Technology Center (2015).<ref name=38north-20170718>{{cite news |url=http://www.38north.org/2017/07/hferon071817/ |title=Pyongyang's Construction Boom: Is North Korea Beating Sanctions? |last=Féron |first=Henri |publisher=U.S.–Korea Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies |work=[[38 North]] |date=July 18, 2017 |access-date=July 20, 2017 |archive-date=July 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718223655/http://www.38north.org/2017/07/hferon071817/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=nyt-20170430/>