North Korea erecting Kim statues in new science complex

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- North Korea is building father-son statues of leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il between the buildings of a massive science complex in Pyongyang.

Using Google Earth satellite imagery from August, Curtis Melvin of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, told Radio Free Asia that a blue square, or what appeared to be the foundation for the statues, had emerged between two buildings of Pyongyang's Natural Sciences Complex.

Statue sites for the Kims have been growing in recent months. In May, Melvin located four previously undisclosed sites of construction for the monuments that pay tribute to the Kim dynasty -- designed to reaffirm Kim Jong Un's legitimacy as heir and North Korea's "Supreme Leader."

The science complex captured in satellite imagery is part of a massive state project to honor North Korea's scientists. High-rise buildings in the project include new residences for the engineers, including developers of nuclear weapons. The complex is estimated to have cost North Korea $88.4 million.

The recent satellite images showed an area cleared for a large park, and that a public square had been built near the new buildings. In October 2013, the state began to work on a museum dedicated to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, which was completed by August, according to the analysis. Melvin said the details of statue construction have yet to be made public in North Korea through state media.

Kim Jong Un's statue-building activities and his bid to consolidate authoritarian rule by linking his leadership to his forefathers is carrying a steep price, according to Andrei Lankov, a professor of Korean Studies at Kookmin University in Seoul.

Placing these statues in remote parts of North Korea, which are increasing in number, is not an inexpensive task, Lankov said.

In North Korea per capita income was $1,209.70 in 2014.