One October day in 2014, the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un visited the construction site of Terminal 2 at Pyongyang International Airport to learn in detail about how the project was progressing.
Being guided into the entrance hall on the second floor, he halted and gave a look around for a good while.
He pointed out some defects, including the disharmony of the service amenities and other facilities with the internal space of the terminal. He went into details about how to rectify the defects. He advised that restaurants should be located not in the corners of the building but where the runway came into view so that the diners could see airplanes taking off or landing.
He then recalled the way a passport control desk in the immigration inspection area had been designed, which he had gone over a few days previously. The desk had been designed to be facing passengers, entirely in a foreign fashion.
He said sternly: The interior of the terminal is an exact replica of a foreign airport terminal. If the designers had firmly equipped themselves with our Party’s Juche-oriented idea of architectural aesthetics that sustaining the Juche character and national identity is the lifeblood and core of architecture, they would not have come up with such a design.
The officials concerned felt guilty for having neglected this matter on the pretext of meeting international standards.
They hardened their determination to work hard to put his ennobling intentions into reality.