Kim Jong Un's missile shaped skyscrapers leave residents fuming over design flaw

The towers in Pyongyang's Hwasong district - which shares it name with North Korea's Hwasong missile family - were opened by the dictator last year but residents have revealed a major issue

Kim Jong Un's missile shaped skyscrapers have left residents fuming over a fatal design flaw that leaves them trapped.

The towers in Pyongyang's Hwasong district - which shares its name with North Korea's Hwasong missile family - were opened by the dictator last year. And their rocket-like appearance is no coincidence, with regime propaganda boasting that they "seem to resemble Hwasong missiles, the pride of our country".

But with the secretive nation's faltering electrical grid only able to provide a few hours of power per day, the towers' residents have just a short window of time to use the elevators. As a result, everybody comes home at the same time, causing hours-long waits for the lifts, disgruntled locals complained.

One 19th-floor resident told Radio Free Asia (RFA): "Electricity is supplied to some extent during national holidays, but on weekdays electricity is supplied part-time, from 6pm to 9pm. In the evening, people who had worked at factories or gone out to the shop stand in long lines in front of the elevator to match the times when electricity is supplied.

"Once the electricity comes back on, the elevator attendants control the number of people in the elevator so that no more than eight can ride it. People who wait in line before the electricity comes back on are complaining of joint pain as they wait for an hour to ride the elevator back home."

One visitor compared the long lines at the elevators to those seen outside North Korea's food distribution centres. He said: "I went to a high-rise apartment complex in the Hwasong district of Pyongyang, which was being loudly advertised on television. The line for the elevator looked like the queue at a food distribution center."

He continued: "Last month, I went to my relative's house and had to wait five hours before I could take the elevator to the 25th floor, the apartment complex and its amenities look great, but the residents are living in an uncomfortable environment. The electricity is only supplied on an hourly basis, so complaints about the inconvenience grow louder from the 10th floor and above."

Now, it seems some residents are even taking matters into their own hands, risking the ritzy reputation of Kim's showpiece towers. The source told RFA: "Some people are installing pulleys on their apartment balconies and using them to haul up food and other supplies. However, the sight of people hauling up sacks of rice or bundles in Pyongyang apartments is controlled as it is not civilised for the capital city, so they have to do it secretly."

Members of North Korea's political elite live in Pyongyang's central district, where power is available 12 hours per day. But most districts only get two to three hours per day - and at no set times. Hwasong district, because of its high-rise apartments, at least has set hours, picked to match the end of the working day.

But its not just electricity that's restricted - tap water is only available between 6am and 8am. And Kim's twin towers are not the only residences affected. A local source said most apartment buildings in the district were "between 20 and 40 storeys high".