Photos released by KCNA show Kim touring the new homes built for the families on Saeppyol Street, alongside his teenage daughter Ju Ae, widely viewed as his heir apparent.
Seoul’s spy agency said last week she had now been clearly “designated as a successor”, citing her participation in high-profile events with her father.
One photo shows Kim speaking with what appeared to be the family members of a fallen soldier on a sofa, his daughter standing behind them.
Other photos show families checking the utilities in their new flats.
The rollout comes ahead of Pyongyang’s biggest political event on the calendar – the party congress – scheduled to take place later this month, although the exact date has not been announced.
Attention is on which foreign and domestic policy directions Kim will declare to set the country’s course, as well as whether Ju Ae will be given any official party titles.
The timing of the street inauguration is a “highly calculated political move to justify its soldier deployment” ahead of the party congress, Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.
“It visualises the state providing concrete compensation to the families of fallen soldiers … as a symbolic showcase,” he said.
