Power Hungry: 40.179N, 126.350E

You really can’t see any hint of it in this image, but this is the Huichon Number Two Power Station, the one that allegedly caused Kim Jong Il’s fatal vapor lock because the crappy concrete used to build it cracked when the reservoir was filled.  Or so the unverified rumor holds.

You can see video of the dam here, a KNCAP report here that makes no reference to the dam’s problems, some cool pictures here (see #36), and more interesting stuff from Curtis here.

I’m skeptical of the “tantrum death” story, as I am of all stories sourced from within Pyongyang’s palace intrigues.  Nor is it clear that Huichon was an engineering failure, or a great engineering success.  There is some evidence that the dam has helped brighten a few elite showpiece construction projects in downtown Pyongyang, but according to the Daily NK, even most residents of Pyongyang aren’t getting much more electricity than they were before.