North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has opened a flagship construction project close to Mount Paektu, a symbol of the Korean nation and officially the birthplace of his father and predecessor, state media reported Tuesday. Pyongyang has poured huge resources into the rebuilding of Samjiyon, the closest town to the dormant volcano that straddles the border with China. Kim had "worked heart and soul to turn Samjiyon County, the sacred place of the revolution, into the utopia town under socialism", North Korea's official KCNA news agency said.