Pyongyang isn’t exactly an international travel hub but attracting more tourists is one of North Korea’s top agenda items, so thousands of soldier-builders are working feverishly to give the capital a new airport.

Construction of the hub, which is in its final stages, is the latest of the country’s “speed campaigns” – mass mobilisations of labour brigades aimed at finishing top-priority projects in record time.

Dressed in hard hats and brown or olive green uniforms, workers toil under huge signs calling on them to carry out their tasks with “Korea speed”. From some corners of the site, patriotic music blares from loudspeakers to provide further motivation.

With most of the construction finished, their work is focused on flattening out a new tarmac area, digging tunnels for drainage and putting the finishing touches on the main terminal building. Most of the work appears to be done the old way, by hand or with simple tools.

Though Pyongyang is the gateway to the reclusive country by air, it is currently served by an airport building that consists of a small, temporary terminal, with only one baggage carousel, a tiny duty-free shop and a makeshift book/souvenir store. The airport receives, at most, only a few international flights a day, amostly from China and some from Russia.

But, in search of a badly needed source of foreign currency, North Korean officials have embarked on an ambitious campaign to boost the country’s appeal to international tourists, which has made building a more impressive airport facility a top item on the government’s to-do list.

The date of the opening has not yet been officially announced.