The Telegraph reports that project managers in the country’s capital of Pyongyang are said to be under so much pressure to finish the job on time that they have resorted to openly providing builders with the drug.

Nicknamed “ice,” it is a form of the powerful stimulant methamphetamine, which is also known as crystal meth.

When snorted or inhaled, crystal meth gives users a sense of euphoria, increased energy levels and a suppressed appetite. The effects can last up to 12 hours.

Hundreds of thousands of North Korean citizens have been roped in to finish the project, which consists of a 70-floor skyscraper and more than 60 apartment blocks.

It was approved earlier this year by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in defiance of tough sanctions placed on the state over its nuclear weapons tests.

“Project managers are now openly providing drugs to construction workers so that they will work faster,” a construction source in Pyongyang told Radio Free Asia.

” are undergoing terrible sufferings in their work.”

North Korea has been producing methamphetamine to increase its funds since the 1970s.

It was was initially sold as a medicine, but quickly became a hugely popular drug.

It is produced in state-run facilities by underpaid chemists and sold both domestically and internationally.

As the production and sale of opium declined in the early 2000s, methamphetamine became even more widespread.