Inside North Korea’s new ski resort built to compete with ‘mischief’ of US

The hermit kingdom debuted the 50,000m2 resort near the northern city of Kanggye on Sunday, concluding a 10-month building project.

Propaganda boasts that it has a 530m-long main slope and a 200m-long beginners’ slope, as well as restaurants and accomodation.

And if there is no snow, the facility can manufacture its own using a local water source, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.

Kim Jong-un described the project as a way to help his people enjoy “the best civilization at the highest level”. 

The North’s existing Masikryong Ski Resort uses a 30-year-old Austrian ski lift sold on by the Chinese.

But the lifts at the new resort were locally-built, evading UN sanctions which stop luxury goods entering North Korea.

State-run propaganda outlet, Arirang Meari, called the homemade lifts a “response to the mischief of the US and its followers”.

Another report said the facilities were built at “Masikryong speed” – making reference to the rapid construction of the existing ski resort. 

While a report from last year said workers were spurred on by last July’s successful test of the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile.

The North says construction necessitated the moving of 60,000m³ of soil, and that the resort is now “well equipped” for sleds, and beginner and intermediate skiers.

These facilities, Kim Jong-un said, “contribute to building a socialist power with a healthy body” by encouraging citizens to undertake physical education.