Masikryong: On the ski fields of Mt Taehwa, groomed pistes snake down wooded hillsides to a luxurious hotel and a giant screen showing a North Korean army choir. But the runs are empty.
Work began on Masikryong ski resort, the only one in the North and the brainchild of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, after Pyeongchang in the neighbouring South was awarded the 2018 winter Olympics.
The impoverished, nuclear-armed nation has ramshackle infrastructure and around 40% of its people are undernourished, according to the Global Hunger Index.
But the luxurious resort boasts a wood-panelled reception and statues of winter sports athletes.
Outside a large stone tablet acclaims “the work of Dear Leader Kim Jong-un who devoted hard work and heart and soul to make our people the happiest and most civilised people”.
The resort is a three-hour drive from Pyongyang, down a potholed concrete road that passes through unlit tunnels and which civilian work crews clear of snow and ice by hand after fresh falls.
The warm comforts inside are a world away from the scenes outside the entrance checkpoint, where peasant farmers drag sleds loaded with firewood across frozen lakes.
And – aside from the nursery slopes – it is deserted.
With a 700m vertical drop, the skiing compares favourably to other destinations in neighbouring China or South Korea.
At one point on a weekend afternoon in peak season, Swede Patrik Hultberg was the only skier on the slopes, he said. “That’s really cool. I wish I could experience it more.”
Day passes for foreigners cost almost US$100 (RM433.50), while for citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea they are priced at the equivalent of about US$30 (RM130) at free-market rates.
By some estimates, that approaches an ordinary worker’s monthly salary.
After trying skiing for the first time, ship captain Kwak Jong-song said he found it “refreshing”.
“I would like to thank our Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un who is giving his whole devotion to our people’s happy lives,” he said.
North Koreans normally only ever express officially-sanctioned views when speaking to foreigners.
Resort executives say it sees 70,000 visitors a year. Such figures are hard to square with the uncrowded vistas, but hotel director An Song-ryol insists it is profitable.
“We do not mind the cost if it is for the improvement of the welfare of our people,” he said. — AFP
