Masikryong Ski Resort ( ko, 마식령 스키장) is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

at the summit of the Taehwa Peak ( ko, 대황산) some outside

Wonsan Wŏnsan (), previously known as Wŏnsanjin (), Port Lazarev, and Genzan (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwŏn Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...

City in Kangwon Province,

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. According to the official project plan, the first stage of the development cost US$35,340,000 (£21 million; €25.5 million) and included construction of a luxury hotel, ice rink, swimming pool and restaurants. Official revenue forecasts suggest that 5,000 people will visit each day, generating an estimated annual income of $18,750,000 (£11.1 million; €13.5 million). The Masikryong (literally, "horse-resting pass") project was initiated by the North Korean government as part of a drive to "make people not only possess strong physiques and sound mentality, but also enjoy their sports and cultural lives in a world’s advanced condition." Despite political tensions with neighbouring

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, leaders in the North hoped to host some events at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

. Constructed in just ten months, North Korea's first public ski resort was part of a drive by leader Kim Jong-un to increase foreign tourist numbers from 200,000 to 1 million per annum by 2016.

Local environment

The limestone and

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

Masikryong range runs from

Chorwon County Ch'ŏrwŏn County () is a ''kun'', or county, in Kangwŏn province, North Korea. Portions of it were once a single county together with the county of the same name in South Korea; other portions were added from neighbouring counties in the 19 ...

in the southwest to the northeast corner of Kangwon Province with average heights of . A gentle slope on the western side of the ridge contrasts with a sharp descent to the east. The area is home to a wide variety of deciduous trees including oak and lime. Average annual temperatures are with an average of in January and in July. It snows on the ridge from mid-November until early April.

Facilities

Along with nine beginner to intermediate level pistes, the site includes a ski school and kindergarten as well as a children's snow park. The on-resort Masikryong Hotel has a swimming pool and sauna, massage room, beauty parlour, billiards room, restaurants and an ice-skating rink. There is also a helipad across from the hotel. Designed by the Pyongyang Architectural Institute, the 120-room hotel has twin pyramidal towers with the taller of the two having nine floors. Conversion of the Kalma airforce base in nearby

into an international airport is underway as part of plans to create a special tourism area with the Masikryong resort as a major attraction.

Cultural impact

Soldiers of the

Korean People’s Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...

constructed the resort in only ten months, giving rise to the new slogan "Masikryong speed", which has become a symbol of national pride as well as a propaganda device. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' observed that "Masikryong speed" is a throwback to the

Stakhanovite The term Stakhanovite () originated in the Soviet Union and referred to Workforce, workers who modeled themselves after Alexey Stakhanov. These workers took pride in their ability to produce more than was required, by working harder and more effic ...

Chollima Movement The Chollima Movement () was a state-sponsored Stakhanovite movement in North Korea intended to promote rapid economic development. Launched in 1956 or 1958, the movement emphasized "ideological incentives to work harder" and the personal guidance ...

introduced by former North Korean leader

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

following the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

(19501953).

Controversy

A US$7.5 million (£4.5 million; €5.5 million) deal with a Swiss ski-lift manufacturer was blocked in August 2013 after the country's government issued a directive based on

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2094 United Nations Security Council resolution 2094, adopted unanimously on March 7, 2013, after recalling all previous relevant resolutions on the situation concerning North Korea, including resolutions 825 (1993), 1540 (2004), 1695 (2006), 1718 (20 ...

, itself a response to North Korea’s January 2013 nuclear test, that prohibited export sales of “installations for infrastructure and equipment for sports facilities with a luxury character.” A spokesperson from Switzerland’s

State Secretariat for Economic Affairs State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

(Seco) described the resort as a “prestigious propaganda project for the orth Koreanregime.” The

Korean Central News Agency The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946 and now features onli ...

responded with a statement saying: "This is an intolerable mockery of the social system and the people of the DPRK and a serious human rights abuse that politicizes sports and discriminates against the Koreans." The resort opened the same year, featuring a 30-year-old Austrian-made

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate sup ...

, retired from

Ischgl Ischgl () is a town in the Paznaun valley in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Its ski resort is connected with that of Samnaun across the border in Switzerland to form one of the largest in the Alps. Ischgl was a major hotspot of the COVID-19 pandem ...

, that China supplied to North Korea. China's interpretation of the international sanctions excludes ski resorts from the banned "luxury" category.

References

;Bibliography *

External links