The Masikryeong Ski Resort, located in Kangwon province in southeastern North Korea, opened its doors to the public on Jan. 1, according to CNN. The ski hill has nine runs, and a day-pass costs about $34. Leader Kim Jong Un, who is thought to have picked up skiing while attending high school in Switzerland, had a few hotels built around the ski mountain for tourists, and at least one of them is currently open: The 120-room Masikryeonghotel, a lavish lodge, comes complete with hot tubs, saunas and an 80-foot swimming pool.
But the pretty pictures of the sunny North Korean ski resort belie the grim reality of what even Switzerland has called "a propaganda project." North Korea can't feed its own citizens.
Ordinary North Koreans are greeting news of the Masikryeong Ski Resort with disinterest, dismissing it as a “playground for cadres,”a source has revealed. The ski resort is consistently promoted by the state media as personal triumph of young leader Kim Jong Eun.
The source in North Korea’s Yangkang Province told Daily Chosun.com on the 1'st that, “Recently, documentary films and Rodong Sinmun articles endorsing the Masikryeong Ski Resort have been commonplace, but the people are not that interested. Even the few who do show an interest say things like, ‘Now matter how good they say it is, it’s pie in the sky for people like us who are busy making a living and being mobilized (by the state).’”
“It’s a place for people with lots of money,” the source assessed, before adding, “Normal people can’t enjoy a ski resort because they don’t have any leisure time. Of course, there are state field trips where one could go and not have to pay, but that kind of thing may only happen once in a entire lifetime, so no one is holding their breath.”
The source believes the recent spate of newly-constructed leisure facilities is viewed as something that primarily benefits cadres and Pyongyangites, despite official narrative that the project was undertaken out of "love for the next generation," and to “improve the lives of the people."
“The Rodong Sinmun prominently displays news of the Mirim Riding Club and the Munsu Water Park, but looking at pictures is the closest people from the provinces will get to these places, as travelling to Pyongyang is difficult. Even if you wanted to visit, you need a travel pass. It's impossible to get such a pass if you don't have relatives there,” the source explained.
“There is no entertainment culture to speak of because of crackdowns on foreign content, including South Korean dramas. There is a roller-skating rink in Hyesan, Yangkang Province, but only children from wealthy families can afford to buy roller-skates. Poorer families can’t even dream of such a thing.”
Meanwhile, the Rodong Sinmun announced that, “The opening of the Masikryeong Ski Resort at the dawn of 2014 was a moment in history that again thrust Chosun into the world spotlight.”
Kim may consider the opening of Masik a victory. A photo of the young dictator riding one of the new ski lifts was interpreted by some as thumbing his nose at Europe, which Kim claimed had committed a "human rights abuse" by denying his country the lifts.
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