New resort lets North Koreans go bombing down the slopes

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This article was published 10/02/2018 (2770 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

North Korea spent much of the past year pursuing new long-range missiles and nuclear bombs, often accompanying its tests with bellicose threats that raised fears of an impending war. But in the coming weeks Pyongyang will be proudly displaying a very different program: its luxurious ski resorts.

The planned joint North-South training sessions at the Masik Pass ski resort are just one part of a broader detente on the peninsula ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony Feb. 9 in Pyeongchang, South Korea. After a year of increasing tension, North Korea agreed to send a delegation to the Games in early January — a move greeted warmly in Seoul, where there had been fears that a provocation could derail the high-profile international event.

For North Korea, the training session is not only about reconciliation: It also offers a chance for the isolated country to show off.

When North Korea opened the resort in 2013, it was heavily sanctioned by the United Nations, which made it difficult for Pyongyang to do relatively simple things like import a ski lift from Switzerland.

But under Kim Jong Un, North Korea has pursued a strategy of “byungjin” — a dual pursuit of developing the country’s nuclear weapons at the same time it is advancing the country’s domestic economy. The push to reveal the resort to an international audience may be a sign that North Korea is be preparing for a future despite its isolation — or perhaps for an end to the isolation all together.

“With projects like Masikryong, Kim Jong Un wants to make it clear that he cares not just about the country surviving and fighting the Americans, but also about people having fun,” said Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and co-editor of the North Korean Economy Watch blog, using the resort’s Korean name.Masik Pass may be the most ambitious element of that project. When it was unveiled in 2013, North Korean state media bragged of its “world-class” facilities, which it said included 10 separate slopes. The resort, which is believed to have cost tens of millions of dollars to build, features a large hotel, decorated in a classy-if-dated alpine style, with attractions like a bowling alley and a nightclub.

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While there are now many wealthy Pyongyangites who can afford $30 price, it is out of the range for most in a country where the average monthly salary is nearly the same. Most North Korean visitors are thought to visit the resort on free work trips as a reward for high productivity in state industry. For many, it will be their first time skiing.

Observers doubt that the resort can make a profit for the North Korean government. “It’s a huge cash sink,” said Cockerell, who visited Masik Pass with Dennis Rodman in 2014. “If you want to encourage their economic collapse, they should be building more of these.”

The resort may give a hopeful glimpse into how North Korea views its future. Despite the country’s dire human rights record, its international isolation and the risk of conflict, a small segment of North Korean society has grown more comfortable over recent years. “The number of people who have leisure time is increasing – from almost none to more than you would expect,” said Cockerell.

— The Washington Post