Masik Pass, a luxury ski resort, is North Korea's, or rather Kim Jong Hun's latest project. Workers have been urged into working overdrive in order to complete the multimillion dollar project before its scheduled opening day, October 10, the 68th anniversary of the Korean Workers Party.
According to Fox News, North Korean social media recently claimed that workers on the project have been"carrying out their daily quotas at more than 200 percent," despite recent landslides and heavy rain. Workers are compelled by the impending due date as well as billboards displaying messages such as "Full attack. March forward. Let's absolutely finish building Masik Pass ski resort within this year by launching a full aggressive war."
The biggest concern of not finishing on time? Ski lifts. Kim Tae Yong, the ski association chief, expressed to Fox News that he does not believe the resort will be ready by Thursday but is confident it will eventually get done. However, three countries so far (Switzerland, Austria, and France) have already rejected the request for ski lifts, in some cases due to sanctions preventing the sale of luxury goods to North Korea. Kim Tae Yong isn't that worried however,"We can make nuclear weapons and rockets. We can build a ski lift," he added.
Why a ski resort? Because South Korea is set to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, North Korea is greatly inclined to medal. Masik Pass will supposedly be used as a training ground for North Korean athletes as well as a playground for the country's small elite class. According to NBC, leadership may offer trips as rewards for loyalty or exceptional work to those who would otherwise not be able to afford it. Of course, the resort is also meant to increase tourism, North Korean Academy of Social Science economist Ri Ki Song told AP, "It will have a big impact on the economy. We are now trying to build a lot of tourism sites, and skiing is the kind of sport that developed countries enjoy. It will also be a place for our own people to use."
BBC News has released more details on the resort. The ski resort, built in a mountainous area on the east coast of North Korea, will include two hotels (a 250-room building for foreigners and a 150-room building for Koreans). Also included are 110km (70 miles) of multi-level ski runs,a heliport, and cable cars. The construction has been going on for 10 months so far and £300m (approximately $406m) has been invested in the resort.