| Masikryong Ski Resort | |
| Location: | Taehwa Peak, top station for the slopes |
| Nearest City: | Wonsan |
| Coordinates: | 39.0532°N 127.25°W |
| Top Elevation: | 1360m (4,460feet) |
| Base Elevation: | 768m (2,520feet) |
| Skiable Area: | NaNha or NaNacres--> |
| Number Trails: | 9 |
| Longest Run: | 3miles |
| Liftsystem: | Chair and drag lifts |
| Lift Capacity: | passengers/hr--> |
| Snowfall: | NaNcm (-2,147,483,648inches) or NaNinches--> |
| Snowmaking: | Snow cannons |
| Hangul: | 마식령스키장 |
| Hanja: | 스키 |
| Context: | north |
| Rr: | Masingnyeong Seukijang |
| Mr: | Masingnyŏng Sŭk'ijang |
Masikryong Ski Resort (ko|마식령 스키장) is a ski resort at the summit of the 1360m (4,460feet) Taehwa Peak (ko|대황산) some outside Wonsan City in Kangwon Province, North Korea.
According to the official project plan, the first stage of the 2430km2 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 (sic)."
Despite political tensions with neighbouring South Korea, leaders in the North hoped to host some events at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[1] 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.[2]
The limestone and gneiss Masikryong range runs from Chorwon County in the southwest to the northeast corner of Kangwon Province with average heights of 800to. 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.
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.[3] 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.[4] Conversion of the Kalma airforce base in nearby Wonsan into an international airport is underway as part of plans to create a special tourism area with the Masikryong resort as a major attraction.
Soldiers of the Korean People’s Army 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.[5] The Daily Telegraph observed that "Masikryong speed" is a throwback to the Stakhanovite Chollima Movement introduced by former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung following the Korean War (19501953).
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, 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.”[6] A spokesperson from Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) described the resort as a “prestigious propaganda project for the [North Korean] regime.”[7] The Korean Central News Agency 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."[8]
The resort opened the same year, featuring a 30-year-old Austrian-made gondola lift, retired from Ischgl, that China supplied to North Korea. China's interpretation of the international sanctions excludes ski resorts from the banned "luxury" category.[9]