Pyongyang’s Alps-style paradise gets mixed review
Gliding down pristine, mountain runs, Olga Shpalok said she was “getting 100% satisfaction”. After a full day of skiing, the designer from Vladivostok relaxed with a visit to her hotel’s wellequipped spa and sauna.
Shpalok was part of the first group of tourists to visit North Korea since it shut its borders at the start of the pandemic in 2020. In early February, she travelled to the country with 100 fellow Russian tourists on a four-day skiing trip.
In total, more than 200 Russian tourists have visited North Korea this year across three trips in February and March. Their accounts give a rare insight into life in Kim Jong-un’s regime. Closely watched by government “minders”, who restricted what they could see and where they could go, the Russian tourists described spending time in otherwise empty luxurious ski resorts.
Russia’s access to the pariah state is no coincidence. It comes at a time when the two countries have been moving closer at an unprecedented pace, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. North Korea has emerged as Russia’s largest supplier of weapons for Moscow’s continuing war. In exchange, Russia appears to be sending North Korea food, raw materials and parts for weapons manufacturing, bypassing international sanctions.
Before the pandemic, an estimated 5,000 westerners visited North Korea every year as part of pricey tours, but since Covid-19 the borders have been sealed. Faced with increasingly tightening international sanctions and a reported food crisis triggered by the pandemic isolation, any hard currency is a welcome addition to Pyongyang’s cash-strapped coffers.
“It’s a telling reflection of the regime’s priorities that North Korea has opted to allow Russian tourists access, yet continues to rebuff appeals from humanitarian organisations pleading for entry,” said Hanna Song, of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights in Seoul.
The group tours, first announced in January by Russian tourist agencies, cost $750. This includes the return air fare to Pyongyang, North Korea’s sole international airport, the domestic flight to the ski resort on North Korea’s eastern coast, hotels and meals. The $40 daily ski pass, souvenirs and other expenses, including alcohol and cigarettes, were paid out of pocket in cash.
The tours begin with a two-hour flight from the far-eastern Russian city of Vladivostok by North Korea’s state-owned Air Koryo, which uses an ageing fleet of mostly Russian-made Tu-154 aircraft.
In Pyongyang, the tourists visited Kim Il-sung Square, bowed to the statues of the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on Mansu Hill and attended an event at the Mangyongdae Children’s Palace, where communist youth groups put on a patriotic music and dance performance. These carefully staged shows are traditionally steeped in government propaganda aimed at instilling North Koreans with national pride and loyalty to Kim’s family, which has ruled the country ruthlessly since it came to power in 1948.
On the second day an internal flight took the tourist group to Wonsan near the Masikryong ski resort, one of the large-scale construction projects built at the behest of Kim in recent years at a reported cost of $30m. Guests are ferried to the slopes on old Austrianmade gondolas imported from China.
The Russian tourists were told they would be staying at a “five-star Swiss Alps-style resort” which was built on the orders of Kim, who was educated in Switzerland. Images published on Instagram showed polished hotel rooms, a modern swimming pool, a sauna, a massage area and a hair salon.
Despite North Korea’s efforts to present a highly curated image of the country, some Russian tourists were disconcerted. Yulia Mishkova, a visitor, said the trip was worth it for those “looking for a dose of absurdity”.
“I just felt sorry for the frightened North Koreans,” she said, adding that it was hard to ignore the fact that her daily ski pass cost more than the average monthly salary.
Both countries appear to have big plans for the future. According to a report by the government of Primorsky Krai region, on the border of the two countries, North Korea is building a new ski resort that will include 17 hotels, 37 guesthouses and 29 shops.
Tatyana Markova, a representative of the Vostok Intur travel agency, said two hiking trips to North Korea have already been planned for the Russia’s May holidays.
“This is just the start,” said a recent advertisement promoting the May tours to North Korea. “Book your spot fast!”