This video from photographer Eric Lafforgue is a surprising glimpse into what we assume is the only ski area in North Korea. Little information is available, but it's apparent that a fixed double chair accesses a single slope (maybe a few on the right?) that looks pretty small, maybe only 500 vertical feet. The character in this interview maintains that children and tourists come there to ski and enjoy themselves, although the place looks pretty empty.
This small ski area in Begaebong is near the popular tourist attraction of Mount Paektu, an active volcano on the North Korean border with China that is considered the ancestral origin of the Korean people but which the regime has re-branded as the birthplace of Kim Jong-il. Outside reports maintain he was actually born in a refugee camp in the former Soviet Union.
· Skiing In North Korea? | A Rare Look At A North Korean Ski Resort [Unofficial Networks]
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