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Why is North Korea building resorts, spas and parks?

North Korean state media are promoting the leisure facilities as 'world-class'
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For an impoverished country, North Korea sure gives a lot of emphasis to building leisure facilities.
Under Kim Jong-un, the country has seen a number of resorts, shopping malls and amusement parks crop up across the country - the Yangdok Hot Spring Resort being the latest one to open in January.
The North Korean leader seems to have taken a personal interest in their development, with at least five trips to Yangdok in 2019. He reportedly directed officials to make the spring waters there hot enough to boil eggs in one such visit.
Last month, a new mountain spa and ski resort opened in Samjiyon near the revered Mount Paektu with much fanfare, with the state media calling it "an epitome of modern civilisation".
The Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone, another of Kim's pet projects, is nearing completion and is scheduled to open in April.
So just why is North Korea building these facilities?


The new Switzerland?

One of the main reasons is to get much-needed hard currency via foreign tourists.
Tourism is excluded from the UN sanctions which block North Korea from earning money through coal, weapons or minerals.
Further, overseas North Korean workers -  a key source of revenue for Pyongyang - were also told to return home in December under the sanctions.
Jeongmin Kim, a correspondent at specialist site NK News, says that careful thought goes into making big investments into certain projects, given the country’s limited resources.
"Tourism is one of the very few things North Korea is left with to attract foreign capital," she told BBC Monitoring.
A record number of Chinese tourists visited North Korea in 2019
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NK News estimates that around 350,000 Chinese tourists  went to North Korea in 2019, resulting in a financial windfall of 175m dollars for the country.
South Korea has also said it may allow citizens to visit the North, as it seeks to bring strained ties back on track.
North Korea however faces a dilemma - it wants the money but it cannot risk locals being exposed to tourists over fears of foreign influence spreading in its society.
"Hence, they [North Korea] have been aiming for a limited opening through a few special tourist districts to minimise foreign contact with domestic residents while earning foreign capital," says Jeongmin Kim.
Foreign tourism is tightly controlled in North Korea
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But it will take more than just building resorts for North Korea to turn into a tourist hotspot.
"If Kim Jong-un imagines that the tourists that come to North Korea will be wealthy tourists from Western nations, his project will not succeed," says Andrei Lankov, professor at South Korea's Kookmin University.
"While tourism has the potential to contribute to North Korea’s economic development overall, its limitations are clear. North Korea is not Switzerland," he noted in an article published on Daily NK website on 8 November.
The spread of the coronavirus may also derail Kim's plans, with reports saying foreign tourism into North Korea has been suspended


'Love for the people'

Besides tourism, the leisure facilities are intended to give a sense of prosperity to locals and to show that the country is thriving despite economic hardships.
"They are partly for convincing the domestic audience that their country is creating these great cultural hubs for the people's 'civilised' lifestyle, despite all the sanctions," notes Jeongmin Kim.
State media have featured the facilities extensively in their recent coverage, in an indication of their domestic propaganda value.
Analysts say Kim Jong-un wants to show he cares about people's well-being
KCNA
new documentary on North Korean state television about Kim's exploits in 2019 dedicates a major portion to the construction of Yangdok resort and Samjiyon town.
The channel even aired a separate segment on road and weather conditions around Yangdok resort area. 
"The Yangdok resort is a fruition of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un's love for the people as it was built thanks to his noble intention to provide them with a better cultured life," the official KCNA news agency said on 21 January.
"A large number of citizens are now enjoying themselves at the resort built under the wise leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea giving top priority to the people's interests," it added.
Experts have attributed Kim's fascination with resorts to his time spent in Switzerland
KCNA
Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, co-editor of the North Korean Economy Watch blog, says people now have higher demands from life than merely surviving, which was largely the case in the 1990s.
"Kim wants to show the general public that things are getting better, even if not in their precise towns since most of North Korea is still very poor, but on the whole, and to cater to the emerging, money-making middle class that wants to have fun and has the money to spend," he told BBC Monitoring.
"Kim Jong-un wants to be a different kind of leader with higher ambitions, and the leisure facilities are a way of showing that."


Construction boom

There's been a focus on showpiece construction projects as part of Kim's apparent desire to show North Korea as a modern country and instil national pride.
The Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone on the country's east coast - when complete - is expected to feature beach-facing hotels, a sports complex, water slides and more.
The Wonsan-Kalma zone has faced several delays
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It was originally intended to open in October 2019 but was reportedly delayed due to lack of construction material - which is subject to international sanctions.
Kim has also announced plans to develop Mt Kumgang into "a global cultural and tourist area of its own style", after he asked South Korea to tear down its buildings there.
North Korea has completed several construction projects under Kim Jong-un
KCNA
Some other major construction projects completed during his tenure include the Masikryong Ski Resort, Kanggye resort, Mirae Scientists Street and the Ryomyong Street in Pyongyang.
But critics say these are vanity projects with little practical use.
Concerns have also been expressed about the use of forced labour at these projects.
A North Korean defector recently spoke about harsh conditions for labourers at the Samijyon construction site.
"It keeps me up at night when I think about those hungry children struggling in the cold," he told NK News on 20 January.
SOURCE: BBC MONITORING 23 JAN 20