North Korea’s multimillion-dollar ski resort is set to open, at least partially, on Thursday. The resort on the nation’s east coast has been under construction for the past 10 months and its opening is specifically set to recognize the 86th anniversary of the Korean Workers Party.

In a country of 24 million where only 5,500 people actually ski, the purpose of this high-end ski resort that is being built for 0.02 percent of the population has been questioned by many. The resort will be complete with three lifts, as well as separate hotels for foreigners and North Koreans.

According to the Associated Press, there was a falling out last month between a Swiss group planning to sell $7.7 million in lifts and equipment and their North Korean buyers. The reported reason is because of a sanction that prohibits selling luxury goods to North Korea, and apparently Austrian and French ski-lift manufacturers are also declining the sale.

North Korea’s media called the decision a “serious human rights abuse that politicizes sports and discriminates against the Koreans,” the AP reported. But apparently this is not stopping the resort from being completed.

“We can make nuclear weapons and rockets,” North Korean Ski Association Chief Kim Tae Yong told the Associated Press. “We can build a ski lift.”

 

Image from Gabo2012 on the Wikimedia Commons