North Korea's Kim Jong Un Exploits Poor People: Children Forced To Work At Expensive Ski Resort For Elite

At North Korea’s high-end Masikryong ski resort, a room cost more than $100 per night. An ordinary ski jacket sold at the gift shop for more than $1,000, while a ski helmet regularly priced at $40 was marked up to more than $400. Those prices are far too steep for a typical North Korean, but it seems that civilians, including children as young as 11 years old, are largely responsible for the manual labor that takes place there.

Children, teenagers and adult men and women dig through the snow at the resort and thaw the roads by manually applying earth and stones, NBC News reported Friday after visiting Masikryong. In typical North Korean fashion, government propaganda is displayed prominently at the elite resort, with videos of Kim Jong Un and other officials shown at the bottom of the ski slopes. NBC News witnessed thousands of civilian workers smashing snow with makeshift wooden shovels and sticks in order for buses and cars to access the resort.

It was unclear exactly where the workers came from, as no houses could be seen nearby the resort, and it’s unknown who is in charge, though a group of soldiers was seen close by. It’s not the first time child labor has been reported in North Korea. Footage in December showed children working to repair railways with hammers and loading rocks for up to 10 hours a day.

The North Korean government regularly required forced, uncompensated labor from workers, including schoolchildren, Human Rights Watch reported in 2012.

“The harsh reality faced by North Korean workers and students is unpaid forced labor and exploitation,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in a 2012 report. “Those who refuse face being sent to forced labor camps where they must do hard labor, face physical abuse from guards and are treated as less than human.”