His country awash in poverty and prisons, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presides over the opening of a shiny new resort city reportedly built with forced labor.
Poverty-Stricken North Korea Unveils Mountain Ski Town
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Cheering crowds at the December 2 festivities. According to Reuters, Samjiyon was built using unpaid “youth labor brigades” which “are forced to work more than 12 hours a day for up to 10 years in return for better chances to enter a university or join the all-powerful Workers’ Party.”
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Dancing at the opening ceremony. After U.S. sanctions were imposed in an attempt to stifle Pyongyang’s nuclear program, construction of the city was reportedly delayed due to a shortage of materials.
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Samjiyon’s ski slope is visible as fireworks explode over the city. A state media outlet said, without elaborating, that the town had been constructed despite “the worst trials” and “ordeals and difficulties.”
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Samjiyon under construction in September. Some reports suggest construction was completed using “makeshift concrete bricks.”