North Korea is famous for several things, among them: eccentric totalitarian dictators, mass starvation, and the rejection of traditionally held international principles. This story fits in with all of these traditional themes from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Besides being Dennis Rodman’s “friend for life”, Kim Jong Un seems to have a passion for skiing. While he was being educated in Switzerland, it seems the young Kim picked up a passion for downhill skiing, a sport which is abundant in Switzerland but has so far been unfairly ignored by the DPRK. Seeking to right this grievous error of his forefathers, Kim Jong Un has made the construction of a top-class ski resort into one of his national priorities. Only one problem, he can’t buy the lifts. Earlier in 2012, new sanctions were introduced to punish the DPRK for their continued nuclear weapons program. But these sanctions were different than previous sanctions which focused on food aid, punishing the peasants of North Korea more than its leaders.
Instead, these sanctions focused on luxury goods such as ski lifts. Recently Kim Jong Un sought to buy the lifts off of Switzerland for $7.7 million, but was rebuked by the most historically neutral nation on the face of the Earth. In response, Kim Jong Un declared the denial “an intolerable mockery of the social system and the people of the DPRK and a serious human rights abuse that politicises sports and discriminates against the Koreans.” Really?
All levity aside, this incident is just another in a string of events which show just how much the government of North Korea values its people. It also may be a clear indicator for just how far the DPRK has fallen from logical action. Developing a nuclear option as a deterrent against the superpower sitting on its southern border? Perhaps sensible. Creating an external other out of the West, blaming it for all of the DPRK’s problems, thus stabilizing the government? Reasonable. But bellicose actions, followed by statements criticising Switzerland for human rights abuses? Questionable. Spending unreported millions of dollars on a ski resort when unknown millions are starving? That has to be the mark of an incompetent and uncaring regime.
About the Author
