Construction Portends Lifting of Tourism Ban

Despite Pyongyangs
desperate efforts to cut off any potential threats from the Ebola virus, plans
are underway to open its borders to foreign tourists again come
April in order to draw in cash from outside the country. After its move to win
over investment for 13 special economic zones produced no substantial results
last year, the North has changed tack, deciding instead to develop specific
tourist destinations.
 

At the beginning of this month, there has
been major construction to repair and expand roads near the Chilbo Mountain
area in Myongchon County for tourism,
a source in
North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK on Wednesday.
A
construction command center has been put together comprising North Hamkyung
Party Committee members, cadres with the provincial People
s Committee, and state-run enterprises and residents in the province
are being mobilized for work.

This move has in effect forced state firms to
take on a stretch of 750ri [roughly 295km] each, contracting parts out, so that factory workers have no choice but to cobble together the funds to buy petrol,
diesel, in order to transport rocks and dirt for the effort. 
“Housewives affiliated with the Chosun Democratic Women’s Union are also required to participate, carrying gravel and soil in buckets and sacks, she explained.

Chilbo Mountain is known to be one of the
most favored tourist destinations in the country, following Geumgang Mountain.
The location is near the East Sea and boasts rugged cliffs, making it a popular
destination with Chinese tourists with popularity rising each year. Travelers from China, who cross the border at the Hoeryong customs office
in North Hamkyung Province, take a bus to Chilbo Mountain across a 300km swath of land.

Beginning in 1996 and stretching over the span of seven years, the existing Chilbo Mountain tourist road was built by the tireless labor of North Hamkyung Province residents manning shovels and pickaxes. Because the road was built on gravel and covered with dirt, in the summer potholes appear from the rain and parts get washed away, requiring constant repairs. That’s why people call it the road of resentment,’” the source explained.

Up until now, road repairs took place in
the spring and fall, but this year, they are undertaking this huge construction
project in the coldest months of January and February,

she said. 
The cadres in charge of the directive
have been pushing people to work faster, saying the construction needs to be
completed soon so they can accept tourists from China and Russia during the
spring season.”

Although foreigners are currently unable to enter the North because of potential Ebola threats, the ban is expected to be lifted in April, because as the source put it, The state has no choice but to let foreigners back in so they can procure foreign currency.

Large construction efforts are typically not carried out in the winter, as the frozen ground renders digging an arduous–if not impossible–task. “The fact that they are doing so indicates just how desperate they are for foreign cash,” she concluded.