NBC News went to North Korea to do a report about Masikryong Ski Resort but they didn’t even get to the mountain before seeing something newsworthy. They are reporting that the road to North Korea’s largest ski resort is not kept clear by snowplow, rather it is shoveled by hand.
The monumental task is done by an overwhelmingly civilian workforce armed with makeshift wooden shovels who commute on bikes. NBC reports the ill-equipped laborers number in the thousands, with some as young as 11 or 12.
Salt is not used to melt ice. Workers dig into the frozen ground and spread dirt and stones to provide traction. It is hard to believe conditions like this outside a fully modern ski resort but there is now video proof they do.