The rise of N. Korea’s amusement parks and entertainment facilities

Posted on : 2019-07-21 20:01 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Kim Jong-un’s inordinate investments on leisure and culture
Children on a water slide in Pyongyang’s Munsu Water Park in July 2017
Children on a water slide in Pyongyang’s Munsu Water Park in July 2017

“Our child loves to go to the water park so much that this is the sixth time we’ve visited just this summer.”

A resident of Pyongyang’s Potonggang district said this in an interview with the Choson Sinbo, the newspaper of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon). The water park in question was built on a large site measuring 109,000m². Children enjoy riding on the colorful slides, while adults enjoy letting the rolling artificial waves wash over them. The scene was from a report last September on Munsu Water Park during the dog days of summer by the Choson Sinbo.

Amusement facilities have been proliferating in Pyongyang and all around North Korea since the arrival of the Kim Jong-un era. October 2013 saw the opening of the large-scale Munsu Water Park and the Mirim Horse Riding Club; the large Masikryong Ski Resort opened last December. Also increasing in number are amusement parks, 4D theaters, skating facilities, and shooting ranges where visitors can go at any time of year, including weekends and major holidays.

 (Yonhap News)
(Yonhap News)

Boom in amusement facilities

In addition to its indoor and outdoor pools, Munsu Water Park offers a range of sporting facilities including volleyball, badminton, and basketball courts and a roller skating rink.

“You can use it for four hours for 25,000 won in North Korean money. After that, it’s a few thousand won extra per hour,” said a 20-something defector surnamed Jeong, who described visiting Munsu Water Park every summer before arriving in the South in 2017.

“They also have a restaurant inside, so you can get something to eat and enjoy a nice cold beer if you get hungry while you’re playing,” Jeong added. Leader Kim Jong-un has shown great interest in the park, paying in-person visits to the site four times between August 2013 and the opening in October of that year.

In North Korea as elsewhere, amusement parks are seen as the perfect place for families on outings and couples on dates throughout the year. The best example may be Nungra People’s Amusement Park, completed in July 2012. A multipurpose facility with a total architectural area measuring 14,940m², it boasts an amusement park along with a 1,460-seat dolphinarium, a water park, and sports facilities including basketball and volleyball courts and a miniature golf course. A 3D movie theater drew major attention when it was added to the park in 2013.

The amusement park includes 13 rides of various types, including roller coasters, a free-fall drop, and a spinning ride that rotates 360 degrees in midair. Rides operate on a pay-per-use basis, reportedly costing the equivalent of 500 to 1,000 won in North Korean money each time.

“In the past, there were also amusement parks like Mangyongdae Funfair or Taesongsan Funfair, but the facilities were old and there was nothing for adults to ride on,” said Jeong.

“I think maybe Kim Jong-un is investing so much in amusement culture because he’s young himself.”

Different facilities poised to spread beyond Pyongyang

The most modern amusement facilities are still found mainly in Pyongyang. The costs to visit a water park or shooting range remain quite steep, which limits their popularity among the working class. But signs of different forms of amusement facilities spreading beyond Pyongyang to other parts of North Korea have been in evidence – as suggested by Kim Jong-un in January 2013 in his first New Year address after coming to power, where he talked about the need to “build more modern culture and welfare facilities, parks, and recreational sites” so that North Koreans “can fully enjoy civilized lives in a new era.”

Describing an amusement park built in Wonsan in 2013, a woman in her 20s who defected to South Korea from the city in 2014 said, “They had six rides, including a rotating swing. It was a bit on the old side – it may have been something brought in from Pyongyang – but I remember liking the idea that we could go on rides without having to go to Pyongyang.”

“The entrance fee was 500 won, which was pretty cheap,” she added.

Another woman in her 40s who defected from Yanggang Province in 2016 said, “On rest days and holidays, everyone goes to amusement parks, whether they have money or not.”

“They go on all the rides they want to go on, and they practice firing bullets and arrows at facilities within the parks,” she added. “The entrance fee is set by the state, so it isn’t that expensive.”

In December 2015, the US-based Radio Free Asia (RFA), citing the findings of an analysis of commercial satellite images by researcher Curtis Melvin of the Johns Hopkins US-Korea Institute, reported that water parks, movie theaters, skating rinks, and other entertainment and sporting facilities either had been or were being built all around North Korea.

An image of an equestrian facility on the outskirts of Pyongyang in October 2013. (Yonhap News)
An image of an equestrian facility on the outskirts of Pyongyang in October 2013. (Yonhap News)
Showing “love for the people” while helping state finances

Why has the building of amusement facilities and amenities been such a focus during the Kim era? Analysts read the boom in amusement facilities as both an effective means of boosting Kim’s stature as a leader who “puts the people first” and a policy approach that allows the public to personally experience the fruits of political achievement.

“Once people’s livelihood needs are more or less met, they have a desire to enjoy cultural life. It may be that the authorities determined that it could contribute to sustaining the regime if they enabled the North Korean public to enjoy places like these,” said Ju Seung-hyeon, a professor at Incheon National University.

“Another possible influence [on the growth of amusement culture] may be Kim Jong-un’s familiarity with leisure activities and amusement culture after his experience studying in Switzerland,” Ju suggested.

Hong Min, director of the North Korea research office at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the push “offers actual profits in addition to accentuating a ‘people-friendly’ image.”

“Funds have spread through the economy with the development of markets, with greater incomes [for the public] and a lot of foreign currency freed up,” he noted.

“When they’re developing facilities, they allow for private investment before granting permits, and the state collects a certain amount of profit,” he added.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

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