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GANGS of men, women and children have been clearing snow to allow regime bigwigs enjoy North Korea’s £21 million sports resort.

Footage shot in the hermit state appears to show legions of North Koreans slaving away to clear snow to allow access to Kim Jong-un’s showpiece ski centre.

There are no snow ploughs - it is all done by hand
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There are no snow ploughs - it is all done by handCredit: NBC NEWS
There are hundreds of worker involved in the snow clearing effort
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There are hundreds of workers involved in the snow clearing effortCredit: NBC news
The vast majority of people using the North Korea’s Masikryong ski resort are elite members of the Stalinist regime
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The vast majority of people using North Korea’s Masikryong ski resort are families of elite members of the Stalinist regimeCredit: NBC

Thousands of red-faced people young and old are seen in an NBC clip all carrying out backbreaking work in sub-zero conditions.

Wrapped up in jackets, scarves and hats, the gangs smash snow and ice with pickaxes and sticks.

According to reports some of those labouring are as young as 11 and many are teenagers.

Others look elderly.

Kim Jong-un's ski resort – built by the army – rarely has the 5,000 skiers a DAY needed pack its slope.

Currently only a handful of well-off party officials and the odd tourist party grace the snow.

For dirt poor Koreans survive on just £1,000-a-year.

And they simply don’t have the £30 needed for a day pass to the resort, never mind the cash for equipment or a £100-a-night hotel room.

Kim Jong Un North Korea Masik ski resort
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Deserted... The despot has demanded his leaders boost numbers from just 6,000-a-year to a million by the end of 2017Credit: Facebook
North Korean skiing
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A North Korean worker standing by the slope he can not afford to useCredit: Exclusivepix Media

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North Korea Kim Jong Un Masik ski resort
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A lonely Un: Kim Jong rides the ski lift during his inspection tour of the ski resort in 2013Credit: YONHAP/RODONG SINMUN
North Korea Kim jong Un
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Kim Jong-Un visits the ski resort wihle it was under construction near the Mount Masik pass, or Masikryong, in the North's Kangwon ProvinceCredit: Rodong Sinmun - YONHAP
North korea Kim jong Un
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North Korean watchers have been left scratching their heads over Kim’s decision to plough so much cash into the projectCredit: Facebook

The huge resort is 1,400 hectares in size and has 70 miles of slopes to explore.

The Masikryong resort has become emblematic of the large showcase construction projects undertaken by Kim, 33, during his leadership.

Its budget represented three quarters of the cost of the UN World Food Programme’s two-year DPRK operation.

As reported, tourists from the West are being warned against going to North Korea for their annual holidays – because it is propping up Kim Jong-un’s dream of becoming a nuclear warlord.

The US State Department statement, posted on its website, said: “The [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] funnels revenue from a variety of sources to its nuclear and weapons programs, which it priorities above everything else, often at the expense of the well-being of its own people.

“It is entirely possible that money spent by tourists in the DPRK goes to fund these programs."

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