Pyongyang Skatepark

Skatepark in Pyongyang, North Korea

39°1′43.471″N 125°46′2.492″E / 39.02874194°N 125.76735889°E / 39.02874194; 125.76735889TypeSkateparkOpenedNovember 2012 (2012-11)

Children and youth racing through the skatepark

Pyongyang Skatepark (Korean: 평양 로라스케트장) is the first skatepark in North Korea. It was opened in November 2012 and is contained within the Ryugyong Health Complex.^[1] The skatepark includes half-pipes, ramps, grind rails and a track.^[1]

In November 2012, the Pyongyang Skatepark was visited by Kim Jong Un, the Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea where he said: "in order to develop sports, it is necessary to steadily seek means and methods suited to the actual conditions of the country on the basis of thorough preparations and develop sports science and put it on a high level, underscoring the need to take measures for the supply of physical exercise apparatuses".^[2]

It remains unclear how strong the skateboarding culture is in North Korea. According to Alejandro Cao de Benós de Les y Pérezis, Special Delegate for the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, North Koreans are more into inline skating, a hint on how this skatepark may be used.^[3] According to Patrik Wallner of VisualTraveling who travelled twice to North Korea, skateboarding is not "tolerated" in the streets of the country.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b "North Korea unveils first skate park". ABC News. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
^ "Kim Jong Un Visits Breast Cancer Research Center, Health Complex, Ice Rink and Skate Park". North Korea Leadership Watch. 4 November 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
^ Oliver Pelling, Why is North Korea adopting skateboarding?, Jenkemmag.com, 3 September 2013
^ Yasha Wallin, Shredding the DMZ: North Korea's First Skatepark as Cultural Barometer, Good.is, 25 November 2012