David Guttenfelder/AP
In North Korea’s latest attempt to keep up with the Joneses, the country is barreling towards completion on a new prestige project: the multimillion-dollar Masik Pass ski resort. The decision is perplexing, since according to CBS, this country of 24 million has about 5,500 skiers—only 0.02 percent of the population—and it . Experts suggest that the choice of South Korea to host the 2018 Winter Olympics may have something to do with North Korea’s determination. The project hasn’t been without its setbacks—Switzerland, Austria and France have all refused to sell ski lifts to North Korea because of ongoing sanctions on the sale of luxury goods to the country. But the project’s head, Kim Tae Yong, told CBS that he wasn’t worried. "We can make nuclear weapons and rockets," he said. "We can build a ski lift."