North Korea has hit the gambling news headlines once again as reports that the reclusive nation has changed its policy to allow racetrack betting – an activity which at one time risked 3 years’ hard labour under the repressive regimes strict laws.
Recent international sanctions related to their missile and nuclear program, however, has forced dictator Kim Jong Un to look at new avenues to raise much-needed capital, according to a CNBC report this week.
North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency showed hundreds of spectators in attendance at a series of races which took place at the Mirim Horse Racing Club near Pyongyang on Saturday, Reuters reporting that “visitors aged 12 and over were allowed to bet on jockeys in a raffle-based system“, citing Korean Central Television.
The racetrack is reported to be one of Kim Jong Un’s ‘most prominent leisure developments’, Na Jeong-won, head of the North Korea Industry-Economy Research Institute in Seoul, explaining that:
“Kim has been pushing for vanity projects for a theme park, sky resort and the horse riding club for the sake of propping up the people’s well-being, but their real purpose was to earn foreign currency.”
According to Reuters, the horse races “featured mostly white-grey horses. In North Korea, white horses have traditionally been seen as a propaganda symbol closely linked to the ruling Kim family.”
They also report that the sanctions introduced against the nation has seen bans placed on crucial exports for Pyongyang — including coal, seafood and textiles’, leading the nation to find other sources of foreign money.
The accompanying rhetoric between Kim and US president Donald Trump has alarmed many people in the region and beyond, fears that an all-out war might break out if the sanctions don’t reign in the North Korean leader’s nuclear plans, or if Trump decides on a pre-emptive strike.
