Plans to construct a world-class skiing facility at the Masik Pass site may also have been motivated by the South Korean city of Pyeongchang emerging in 2011 as the host of the 2018 Winter Olypmics. When South Korea was named as the joint host of the 2002 World Cup with Japan, the North immediately went on a public relations offensive and opened its borders to permit foreign visitors to attend the choreographed manoeuvres of thousands of citizens taking place in the Arirang Festival.