Cliff Notes
- North Korea has inaugurated the Wonsan Kalma coastal resort, touted by Kim Jong Un as a significant achievement in the nation’s tourism development efforts.
- The resort, designed to host around 20,000 visitors, will initially welcome domestic tourists, with no timeline for when foreign tourists may be permitted.
- The country continues to navigate the impact of the pandemic on tourism, having only recently resumed accepting Russian tourists while Chinese group tours remain suspended.
North Korea opens huge coastal resort as Kim Jong Un celebrates ‘one of the greatest successes this year’
North Korea has built a huge coastal resort which might one day open to foreign tourists.
The secretive state’s leader Kim Jong Un opened the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area with “great satisfaction”, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
Mr Kim toured the site and said its construction would be considered “one of the greatest successes this year” and called it “the proud first step” towards realising the government’s policy of developing tourism.
The beach resort can accommodate around 20,000 visitors and will open to domestic tourists next Tuesday, but the report did not say when it would welcome foreign visitors.
Mr Kim opened the resort with his daughter, and presumed heir, Kim Ju Ae and wife Ri Sol Ju.
The North Korean leader has been working to shape the hermit kingdom into a tourist destination as part of efforts to revive its struggling Economy.
State media says North Korea will confirm plans to build large tourist sites in other locations as well.
North Korea is yet to fully lift the ban on foreign tourists it imposed in early 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
From February 2024 it has been accepting Russian tourists amid the deepening relations between the two countries, but Chinese group tours remain stalled, despite making up more than 90% of visitors before the pandemic.
Russia’s ambassador to North Korea and his embassy staff attended the ceremony marking the completion of the resort, KCNA said. It did not say whether any Chinese diplomats had been invited.
A small group of international tourists visited the country for the first time in February this year, but in March travel agencies said their tours to North Korea were paused. In April it held a marathon event which hosted foreign runners.