North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has inaugurated a massive tourism resort in the eastern coastal region of Wonsan Kalma.
With several hotel complexes, swimming pools and water slides, the site is said to be able to accommodate up to 20,000 travellers, both from North Korea and abroad, according to North Korea’s state news agency KCNA.
Plans for the multi-billion-dollar holiday destination Wonsan Kalma have existed for over a decade. Now the official opening for domestic tourists is scheduled for July 1.
Does this mean North Korea is slowly emerging as a international tourism destination?
The short answer is: For Russians, maybe. With the Wonson resort, North Korea appears to be targeting the Russian market in particular. According to KCNA, the Russian ambassador was present at the resort’s inauguration ceremony.
Currently, there is a direct flight route between the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok and the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. North Korea has also been a strategic ally to Russia, offering military support in its war with Ukraine.
However for citizens of other countries, travel to North Korea remains unadvisable, if even possible.
The country was increasingly isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic and years later continues to allow only a limited number of foreigners to enter. As such there are significant doubts about the economic viability of such tourism projects.
Some international tourism to North Korea has resumed as the country has relaxed its strict Covid-19 border restrictions. However many embassies, such as those of the UK, Germany and other European countries, remain closed.
Holiday destination or not, many foreign ministries around the world strongly advise against travel to North Korea over fears of arrest for violating local laws, with no prospect of receiving contact or support from their government.
The resort’s launch comes after North Korea held a marathon in Pyongyang in April this year – the first in six years. Professional runners from China, Romania, Morocco and Ethiopia travelled to the North Korean capital for the event.
Western tourists were also able to take part in the marathon, as they had before the coronavirus pandemic. Some observers had interpreted this marathon event as evidence of a tentative opening up of the isolated country.
Any opening up to tourism contrasts with the general supply situation in the country. According to the South Korean government, the acute food shortage in North Korea has worsened in recent years.
KCNA appears to be attempting to dispel fears of food shortages at the resort: “The tourist area has … public catering facilities fully equipped with all the necessary conditions.”
Of the new resort, the news agency says effusively: “The transformation of the Wonsan Kalma area, a great auspicious event of the whole country, is a brilliant fruition of the profound thinking and inexhaustible efforts of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, who unfolded a grand blueprint for building a world-class cultural resort and saw to it that all the architectural structures were perfectly built staking the dignity of our state and the honour of our generation.”
In photos of the new resort’s inauguration, Kim Jong Un is seen side by side with his daughter, who, due to her frequent public appearances, is already being considered by some experts as a potential successor.
However, neither her name nor her exact age has been confirmed by North Korean authorities. Kim Jong Un’s wife, Ri Sol Ju, also made her first public appearance in around 18 months. In the photos published by KCNA, the former singer is seen carrying a Gucci handbag, which constitutes a clear violation of UN sanctions.
These sanctions prohibit the export of luxury goods to North Korea. According to South Korea’s official news agency Yonhap, North Korean authorities likely brought the luxury items into the country in diplomatic luggage.
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