North Korea to open beach resort as Kim bets on tourism
North Korea is opening a beach resort that its leader Kim Jong Un hopes will boost tourism in the secretive communist regime, state media reports.
Wonsan Kalma on the east coast will open to domestic tourists on 1 July, six years after it was due to be completed. It is unclear when it will welcome foreigners.
Kim grew up in luxury in Wonsan, where many of the country's elite have private villas, and has been trying to transform the town, which once hosted a missile testing site.
State media KCNA claims the resort can accomodate up to 20,000 visitors, occupying a 4km (2.5 mile) stretch of beach, with hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and a water park - none of which can be verified.
Heavily sanctioned for decades for its nuclear weapons programme, North Korea is among the poorest countries in the world. It pours most of its resources into its military, monuments and landmarks - often in Pyongyang - that embellish the image and cult of the Kim family that has run the country since 1948.
Some observers say this is an easy way for Pyongyang to earn money. While foreign tourists are allowed in, tour groups largely tend to come from China and Russia, countries with whom Pyongyang has long maintained friendly relations.
"I was hoping this might signal a broader reopening to international tourism, but unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case for now," Rowan Beard, co-founder of Young Pioneer Tours, tells the BBC.
Tourism from overseas took a hit during the Covid pandemic, though, with the country closing its borders in early 2020. It did not scale back restrictions until the middle of 2023 and welcomed Russian visitors a year later.
It opened to more Western visitors in February, when tourists from the UK, France, Germany and Australia drove across the border from China. It abruptly halted tourism weeks later without saying why.
Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0w59r54w9o |
