North Korea to open huge coastal resort in planned tourism boost

North Korea is poised to unveil a significant new coastal tourist resort next week, hailed by state media as a "prelude to a new era" for the country's tourism industry, despite its borders remaining largely closed to foreign visitors.

The Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone, located on the nation's east coast, claims extensive facilities designed to accommodate nearly 20,000 guests. According to state media, the sprawling complex includes hotels and various other accommodations.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that leader Kim Jong Un personally toured the site and presided over a lavish inaugural ceremony on Tuesday, cutting the ceremonial tape. Kim reportedly declared the construction of the resort would be recorded as "one of the greatest successes this year" and lauded the site as "the proud first step" towards realising the government's policy of developing tourism.

A map of Wonsan Kalma Airport:

While the grand opening of the Wonsan-Kalma zone signals a domestic push for tourism development, there has been no indication from Pyongyang regarding a full reopening of its borders to international travellers, leaving the future accessibility of this new resort to foreign visitors uncertain.

The Wonsan-Kalma zone will begin service for domestic tourists next Tuesday, KCNA said. But it didn't say when it will start receiving foreign tourists.

Kim has been pushing to make the country a tourism hub as part of efforts to revive the ailing economy, and the Wonsan-Kalma zone is one of his most talked-about tourism projects. KCNA reported North Korea will confirm plans to build large tourist sites in other parts of the country, too.

But North Korea hasn't fully lifted the travel curbs, including a ban on foreign tourists, that were imposed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting from February 2024, North Korea has been accepting Russian tourists amid the booming military and other partnerships between the two countries, but Chinese group tours, which made up more than 90% of visitors before the pandemic, remain stalled.

In February this year, a small group of international tourists visited the country for the first time in five years, but tourist agencies said in March that their tours to North Korea were paused.