North Korea Opening Beach Resort in a Bid to Boost Tourism

North Korea is opening a beach resort that its leader Kim Jong Un hopes will boost tourism in the secretive communist regime.

That’s according to reports from its state media.

Wonsan Kalma on the east coast will open to domestic tourists on July 1, 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. He has been trying to transform the town, which once hosted a missile testing site.

State media claims the resort can accommodate up to 20,000 visitors, occupying a 4-kilometre stretch of beach, with hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and a water park.

None of this information has been independently 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.

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.