Wonsan-Kalma: North Korea's new 'mammoth' beach resort

North Korea has opened a huge new beach resort on its east coast in a bid to boost its struggling economy.

The Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, which can accommodate 20,000 people, is a "pet project" for Kim Jong Un, who was pictured by state media "watching a man flying off a water slide in the resort", said France 24. Pyongyang has claimed North Korean visitors were "filled with joy at experiencing a new level of civilisation".

'Benidorm' of North Korea

Photos released by state media showed "children with tubes and inflatable balls dipping into the sea", said The Associated Press. Other people in "colourful swimsuits beamed" from underneath "red-and-white parasols". In the opening ceremony, Kim called it "one of the greatest successes this year", and "the proud first step" towards developing the nation's tourism.

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The "mammoth" resort is the "biggest tourist complex in North Korea" and offers various sports, open water swimming, water park attractions and restaurants. It's "at the heart" of Kim's push to boost tourism and improve the country's "struggling economy". Yet, it is unlikely Western tourists will be able to visit the resort "anytime soon".

North Korea "sealed itself off from the world" when Covid-19 struck, said The Economist, and tourists only began to trickle back in last year. "Visits have since been sporadic and mostly for Russians only." Yet, despite the hermit kingdom's "reputation as a joyless place", it does have an "active domestic tourism industry" and "North Korea's Benidorm" is aimed at its own middle classes.

'Prioritising Russia'

The first Russian visitors were due to arrive on Monday, amid the "booming" military relationship between the two nations, said ABC News. Kim's recent foreign policy "prioritises relations with Russia" as he supplies troops and weapons to support the Kremlin's war against Ukraine, in return for economic and military assistance.

Chinese tourism, which made up 90% of visitors to the country before the pandemic, remains "stalled". Analysts say this is because relations with Beijing, which has long been North Korea's "biggest trading partner and aid benefactor", have recently "cooled" due to Chinese reluctance to join an "anti-Western alliance" with North Korea and Russia.

Yet observers say the "huge investment" that has come out of "North Korea's limited budget" to build the resort will eventually push Kim to welcome Chinese and other foreign tourists "to break even".