North Korea opens 4 kilometer-long beach resort at Wonsan-Kalma

After a six year delay, the new Wonsan-Kalma resort in North Korea will finally be opening to tourists. Kim Jong Un, his daughter Kim Ju Ae, and his wife Ri Sol Ju were present during the official presentation of the new beach destination.

Although plans for the Wonsan-Kalma resort on North-Korea’s east coast were first announced in 2014, it took a while for the project to be completed. Construction works started in 2018 and were scheduled to finish in 2019 but due to the pandemic, international sanctions, and material supply issues the completion took six years longer than expected.

Now, on 1 July 2025, the resort will finally be opening its doors to visitors. According to North Korea state media KCNA, Wonsan-Kalma includes a selection of water slides, hotels, restaurants, and shopping centres catered to tourists. Overall, the 4 kilometer-long stretch of coastline should be able to welcome 20,000 visitors, although those numbers haven’t been verified by independent sources.

State leader Kim Jong Un has a special bound with Wonsan, as he grew up in the region, where many of North Korea’s elite have private villas. For years, he has tried to transform the town, once home to a missile testing site. This might explain his presence during the opening of the resort, where he was photographed next to one of the pools, alongside with a pack of cigarettes, a cold drink, and a towel.

Kim Jong Un wasn’t the only official present during the opening. He was accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae and his wife Ri Sol Ju, as well as by the Russian ambassador Alexander Matsegora and embassy staff. According to the British newspaper The Independent, state media said the site should be “recorded as one of the greatest successes this year” and “should play a leading role in establishing the tourist culture” of North Korea.

According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un was very pleased by the resort. He sees it as the first step in developing cultural tourism in North Korea and more large-scale tourist areas would soon be unveiled by the government.

“Kim Jong Un expressed belief that the wave of happiness to be raised in the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone would enhance its attractive name as a world-level tourist cultural resort,” KCNA stated.

North Korea’s tourism industry

While North Korea still hasn’t fully reopened its borders to international visitors since the pandemic, tourism is an important source of income for the country. As many of its economic activities are restricted by UN sanctions, tourism is one of the only ways to earn foreign currency.

However, it is unclear which tourists will be able to visit the new beach resort. Since February 2024, North Korea has reopened it borders to Russian tourists as the two countries are developing their relationship. The return of Chinese tourists still staggers, even though Chinese group tours once made up the majority of international visitors in the country. Aside from a temporary reopening to Western visitors in February 2025, North Korea largely remains closed to anyone but Russian nationals.