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Kim Jong-Un just opened up a new beach resort that can accommodate 20,000 guests in North Korea which would be amazing if North Korea had tourists, or if it had citizens who could afford beach resorts. The resort located in the Wonsan Kalma region, which is where Kim Jong-Un and other North Korean elites keep secondary villas, does appear at least nice on the outside though.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is the most walled-off country in the world from modern civilization due to decades of sanctions. North Korea is also among the poorest nations on Earth. But you’d never know that looking at this bizarre footage of the new beach resort.
There are HD TVs mounted on the walls, balconies overlooking perfectly manicured green spaces, other balconies adorned with fake grass overlooking the beach, and what appears to be a water park with slides adjacent to the main hotel property. Again, this would all be fine and dandy anywhere else but this is North Korea…
North Korea’s New Wonsan Kalma Beach Resort
There are no tourists in North Korea. Chinese citizens can, at times, visit North Korea but that’s not always the case and even when they are able to… why would they?
Within the country, there are over 26 million citizens and the vast majority of them can barely afford food. There was (is?), for a long time, a well-known crystal meth epidemic in the country as people who were underfed and overworked sought any means possible to cope with the circumstances.
A BBC report on the new North Korean beach resort is vague but sheds some light on the facility. It says “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.
The BBC’s reporting acknowledges there’s no timeline at the moment for allowing tourists into the North Korean resort. Even in a distant future where tourists might be allowed, it is hard to imagine a world where it is anyone other than Chinese tourists, right?
And for what it’s worth, Wonsan Kalma on North Korea’s East Coast has average high temperatures in the 30s for January and February, lows in the 20s. And in the Summer, July and August, the average high is 80… Is that ideal beach weather? I’m based as a native Floridian so you tell me in the Facebook comments.