North Korea opened its most ambitious beach resort yet, the Wonsan Kalma complex, showcasing new hotels, water parks and a two and a half-mile sandy beach, but without the foreign tourists Leader Kim Jong Un had counted on to bring in much-needed hard currency.
State media said thousands of North Korean families flocked to the resort on the central east coast, where “the joy and optimism of the tourists were overflowing everywhere, and the song of happiness resounded in the windows of bright lodgings,” according to the Korean Central News Agency.
Photos showed children splashing in the surf, water-skiers carving through waves and families riding slides at a newly built water park.
The North Korean beach resort can hold 20,000 guests
The beach resort in North Korea, Wonsan Kalma, is capable of accommodating 20,000 guests, and is the centerpiece of a drive by Kim to develop tourist destinations that would help offset U.N. sanctions imposed in 2017 on coal, textiles and other exports. Those sanctions were intended to cut off foreign revenue for North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, but they left tourism untouched. Kim, his wife and daughter attended a late-June ceremony that marked the resort’s completion.
For years, Kalma Beach was used for military drills and lined with artillery emplacements. South Korean media once dubbed it “North Korea’s Waikiki.” In recent seasons, however, Kim has added mountainside ski resorts and other spa complexes designed to appeal to foreign visitors.
🇰🇵 North Korea just opened a beach resort for 20,000 people.
Pretty beautiful, interesting & unique 🫡 pic.twitter.com/pdpPXfdFop— Roberto (@UniqueMongolia) June 28, 2025
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 300,000 Chinese tourists a year visited North Korea, but the country sealed its borders in early 2020, halting travel. While Beijing reopened its borders to many neighbors, it has yet to lift travel restrictions for its citizens wishing to visit North Korea.
North Korea hopes for Russian tourists
Since reopening in 2023, North Korea has seen limited tourist flows, with a trickle of Russians arriving in recent months amid warming ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. South Korea halted its inter-Korean tourism projects in 2008, and logistic hurdles, including poor roads and the 130-mile journey from Pyongyang are likely to keep visitor numbers low.
Despite the excitement at home, no foreign tourists were visible in state-released images of Wonsan Kalma’s opening weekend. North Korean officials have said they expect hundreds of Russian visitors this summer, but analysts say that falls far short of Kim’s goal to establish tourism as a reliable source of foreign exchange.
The resort launch underscores both Kim’s determination to develop civilian industries alongside his military programs and the challenges he faces in attracting the tourism dollars he believes will rescue his economy.