Despite years of delays and a grand opening ceremony, the world’s most controversial Benidorm-inspired seaside resort has ‘temporarily’ prohibited foreign travellers from visiting
A Benidorm-inspired seaside resort with 2.5 miles of golden sandy beach has sensationally banned foreigners from visiting, just 17 days after its grand opening. The Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone might look like any other coastal destination at first glance. Complete with 43 hotels and camping sites that hold capacity for a whopping 20,000 visitors, the resort boasts a huge water park with thrilling slides, a cinema, theatre, ‘recreation centre’, and pristine beach.
However, this seaside haven isn’t located on the sunny Costa Blanca (although it is rumoured to be based on the Spanish hotspot). Instead, it’s situated in the cruel dictatorship of North Korea, which has been accused of a series of gross human rights violations.
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These include detaining residents in prison camps for trying to flee, severely restricting the rights to freedom of expression, and rejecting international aid while people starved due to food shortages.
But in 2017, North Korea sent a delegation on a trip to Benidorm so officials could take note of how the hotspot had designed many of its hotels and attractions. Following years of delay, the tourist park – believed to be a crucial part of Kim Jong Un’s ambitions to boost tourism in the country – opened on July 1 this year.
According to reports, the first droves of Russian tourists arrived at the resort earlier this month, with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov branding the project a ‘good tourist attraction’ that he hoped would become popular amongst Russians. However, on July 18, North Korea updated its tourism website, declaring that foreigners are ‘temporarily’ not allowed to visit.
This follows North Korea’s decision to abruptly halt tourism from the West – including travellers from France, Germany and the UK, back in February. At the time of writing, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advises against all but essential travel to North Korea.
“The level of tension on the Korean Peninsula remains high. While daily life in the capital city, Pyongyang, may appear calm, the security situation in North Korea can change quickly with no advance warning about possible actions by the authorities,” the body warns. “This poses significant risks to British visitors and residents.”
Even before the site had actually opened, it garnered heavy criticism from human rights groups – including the UN which warned of ‘shock brigades’. This is where workers are subject to harsh conditions and long working hours without adequate compensation. Cho Chung Hui, a North Korean who effectively defected from the country, witnessed some of these brutal conditions, although he wasn’t directly involved in building the resort.
“The principle behind these [brigades] was that no matter what, you had to complete the task, even if it cost you your life,” he told the BBC. “I saw many women who were under so much physical strain and eating so poorly that their periods stopped altogether.”
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