The dictator is hoping to lure in Brits and other tourists from around the world to his seaside location with the aim of it being similar to Spain’s ‘costa’ resorts
Kim Jong Un’s planned Benidorm style resort in North Korea is now facing further delays.
The dictator is hoping to lure in Brits and other tourists from around the world to his seaside location with the aim of it being similar to Spain’s ‘costa’ resorts but the opening keeps being pushed back.
The vanity project in the so-called Galma Coastal Tourist Zone, in Wonsan, is on the east coast of North Korea and at a former missile launch site. Kim headed down himself last weekend to check out how work was progressing with the resort first expected to have opened in 2020.
He was seen strolling along the beach arm-in-arm with his daughter Ju-ae – who was making her first public appearance since October when she attended an intercontinental ballistic missile test.
But now the new North Korean hotspot is not expected to open its doors until June, 2025. Plans were first drawn up to build the resort in 2017 after North Korean officials went on a trip to Benidorm on the Costa Blanca and were said to be “amazed” at what they saw. The development, though, has been hit by numerous set-backs not least by the Covid pandemic but also international sanctions, material shortages and issues arising over the design.
According to state media Kim has now said: “When guiding the construction at the location I said that Myongsasimni (the beach resort) would be a 4km-long stretch of beach crowded with people full of happy laughter. Now that ambition has come true. The construction of the Kalma coastal tourist area is the first big step of great significance in putting the national tourist industry on a track for development of a new era.”
Other images showed Kim and his daughter in a plush hotel room, alongside an indoor swimming pool and walking through a restaurant area. There are more than 150 buildings at the resort which will make it one of the largest in the world and there are plans to accommodate 100,000 tourists.
North Korea is hoping that tourism can provide a boost to the economy with Russian tourists a logical target due to proximity and the sanctions that the country also faces with Vladimir Putin at war with Ukraine.
In November, Moscow and Pyongyang reached a new agreement for expanding economic cooperation which included the tourism sector. Russia’s Tass news agency reported at the time that the agreement would see an increase in charter flights between the countries.
But for Brits who may be tempted by Kim’s resort, the UK Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel to the country. It states: “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. This poses significant risks to British visitors and residents.”
