Seoul (South Korea), June 26 (LaPresse) – North Korea will inaugurate a major tourist site on its eastern coast next week, described as the prelude to a new era for the country’s tourism industry, although there is still no clear indication of when the country will fully reopen its borders to foreign visitors. According to state media, the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone offers hotels and other accommodations for nearly 20,000 guests, who will be able to swim in the sea, play sports, enjoy recreational activities, and dine in restaurants.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the site and cut the ribbon at a lavish ceremony on Tuesday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which reported the event today. He said the new development would be remembered as “one of the greatest achievements of the year” and called the resort “a proud first step” toward implementing the government's tourism development policy.
The Wonsan-Kalma zone will begin welcoming domestic tourists next Tuesday. However, no date has been given for when it will open to foreign tourists. North Korea has yet to fully lift travel restrictions, including the ban on foreign tourists, imposed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since February 2024, the country has begun accepting Russian tourists, but group tours from China — which accounted for over 90% of visitors before the pandemic — remain suspended. In February this year, a small group of international tourists visited North Korea for the first time in five years, but in March, tour agencies reported that their trips had once again been suspended.