In an unexpected move, North Korea has stopped allowing foreign tourists into its brand-new seaside resort, just days after its grand opening, despite years of promotion and numerous delays.
Named the “North Korean Benidorm,” the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone was intended to highlight Kim Jong-un’s efforts to expand international tourism, but the initiative has already come to a halt.
The Costa del Sol-inspired resort – complete with beaches, waterparks and a strip – had been promoted to international tourism markets.
The resort in Wonsan officially welcomed visitors with much excitement on July 1, showcasing footage of Kim Jong-un happily smiling as crowds cheered, and observing “volunteers” enjoying the waterslides.
But then a notice popped up on the national tourism website slapping a “temporary” ban on all overseas visitors.
According to state-run North Korean news, a group of 15 Russian holidaymakers rocked up last week – around the same time Russia’s Foreign Minster Sergei Lavrov visited Kim in Wonsan.
Lavrov heaped praise on the “good tourist attraction” and said he hoped it would become a popular hols spot for Russians.
NK News said the Russians had been “wowed” by “lavish ten-dish meals”, “eerily good service” and “endless beaches”.
Other eager Russians will no doubt be disappointed to miss out on this mind-boggling experience.
And a Russian tour guide previously told NK News that they had planned several more trips to the resort in the coming months – but not anymore.
The chance of other international travellers being permitted a peak behind the curtain is looking evermore remote.
Hundreds of Brits put their name down when a travel firm, On The Beach, set up a page for people to express their interest in visiting Wonsan.
The city is where Kim spent much of his youth, among holiday villas, maritime infrastructure – and missile facilities.
The dictator oversaw the project himself, and was reportedly inspired by the way Europeans choose to holiday in countries like Spain.
He is even said to have dispatched a team to the Costa del Sol to take notes and report back.
The result is a 2.5-mile stretch of beachfront lined with restaurants, hotels for 20,000 people, shopping malls and water park.
Kim has proudly inspected the construction project several times over the years – and returned at the end of June for a bizarre opening ceremony.
And declared that the completed project would go down as “one of the greatest successes this year” and hailed the site as “the proud first step” towards a thriving tourism industry.
But the work did not always go according to plan – and was repeatedly stalled by a range of problems.
At one point, the site was even overrun by homeless wanderers – known as “kotjebi” in North Korea – who filled the empty hotels with faeces.
If overseas visitors are ever allowed in, campaigners have warned that nobody’s safety is assured.
Greg Scarlatoiu, director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, said a trip there would be unsafe and immoral.
He said: “The Wonsan-Kalma resort was built with forced labour. Vacationing there is morally and ethically wrong – it is truly an abomination.
“Having Russian nationals vacation there is testament to the pathetic isolation of both Russia and North Korea.”
Past tourists in the country have even lost their lives.
Greg gave the example of Otto Warmbier, an American student arrested on dubious charges during a trip to Pyongyang in 2016.
Accused of taking down a propaganda poster, he was detained for 17 months.
