Kim Jong Un Unveils Wonsan Beach Resort, Domestic Opening Set for 1 July

North Korea has completed the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist zone, a billion-dollar resort on the country’s east coast that leader Kim Jong Un inaugurated on 24 June alongside his wife Ri Sol Ju, daughter Kim Ju Ae and Russia’s ambassador Alexander Matsegora. State media said the project had been under construction for more than a decade and was one of the government’s biggest achievements this year.

The complex spans about four kilometres of beachfront and can host roughly 20,000 guests in hotels, restaurants, shopping areas and a water-park. Services for domestic visitors begin on 1 July, with a first Russian tour group slated to arrive on 7 July. Pyongyang has not indicated when broader foreign tourism will resume after pandemic-era border closures, although it has gradually reopened to limited Russian travel since 2024.

Kim has promoted tourism as a rare source of hard currency for the heavily sanctioned economy and said additional large-scale resorts will follow. The prominent role given to Russian officials at the ceremony underscores deepening economic ties between Moscow and Pyongyang as both nations face Western sanctions.