From Kim Jong Un, With Regret: North Korea's Fancy New Resort Now Bans Foreign Tourists

Last Updated:July 18, 2025, 16:27 IST

North Korea barred foreign tourists from the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone after welcoming its first Russian visitors.

Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area houses over 400 buildings. (Photo Credit: X)

North Korea unexpectedly barred foreign tourists from its newly inaugurated Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone, just days after receiving its first group of Russian visitors and touting the resort as a symbol of its tourism revival. A notice posted this week on North Korea’s official tourism website states that foreign nationals are “temporarily" prohibited from visiting the beachside complex, which officially opened on July 1 after years of development under Kim Jong Un’s watch.

Russians Welcomed, Then Resort Doors Closed

The move raised eyebrows, particularly as it follows a high-profile visit to the resort last week by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during which he met Kim Jong Un and praised the resort as a “good tourist attraction", saying he hoped it would become a favored destination for Russians. Direct flights between Moscow and Pyongyang are set to launch later this month.

North Korea has offered no explanation for the new restriction but the abrupt reversal is reminiscent of February, when Pyongyang reopened its borders to select countries including the UK, France, Germany and Australia- only to close them again weeks later without clarification.

What North Korea’s Seaside Resort Featured?

The Wonsan Kalma resort, which stretches 4 kilometers along the country’s east coast, boasts hotels, restaurants, shopping centers and a water park and is designed to accommodate up to 20,000 visitors. It sits near military installations and elite villas- in a city where Kim Jong Un himself spent parts of his childhood.

Russian tour operators had reportedly planned multiple group trips to the resort in the coming months which has been criticised by human rights groups citing reports of forced labor and grueling working conditions during its construction, which began in 2018. According to watchdogs, North Korean workers were allegedly pushed to finish the project under harsh circumstances and with little or no compensation.

Russian officials were present at the resort’s completion ceremony on June 24, alongside Kim Jong Un and members of his family, signaling Pyongyang’s growing tilt toward Moscow amid deepening geopolitical isolation from the West.

Location :

North Korea

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News world From Kim Jong Un, With Regret: North Korea's Fancy New Resort Now Bans Foreign Tourists