Tl;dr – Who’s coming?
The BBC Reports that North Korea is opening a beach resort on the country’s East coast in an effort to boost tourism.
According to North Korea’s State Media outlet KCNA, ‘the resort [located in a region known as Wonsan Kalma] can accommodate up to 20,000 visitors, occupying a 4km (2.5 miles) stretch of beach, with hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, and a water park.’
‘What tourists will visit?’ Domestic tourists, for one, and foreigners, Russians specifically, to start. CNN reports that a Russian tour operator ‘is promoting three tour packages – one in July and two in August – priced at around $1,840.’ It’s also thought that nationals of another North Korean ally, China, will soon be welcome to the new beach resort as well.
Although the news flew somewhat under the radar, the heavily-restricted North Korea briefly opened to Western tourists earlier this year. In February, visitors from select European countries, Australia, and the UK visited North Korea for tourism, only for it to abruptly close just a few weeks later.
