On June 24th 2025, After years of anticipation and delays, North Korea’s much-discussed Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort has finally opened its doors. Satellite images from earlier this year, first noted by 38 North, show the final touches being put in place. Seating is set up along the beach and colourful furniture is in position at the water park. Construction has stopped then, meeting the deadline set by Marshall Kim Jong Un back in July 2023.
This could mark a significant moment for North Korea’s tourism ambitions. While the country has struggled with border closures and the economic impact of the pandemic, Wonsan-Kalma could the silver bullet that at least starts the opening up process.
A Resort with a Long History of Delays and Changes
The Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort was announced in 2018 as a major project to turn Wonsan into a beach city on par with other regional resorts. The plan was ambitious: hotels, a water park, beaches, restaurants and even a tram line to ferry visitors along the shore.
Initially, the resort was supposed to open in 2019, but that timeline proved optimistic. Construction stalled multiple times as leadership preferences shifted. When the pandemic hit, national priorities changed entirely. Resources were diverted towards housing and health infrastructure, effectively putting the resort on hold for a couple of years.
In July 2023, Kim Jong Un personally inspected the site and demanded completion by May 2024. While that deadline was missed, North Korean media confirmed in December 2023 that the resort would open in June 2025.
On June 24th 2025, North Korea held the inaugural ceremony for the Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort. The inauguration ceremony of the Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort was divided into two parts: a daytime completion ceremony and an evening celebratory performance. This format appears to be becoming a standard model for North Korean ceremonial events. Recently, the launch ceremonies for two Choe Hyon class destroyers followed the same pattern.
On June 24th, Marshall Kim Jong Un attended the event together with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and their “beloved daughter”, Kim Ju Ae. This marked Ri Sol Ju’s first public appearance in a year and a half; her last known public outing was on 31 December 2023, when she attended a New Year’s Eve celebration with her husband and daughter.
Although the completion ceremony took place in June, the actual opening of the Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort has effectively been postponed, again. According to North Korean state media, the resort will not officially begin receiving guests until July. However, don’t get too excited – these tourists refer exclusively to domestic tourists. The date when international visitors will be allowed to travel to North Korea still remains unknown.
What Satellite Imagery Reveals
The images from early 2025 show a site largely finished. The beach is lined with umbrellas and loungers, the water park is colourful and inviting, and the tram station holds 27 electric vehicles — these were delivered back in 2020 but have remained unused until now.
Now with the Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort resort finally opened, we can receive more and more pictures from the North Korea state media to see what it looks like now.
Tourism in 2024 and Early 2025: A Slow Reopening
Tourism has barely returned to North Korea since the pandemic lockdowns. In 2024, the only significant foreign visitors were a limited number of Russian tourists, although numbers have not been what the DPRK had hoped for.
Early 2025 saw some cautious openings. YPT were the first to resume organized visits to the Rason Special Economic Zone. This was a notable development as it marked the opening of the country, even if it did not last very long.
The Pyongyang Marathon in April 2025 allowed a small group of foreign runners to participate under strict controls. It was one of the few international events open to foreigners, though again it seems to have been controversial.
On the other hand, the 2025 Spring International Trade Fair was meant to be a sign of growing openness but ended with a last-minute decision to bar foreign guests. This was something we were quite disappointed about.
What Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort Means for North Korea’s Future
The Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort will initially be expected to serve domestic tourists in July 2025. That fits with the government’s focus on boosting internal economic activity and providing leisure opportunities for its citizens.
Longer-term, Wonsan-Kalma could become a carefully managed destination for international visitors, marking a step towards cautiously reopening the country. Or it may even become a sort of Korean Veradero which mainly serves Chinese and Russian sun seekers.
The resort’s tram system, hotels and beaches show the regime’s commitment to modern tourism infrastructure, which can only be viewed with optimism.
Can I visit Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort?
Though it has already opened, the answer to this question is most probably no, because from our side at least there has been no communication suggesting otherwise. Might you be able to one day go to the Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort? We certainly not just hope so, but genuinely think so.
And while it might not be perfect for those wanting to see the “Real Deal DPRK”, I am sure there are at least a few country collectors that would be more than happy to use a resort to tick things off.
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