Largely secretive and hidden from most of the world, North Korea is still managing to attract tourists, with the opening of a new beach resort.
The seaside retreat, Wonsan Kalma, opened in June and is located on the country’s east coast, near an airport in Kangwon Region.
Reportedly modelled on Benidorm, the retreat apparently has a capacity of up to 20,000 visitors and features over 40 hotels, guesthouses, and leisure facilities.
It was originally planned to boost tourism and has been described by state media as a ‘national treasure-level city’.
Since its opening, all tourists except for those from Russia have been banned from visiting the resort.
Now it has been revealed a record-breaking 9,985 Russians visited in 2025 – the highest amount since the Federal Security Service (FSB) began publishing the data back in 2010.
More than half of the trips, 5,075, were for tourism, according to The Times and the overall figure is a steady increase from the 6,469 who visited in 2024.
Russian blogger Daria Zubkova spent time at Wonson Kalma after travelling from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok in Russia and then on to Pyongyang.
The seaside retreat, Wonsan Kalma, opened in June and is located on the country’s east coast near an airport in Kangwon Region
It was originally planned to boost tourism and has been described by state media as a ‘national treasure-level city’ modelled on Benidorm
Russian blogger, Daria Zubkova, spent time at the brand new destination and revealed all
After spending three days in Pyongyang, she stayed at the Wonsan Kalma resort, which stretches along 2.5miles of white-sand coastline.
‘This is a new resort that is being widely advertised everywhere,’ Daria explained.
The blogger squashed fears of ‘wiretapping’ and being listened to while at the resort, and admitted she ‘wasn’t afraid’ of the possibility ‘because we have nothing to say that would make someone scold us for it’.
She recalled how they were rarely left alone during the trip and explained the reasoning behind it.
‘The fact that you are accompanied everywhere, yes, that happens,’ Daria confirmed.
‘Even on the beach, there was someone walking with us, but it didn’t look like some kind of convoy, it looked more like sweet concern, they’re walking, they’ll chat with you, they’ll just walk behind you, that is. They’ll argue somehow that we’re worried about you getting lost or something.’
Though there was instances when Daria managed to be alone at the resort, in the middle of the night.
She recalled how they were rarely left alone during the trip and explained the reasoning behind it
Though there was instances when Daria managed to be alone at the resort, in the middle of the night
‘We left the hotel on our own, walked near the hotel even at night, at 2am, walked along the beach on our own, that is, and somehow there were no problem,’ she said.
As for the cuisine, Daria revealed there was a selection of places to eat at the retreat and she was served a range of different dishes.
‘They took us to various restaurants both in the resort area and in Kinyan, and they always wanted to surprise us,’ she shared.
‘They really adapted to all our interests, there were a lot of types of meat, there was duck, rabbit, different types of fish, they really tried to please us.’
The buildings surrounding the resort impressed the blogger and she described the ‘very cool infrastructure’.
‘Four kilometres of coastline with white sand have been built. New houses, and new buildings have been built,’ she said, recalling the ‘good decoration’ and ‘fountains’ inside the hotels.
Anastasiya Samsonova is another Russian who returned from a week’s holiday in North Korea last year – and she loved it, despite there being very few people there.
‘We saw nothing terrible there, there is no danger there,’ she told Sky News. ‘Frankly speaking, we really liked it.’
North Korea barred foreign tourists from entering its newly opened holiday resort. The abrupt reversal came only days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (pictured)
She continued: ‘The hotel was absolutely new.
‘Everything was done very beautifully, a good interior … very developed infrastructure.’
And the reason for her choosing to holiday in such an unusual destination?
‘We were interested in seeing how people live there,’ she said.
‘There were a lot of prejudices about what you can and can’t do in North Korea, how you can behave. But actually, we felt absolutely free.’
North Korea’s official tourism website, DRP Korea Tour, announced last year that foreign visitors are ‘temporarily not accepted,’ at the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, without providing a reason for the restriction.
Russia remains the only country whose citizens have been permitted entry since North Korea relaxed its pandemic-era border restrictions.
The East Asian location opened its borders back up after the pandemic last year but quickly closed them again to most countries with little explanation.
Anastasiya Samsonova (pictured) is another Russian who returned from a week’s holiday in North Korea last year – and she loved it, despite there being very few people there
One Brit, Zoe Stephens (pictured), has visited the country 30 times and has even been a tour guide in North Korea for countless tourists from the UK, Germany , the Netherlands and Australia
But, plenty of other tourists have ventured to North Korea for their holidays in the past and have had a range of experiences in the mysterious destination – from being never being left alone to various bizarre restrictions on what they can and can’t do.
When the borders first relaxed for international tourists last year, Spanish traveller Caminante Rojo claimed to have visited the hermit state.
One street looked similar to Dubai, according to the holidaymaker and he shared his experience on social media.
Caminante was shocked to find extortionate prices in bars for imported beers and according to the Express, said: ‘A Delirium beer for $79 (£59.66)! It can’t be, that’s crazy! This six-litre one costs $629 (£474.98). The effects of sanctions and being a blocked country? Sky-high prices.
‘I think we’ll leave the imported beer for another day.’
A tourist from Latvia, visited North Korea on behalf of travel YouTuber Drew Binsky, from the States, with Americans currently banned from entering.
She revealed the various restrictions in place for visitors and in the video, Drew explained: ‘You can’t leave your hotel or do anything outside of the pre-arranged government approved itineraries.’
Drew’s friend did manage to find a sneaky way to explore a little without being accompanied by a tour guide.
Tour guide Zoe insists the country is ‘normal’ despite the range of rules travellers have to follow
She had entered the capital city’s marathon and footage showed her running around the area.
‘If you run in the Pyongyang Marathon, you can go for a morning run outside of your hotel without a tour guide,’ Drew said.
The tourist, wearing running gear, panned the camera to show empty streets and said: ‘There’s literally no one around me, just me.’
Visitors should still be careful to respect the rules, though, because if they’re caught missing breakfast ‘they will look for you,’ Drew warned.
One Brit, Zoe Stephens, has visited the country 30 times and has even been a tour guide in North Korea for countless tourists from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.
She insists the country is ‘normal’ and shares glossy vlogs of herself on social media exploring the capital, Pyongyang, but many viewers have accused her of spreading propaganda.
Source link
CHECK OUT: Top Travel Destinations
READ MORE: Travel News
