North Korea bars foreigners from its 'Benidorm' resort

North Korea has barred foreign tourists from a newly opened beach resort on its east coast just weeks after promoting it as a “world-class tourist and cultural destination”.

- MAROOSHA MUZAFFAR

Days after Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov vowed to help boost tourism in North Korea, authorities abruptly halted foreign access to the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area. offering no explanation for the unexpected move, according to Bloomberg.

North Korea’s official tourism site, DPR Korea Tour, announced on Wednesday that foreign visitors are “temporarily not accepted” in the zone, the Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper reported.

After years in the making, North Korea’s “Benidorm-style” beach resort finally opened on 24 June - well past its original launch date of 15 April 2019, timed to honour national founder Kim II Sung’s birthday.

The project, centred on a long white-sand beach near an airport in Kangwon province, had been delayed by sweeping international sanctions and the Covid pandemic.

The resort has drawn visitors from across the country, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). State media touted it as a “national treasure-level tourism city” - a glittering seaside development that contrasts sharply with the widespread hunger and hardship reported by human rights observers across North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrated the resort’s completion, hailing it as one of the regime’s “greatest successes this year”.

The resort had begun to attract Russian tourists, with a travel agency scheduling two more tours for August, according to the BBC.