28.07.2025 11:40
North Korea's new 'Benidorm' style beach resort, Wonsan-Kalma, has welcomed its first groups of tourists. The new holiday village was built in an area that used to be a missile testing site and has started serving Russian tourists. However, the first visitors reported that there were 'observers' following them everywhere and that their phones were likely being monitored. Despite this, the guests interpreted the situation as a 'sweet interest' and stated that they were not afraid.
North Korea welcomed its first tourist groups to the ghostly new "Benidorm" style beach resort Wonsan-Kalma. However, this first group of visitors reported that "observers" were following them everywhere and that their phones were likely being listened to. This newly built resort, which has a massive artificial white sand beach that used to be a missile testing site, was opened by Dictator Kim Jong-Un himself and began offering package tours aimed at Russian tourists.
Russian guests note that the experience is very different in a state that is even more repressive than their own country. According to blogger Daria Zubkova, "They accompany you everywhere... even on the beach, someone walked with us." However, Daria added that this was interpreted as a "sweet interest" towards the guests rather than surveillance. "They walk with you. If you want, they chat, if you don't, they just walk behind you." Daria also mentioned that the officials claimed they were "worried about us getting lost or something else."
However, Daria, a veterinary therapist, expressed that what many people fear is "some kind of phone tapping everywhere, etc." "I think it's very likely that all of this probably exists, but we weren't scared because we had nothing for anyone to scold us about."
According to reports, Russian tourists wishing to visit the Wonsan-Kalma resort, which has a capacity of up to 20,000 people and is equipped with jet skis, must first make their way to the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok. From there, flights are arranged to North Korea's capital, Pyongyang.
However, upon arriving in the country, the short flight of the first group of 13 guests from Pyongyang to Wonsan was suddenly canceled, and a train was arranged instead. Daria said, "It was absurd to have a huge train for just 13 people." "It was new, very comfortable, and air-conditioned." She also added that she saw villages and not very wealthy people working in the fields from the train windows.