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| ▲ This image of tourists at the Kalma coastal tourist zone in Wonsan is captured from the Korean Central Television on July 16, 2025. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) |
N Korea-tourism
N. Korea temporarily suspends foreign tourist entry to Kalma beach resort
SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has abruptly suspended the entry of foreign tourists to its newly opened Kalma beach resort area on the east coast, a North Korean website showed Friday, without providing a clear reason.
"The Kalma coastal tourist zone in Wonsan is temporarily not receiving foreign tourists," DPR Korea Tour, a tourism promotion website operated by the North's National Tourism Administration, said in a notice dated Wednesday.
The website shared the information while introducing the July 1 launch of the beach resort site, but it did not provide any reasons for the restriction on foreign tourists.
North Korea had initially promoted the resort as open to both domestic and foreign tourists. Russia's Tass news agency earlier reported a group of Russian tourists had planned to visit the tourist zone in early July.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui both met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Kalma beach resort area during his visit to North Korea last week.
The abrupt suspension of foreign tourist entry may be related to the high cost of trips to the resort or potential issues discovered during the brief period of operation so far.
The British broadcaster BBC has reported a weeklong trip to North Korea, including four days in the Kalma tourist zone, costs about US$1,800, equivalent to nearly 60 percent of the average monthly salary of Russian workers.
The North Korean regime may have ordered measures to address these issues, as demand from foreign tourists likely turned out to be lower than expected.
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