North Korea bans foreigners from beach resort after Lavrov trip

SEOUL – North Korea has suspended foreigners’ access to a newly opened beach resort on its east coast, just days after Russia’s top diplomat visited the area and vowed to help increase tourist flows to the isolated country.

North Korea’s National Tourism Administration said the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area that began operations in July is temporarily not accepting foreign guests, without elaborating. 

The beach resort is one of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s pet projects.

He has a private mansion on the coast and during construction of the facilities, often visited the site to oversee progress on a project that features about 7,000 guest rooms in luxury hotels and private villas, an outdoor water park and an airport, according to state media.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited the resort town during his recent North Korea trip, when he met Mr Kim on the leader’s yacht.

Mr Lavrov said at a meeting with his North Korean counterpart in Wonsan that Russia will “do everything” to expand the flow of Russian tourists to North Korea. 

Tourism is a key revenue source for the sanctions-hit Kim regime but the country has been allowing only a trickle of inbound tourists from Russia since it began easing its Covid-19 pandemic border restrictions.

North Korean authorities keep close tabs on overseas visitors, who are usually required to stay at lodgings designated for use by foreigners and restricted in their movements in the country. 

US President Donald Trump floated a coastal real estate development plan in exchange for a North Korean pledge to denuclearise during his first summit with Mr Kim in 2018. 

“They have great beaches,” Mr Trump said at a news conference at that time. “You see that whenever they’re exploding their cannons into the ocean, right? I said, ‘Boy, look at that view. Wouldn’t that make a great condo?’” 

Mr Trump’s real estate diplomacy with Mr Kim produced few results, however.

The two leaders met in person three times, but the discussions did not persuade Mr Kim to slow the development of his nuclear weapons programme.

North Korea has since rebuffed the idea of sitting down with the US again and has emerged as a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, supporting his war in Ukraine. 

It is not immediately clear why North Korea decided to restrict foreigners’ access to the resort area, but some analysts say there is more work to be done on the project.

“The resort is undoubtedly open, but it’s not quite finished yet,” the 38 North programme at the Stimson Centre said, citing satellite imagery. “One of the largest buildings at the resort, a hotel near the Kalmaegi Hotel, does not appear to be in use. There is little activity nearby and the rooftop pool has yet to be filled with water.”

Mr Lavrov’s latest visit took place less than a month after Pyongyang agreed at a June meeting between Mr Kim and Mr Sergei Shoigu to send an additional 6,000 military workers to the Kursk region.

Mr Shoigu is Mr Putin’s top security aide and a former Russian defence minister. Bloomberg