Wonson Kalma: My journey North Korea’s ‘Banidorm’

It was a security guard with the group of Anastasia Samsonova to suggest that it was not a specific beach holiday.

In July, a 33 -year -old human resource activist was one of the first tourists to live at a new holiday resort in North Korea, a country was largely closed for the outside world.

Settled in a special area on the east coast, where leader Kim Jong Un spent most of his youth, opened on 1 July Wonson Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone.

Built near a missile test site, the resort has hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and a water park according to the state media.

But when it was initially a bill as an open for international tourists, till now only Russians were entering, groups and were conducted by recognized travel agencies, they have been allowed.

Anastasia traveled there along with 14 others last month. The trip was tightly controlled, with guides and guards with them and a certain journey program, which could not be disintegrated without the permission of North Korean officials.

She says the guide told her that the guard “needs to stop the situation where we interacted with the local people and shocked them”.

“When we went on the road, they [North Koreans] Anastasia says, “We were seen with great surprise because the country has been closed for a long time.

BBC News came in contact with people after discovering geotags on Russian social media, who traveled independently of any travel agency or media outlet.

Anastasia says that his group was also asked not to put a picture of the construction sites and it was expected to wear clothes openly.

Nevertheless, despite the restrictions, she says that she “enjoys holiday without people” on almost empty beaches with white sand.

“Every day [beach] Was cleaned and fully leveled. Everything was impeccable, “she says.

“Loungers were absolutely new, everything is impeccable. The gateway to the sea was very soft, so yes, it was actually a very good beach.”

Since the Kovid epidemic, there was a break to prevent the spread of international tourism viruses in North Korea.

But last year, the Republic allowed Russian tourists to travel again.

In February, it also started receiving tourists from the West including Australia, France, Germany and the UK, although it suddenly stopped this week, without saying.

Wonson Kalma has been postponed as an important part of Kim’s ambitions to promote tourism in the country.

It is said that inspiration was taken from Spain’s tourism hotspot Benidorm, where a North Korean delegation was sent to a fact-khoj mission in 2017.

But how its description was made is described in privacy, and human rights groups have criticized the alleged stringent treatment of workers.

After it opened, North Korea announced that foreigners were not allowed to travel “temporarily” – an ally of the Republic, except for Russia tourists.

So far, two Russian tour groups have visited the resort, in another current there.

A week -long journey from Russia to North Korea, which includes three days in the Wonson Kalma Resort, is 60% more than the average monthly salary in Russia $ 1,800 (£ 1,300) – 60% more.

Some advertisements for the trip also refer to a nearby missile test site, describing it as a “unique” holiday location.

Anastasia says no missile was launched when she was there, but the toy rocket was being sold near $ 40 (£ 30) nearby.

Describing a specific day during his visit, Anastasia says that the group had breakfast at 08:00 when a lot of activities were planned and more comfortably 09:30 a day.

In the context of the food given to them, there were “lots of meat”, usually in sweet and sour sauce, and a dish that included finely chopped cabbage and carrots in sauce.

She says that a 500 ml bottle was very inexpensive at a cost of about 60 cents on the beach, while the souvenir of the choice for tourists was North Korean Olympic clothes.

Another tourist, Daria, while writing on Instagram, described the resort as “very raw” and “not that kind of holiday Russian tourists are used”.

“But if you are tired of Asia, Türkiye, etc., and some foreigners want – it’s,” he said.

However, there is uncertainty on this when the next Russian tourists will be allowed in Wonson Kalma.

The travel agency, which held the first three trips for the Rizol, Vostok Intur, said that there was a high interest in possible tourism in September, but North Korean officials had not yet agreed to him.

Initially, the tours were advertised online by Russian travel agencies in mid -September, but were later removed.

This is not just those Russians who have to face difficulties for Wonson Kalma.

Even Chinese citizens, who are North Korea and its main partners and economic partners, are having difficulty reaching the resort, according to Andrei Lankov, a specialist of North Korea-Russia relations and a professor at Kukmin University in Seoul.

He says that Pyongyang deliberately limited the number of tourists and controlled their movements closely, so North Korean people would not compare people with rich foreigners.

“Common people can be surprised,” how is it that our great leader, or even without their son or daughter, they start living so well? “, Lankov says.

For this reason, North Korea has concluded that it is largely better that many foreigners do not have to enter the country, they say.

With travel restrictions in North Korea, tourism from Russia is growing, although it remains modest than other destinations.

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service Border Guard, in 2024, about 1,500 Russians traveled to North Korea for tourism.

In contrast, over 6.7 million visited Turkey and visited around 1.9 million China.

However, in the second quarter of 2025, 1,673 Russians entered North Korea as tourists – the last seen in 2010 before introducing tourist sanctions.

Wonson Kalma is seen as important to revive North Korea’s sick economic fate, but it is not without dispute.

Since the resort started construction in 2018, human rights groups have opposed the alleged misconduct of their workers. They indicate reports of people being forced to work for a long time to eliminate the project on a large scale under harsh conditions and insufficient compensation.

The BBC has approached the North Korean Embassy in London for comments.

Despite the challenges of going to Wonson Kalma, and what Russian tourists can do when coming to North Korea, Anastasia says that she expects to return next year.

“We are really thinking of gathering the entire group next year to go to the same place.

“I am not sure it will work, but I have heard that Wonson Kalma also has a ski resort. So, perhaps one day I will also go to that resort.”