{"id":65255,"date":"2026-06-26T02:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T02:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/65255\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T02:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T02:26:12","slug":"wonsan-kalma-resort-out-of-reach-for-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/65255\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonsan Kalma resort out of reach for most"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Visitors<\/a>Visitors enjoy a speedboat excursion at the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone in a photo published by the Rodong Sinmun on July 24, 2025. Rodong Sinmun-News1<\/p>\n

Interest in North Korea\u2019s Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone is rising sharply ahead of the summer season in 2026, with word-of-mouth praise from visitors spreading across the country \u2014 but steep costs are keeping the resort firmly out of reach for most North Korean people.<\/p>\n

A source in North Pyongan province told Daily NK recently that a noticeably growing number of people in Sinuiju have been making plans to visit the zone or asking around about the cost of staying there. Heavy state promotion of the resort, combined with positive accounts from those who visited during trial operations and incentive tourism programs last year, have helped build the sense that the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone is somewhere every North Korean wants to see at least once in their lifetime.<\/p>\n

The Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone, located on the east coast of North Korea near the city of Wonsan in Kangwon province, is the country\u2019s flagship domestic tourism project. Construction began in the early 2010s under direct orders from Kim Jong Un, and the resort features hotels, beaches, water parks, restaurants, and recreation facilities. After years of construction delays, it opened for trial domestic tourism in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong people who\u2019ve been, the word is that if you have money, it really is as good as advertised,\u201d the source said. \u201cThe facilities for eating, sleeping, and entertainment are all fully in place, and you can enjoy yourself without having to worry about what others think. People who haven\u2019t been are very curious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who have made the trip have been unstinting in their praise. Descriptions heard in the area include \u201ca tourist destination unlike anything else in the country,\u201d \u201cso much to enjoy that you actually feel like spending money,\u201d and \u201ca real place to rest and relax.\u201d<\/p>\n

A resort beyond most people\u2019s reach<\/p>\n

The main obstacle is cost. Daily spending of around $100 inside the resort is not considered unusual, the source said, and when accommodation and souvenir purchases are added on top, the total outlay rises considerably further. For North Pyongan province residents in particular, the round-trip transportation costs from Sinuiju to Wonsan on the opposite coast add another significant burden.<\/p>\n

As a result, some people are exploring ways to reduce the expense: skipping overnight accommodation inside the resort and only using the beach, or arranging food and lodging outside the zone\u2019s perimeter.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who are reasonably well-off are putting together trips of four to seven days,\u201d the source said. \u201cBut even families with a degree of financial comfort have to be prepared to spend a substantial amount to make the trip as a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

For North Korean people with fewer means, the resort has become a source of relative deprivation rather than aspiration. \u201cTalking about going to the Wonsan Kalma zone is something only people with money can do,\u201d some have said. Others allow themselves to dream about going on a state-sponsored incentive trip so they wouldn\u2019t have to pay their own way \u2014 but the source noted that such opportunities are extremely limited and that anyone who genuinely wants to go has to pay for it themselves. \u201cOnce you sit down and actually calculate the costs, it\u2019s hard for ordinary people to commit,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

As summer approaches, interest in and longing for the resort continue to grow, but for a large portion of North Korean people it remains out of reach, the source said. Visiting has become a marker of personal wealth \u2014 something everyone wants but not everyone can access \u2014 deepening what the source described as a two-tier reality based strictly on individual economic means. \u201cPeople who can\u2019t afford it just say \u2018I really want to go someday\u2019 with a touch of bitterness,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n

Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n

\n Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.\n <\/p>\n

\n Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea \u2014 discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.\n <\/p>\n

\n Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what\u2019s happening inside one of the world\u2019s most closed societies.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visitors enjoy a speedboat excursion at the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone in a photo published by the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[119,31,451,34,9392,9213,929,10722,36204],"class_list":["post-65255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-economy","tag-korea","tag-markets","tag-north-korea","tag-north-pyongan-province","tag-sinuiju","tag-tourism","tag-wealthy","tag-wonsan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}