Kim Jong-un’s infamous hotel to finally open
After a last push, Kim Jong-un’s pet project, a mammoth resort built on a former missle site, is set to open early next year.
A beach resort dubbed the “North Korean Benidorm” is set to welcome its first guests.
The resort in Wonsan, at a former missile launch site, got its nickname after Kim Jong-un reportedly sent a fact-finding mission to Spain’s Costa Blanca in 2017.
But building work was stopped by the pandemic, and homeless wanderers – known as kkotjebi in North Korea – reportedly moved in, filling the empty hotels with faeces.
Now, after a last push, the resort is expected to open in May next year – becoming one of the largest of its kind on Earth.
But its many rooms may never be filled.
North Korea expert Jacob Bogle, who created a comprehensive map of the country from satellite photos, described the sheer scale of the development.
“The Wonsan resort is the largest recreational complex in North Korea and is one of the largest single-operator beach resorts in the world in terms of length,” he said.
“Initial plans released back in 2013 suggested that the resort could accommodate as many as 100,000 visitors at a time.
“Considering that only 150,000 to 200,000 foreign tourists visited the country annually pre-Covid, Wonsan would be heavily reliant on domestic tourism to reach capacity.
“North Korea does have a moderate domestic tourism industry, but Wonsan was billed as a place to draw in foreign tourists.
“Even completed projects like the Masikryong Ski Resort were never able to draw substantial numbers of foreign guests.”
He added: “Should it finally open in 2025, Russian and Chinese tourists would make up the bulk of international visitors to Wonsan.”
It was a point echoed by Martyn Williams, a senior fellow with the Stimson Centre in Washington DC, who authored a recent update on the Wonsan resort.
He said: “The hotels across the resort probably have thousands of rooms in total.”
“It could be for North Korean residents but the expectation is that this will be for foreign tourists.
“North Korea has reopened to Russian tourists and many expect Chinese to be next on the list, before western tourists.
“In fact, Russians have already been shown around the construction as part of a recent tour.”
Mr Williams added that at present North Korea is yet to reopen to western tourists.
“There could be a day when western tourists are offered trips here, including those from the UK and US,” he said.
“Although the US State Department has its own restrictions on US passport holders visiting North Korea.”
North Korea expert Michael Madden told The Sun: “Provided the Foreign Office does not have such restrictions, if the Wonsan Kalma resort is complete and the DPRK resumes issuing tourist visas then, yes, UK tourists will be able to visit the resort.”
“It is safe to assume that some North Korean tourism companies will market specialist tours of the country’s beaches.”
Mr Bogle added: “It’s very unlikely that South Korean or US tourists will be allowed to visit in the foreseeable future.”
Construction on the Wonsan resort began in January 2018, but its initial completion date was too ambitious, slipping from April to October 2019, and then again to April 2020.
Soon the pandemic saw the project ground to a halt.
Mr Williams said: “It appears the project stalled at quite an advanced stage.
“Some reports have suggested it’s due to a lack of furniture, although the border closure during the pandemic surely hurt it.”
In fact, the interiors may still be an issue. When Kim Jong-un visited it in July, regime propagandists only published photos of the hotels’ exteriors.
“North Korea’s inability to finish the interiors – either because they can’t import what they need or because they’ve simply redirected funds elsewhere – has been a major impediment to the resort’s opening,” Mr Bogle said.
What’s more, the infrastructure might not be ready – even if there are enough guests to fill the resort.
The regime itself acknowledged several outstanding “issues” in its report on Kim’s visit.
These included preparing enough parking, “building up the capacity for garbage and sewage treatment”, and finishing a water park.
One government official, quoted by Daily NK, a newspaper in neighbouring South Korea, offered a candid appraisal.
They said: “The development has entered its final stage amid difficult economic conditions, but many things remain lacking, and there is much to resolve.”
Mr Bogle explained necessary infrastructure upgrades to the local water treatment plant aren’t yet finished, so the resort couldn’t operate at full capacity until that’s complete.
“There is also an outdoor water attraction that is still under construction as of September but it’s at least halfway completed,” he added.
In any case, experts agree that the regime will likely meet the new opening date.
“They can build very fast and usually do. Kim Jong-un has built several new districts of apartment buildings in Pyongyang in the last few years and is opening lots of new housing around the country,” Mr Williams said.
“Speed is helped by using military construction crews.”
Mr Bogle added: “It’s not an improbable timeline, but with the resort sitting unoccupied for so long, they may also have to make repairs before fully opening the complex.”
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
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