A peek inside North Korea’s huge new beach resort

North Koreans swam, rode water park slides and enjoyed other water activities at a newly opened mammoth beach resort, state media reported on Wednesday.

But observers say the resort’s prospects are unclear, as the country is unlikely to fully reopen its borders and embrace Western tourists any time soon.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported that the Wonsan-Kalma area, the biggest tourist complex in North Korea, began service on Tuesday, drawing a large number of North Koreans who enjoyed open water swimming, slides and other attractions at a water park and various water activities in the area.

“The guests’ hearts were filled with overwhelming emotion as they felt the astonishing new heights of our-style tourism culture blossoming under the era of the Workers’ Party,” KCNA said in a typical propaganda-driven dispatch.

Photos released by North Korean state media showed children with tubes and inflatable balls dipping into the sea, while others in colourful swimsuits beamed while sitting beneath red-and-white parasols.

Kim said at the opening ceremony last week the site would be recorded as “one of the greatest successes this year” and called its opening “the proud first step” towards realising the government’s policy of developing tourism. State media said North Korea had plans to build similar tourist zones around the country.