North Korea 'renovates' Wonsan coastal city to attract tourists

On August 7, the Korean Central Television (KCTV) reported that officials in Kangwon Province, southeastern North Korea, are focusing on implementing many measures to beautify Wonsan City (in Kangwon Province), aiming for the image of a "cultural port city".

The port city of Wonsan is home to the newly opened Wonsan Kalma Beach Resort, which Pyongyang hopes will become a world-class tourist destination.

According to KCTV, the government has provided specialized vehicles to road management units, helping to maintain a clean ecological environment and raise hygiene standards, improving the quality of life for people.

In addition, the city also promotes tree planting, flower beds, renovation and repair of many buildings to improve aesthetics.

Images released by KCTV on August 7 show street sweepers with large brooms cleaning straight streets.

Previously, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on August 3 that the Wonsan Kalma tourist area had installed an air quality monitoring station to monitor pollutants such as fine dust.

Observers say this attention reflects Pyongyang's determination to turn the Wonsan Kalma tourist area into a tourist attraction.

This tourist area opened on July 1, with a capacity of about 20,000 guests at a time, but Wonsan Kalma has not yet welcomed international tourists and is not operating stably.

Simon Cockerell, managing director of Koryo Tours, a travel agency that specializes in tours to North Korea, said that last year only about 1,000 Russians visited Wonsan city, contrary to speculation that the new Wonsan Kalma tourist area mainly serves Russian tourists.

Meanwhile, expert Ahn Byung Min from the Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University (South Korea), commented that attracting tourists from China and Russia is still difficult due to low competitive appeal and high costs compared to other destinations.