North Korea opens landmark coastal Wonsan tourist zone
SEOUL: North Korea has completed construction of a massive tourist zone on its east coast, state media reported on Thursday, a key project driven by leader Kim Jong Un for years to promote tourism.
With "great satisfaction", Kim attended an inaugural ceremony for the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area that could accommodate about 20,000 visitors and said the country would build more large-scale tourist zones swiftly, KCNA news agency said.
Kim has been rebuilding the seaside city of Wonsan, a holiday destination for locals, to turn it into a billion-dollar tourist hotspot. Development plans for Wonsan have mushroomed since they were first announced in 2014.
However, while tourism is one of a narrow range of cash sources for North Korea not targeted by United Nations sanctions, the reclusive state did not have a major foreign partner for the Wonsan project against the backdrop of sanctions over its weapons programmes.
The tourist zone will open for domestic guests from July 1, KCNA said, without mentioning foreign tourists.
North Korea sealed its borders in 2020 at the start of the pandemic but has been slowly lifting restrictions since 2023.
It has allowed Russian tourist groups into the country but its capital and other parts of the country remain closed to regular tourism, though in April it held a marathon event hosting foreign runners.
Moscow and Pyongyang, both economically and politically isolated, have drawn closer as North Korea has deployed thousands of fighters and supplied ammunition, artillery and missiles for Russia's Ukraine war.
The Russian ambassador to North Korea and embassy staff were invited as special guests for the Wonsan ceremony, according to KCNA.
The two countries have agreed to expand cooperation on tourism, restarting a direct passenger train service between their capitals for the first time since 2020.
"Kim Jong Un expressed belief that the wave of the happiness to be raised in the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area would enhance its attractive name as a world-level tourist cultural resort," KCNA said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
31 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
UN Charter: a founding document violated and ignored
EIGHTY years ago today, 50 countries came together in the ashes of World War II to sign the United Nations' founding charter in order "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres insisted this week the Charter "is a promise of peace, dignity and cooperation among nations." But critics say the organisation has been utterly helpless in stopping the countless conflicts that have broken out since and continue around the globe today. Conceived in the early years of World War II and signed on June 26, 1945 in San Francisco, the charter paved the way for the creation of the United Nations on October 24, 1945. In 19 chapters and 111 articles, the Charter lays out the principles of international relations, including the peaceful settlement of disputes, sovereignty and equality between states, humanitarian cooperation, and respect for human rights. If there is a threat to global peace, Chapter VII gives the UN Security Council the power to impose sanctions to enforce its decisions or even deploy military force. The Charter, which is very difficult to amend, also establishes the Security Council, with its five veto-wielding permanent members, the General Assembly and the Secretariat, as well as the International Court of Justice. The United Nations currently has 193 member states. But for all the good words, the Charter's principles have been continually violated across the planet for eight decades. Member states rarely agree whether self-determination trumps non-interference in a state's internal affairs, or if the right to self-defence can justify acts of aggression. In the most recent example, Teheran, backed by veto-wielding China, accused Washington of violating the UN Charter by striking Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, an act the United States justified by the right to "collective self-defence." And the international community has never really addressed the "crime of aggression," said Gissou Nia, a fellow with the Atlantic Council think tank, be it Russia's war against Ukraine or the US invasion of Iraq. "And once impunity reigns on one set of violations, one that's never dealt with, it continues, and countries use it as justification for the actions that they take," Nia told AFP. She added: "For self-defence, you really have to show evidence of an imminent attack. I think that it's one of the more contentious issues that involve the UN Charter and the narrative has really gotten away from us." Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was denounced as a clear violation of the Charter by Guterres and the General Assembly, but not by the Security Council, where Russia has a veto. And even though the Charter allows for persistent violators to be expelled from the UN, that has never happened. In 1974, the UN did, however, suspend South Africa from the General Assembly over the crimes of apartheid, a ban that lasted two decades.
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Harvard scientist accused of smuggling frog embryos indicted on new charges
Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born scientist and research associate at Harvard University, leaves the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse after she was released from U.S. federal custody, while awaiting trial in a criminal case in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Reba Saldanha/File Photo BOSTON (Reuters) -A Russian-born scientist at Harvard University accused of smuggling frog embryos into the United States was indicted on Wednesday on additional charges nearly two weeks after her lawyers secured her release from U.S. custody. Federal prosecutors in Boston said a grand jury returned an indictment charging Kseniia Petrova, 30, with one count of concealment of a material fact, one count of false statement and one count of smuggling goods into the United States. Prosecutors had charged her in May only with smuggling. The two new charges add to her criminal exposure and were filed after her lawyers last week urged a magistrate judge to dismiss the initial criminal complaint. Petrova's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Prosecutors secured the indictment after Petrova was granted bail on June 12. She had been detained for months after U.S. immigration authorities took her into custody on February 16 at the airport in Boston upon her return from a trip to France. Her supporters said she was detained as part of the practice by President Donald Trump's administration of targeting international students and academics for visa revocations and detention as part of his hardline immigration agenda. Prosecutors said U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stopped Petrova, who works at Harvard Medical School, after her checked duffle bag was flagged for inspection, revealing the frog embryos. Petrova has said her boss asked her to bring back frog embryo samples for experiments. But prosecutors said the embryos constituted biological material that should have been declared to customs officials at the port of first arrival. Prosecutors said that when she was approached by law enforcement, Petrova initially denied carrying any biological material in her baggage, and later claimed to be unsure she was required to declare the embryos when entering the United States. But prosecutors said one of Petrova's colleagues had texted saying that she needed to make sure she got permission to bring samples back. Petrova's visa was then canceled and immigration officials took her into custody with the intent of deporting her back to Russia, a prospect Petrova has said she feared after protesting Russia's war in Ukraine. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler)
New Straits Times
6 hours ago
- New Straits Times
North Korea opens landmark coastal Wonsan tourist zone
SEOUL: North Korea has completed construction of a massive tourist zone on its east coast, state media reported on Thursday, a key project driven by leader Kim Jong Un for years to promote tourism. With "great satisfaction", Kim attended an inaugural ceremony for the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area that could accommodate about 20,000 visitors and said the country would build more large-scale tourist zones swiftly, KCNA news agency said. Kim has been rebuilding the seaside city of Wonsan, a holiday destination for locals, to turn it into a billion-dollar tourist hotspot. Development plans for Wonsan have mushroomed since they were first announced in 2014. However, while tourism is one of a narrow range of cash sources for North Korea not targeted by United Nations sanctions, the reclusive state did not have a major foreign partner for the Wonsan project against the backdrop of sanctions over its weapons programmes. The tourist zone will open for domestic guests from July 1, KCNA said, without mentioning foreign tourists. North Korea sealed its borders in 2020 at the start of the pandemic but has been slowly lifting restrictions since 2023. It has allowed Russian tourist groups into the country but its capital and other parts of the country remain closed to regular tourism, though in April it held a marathon event hosting foreign runners. Moscow and Pyongyang, both economically and politically isolated, have drawn closer as North Korea has deployed thousands of fighters and supplied ammunition, artillery and missiles for Russia's Ukraine war. The Russian ambassador to North Korea and embassy staff were invited as special guests for the Wonsan ceremony, according to KCNA. The two countries have agreed to expand cooperation on tourism, restarting a direct passenger train service between their capitals for the first time since 2020. "Kim Jong Un expressed belief that the wave of the happiness to be raised in the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area would enhance its attractive name as a world-level tourist cultural resort," KCNA said.
