Foreigners barred from beach resort after Russian diplomat's trip to site
North Korea's National Tourism Administration said the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area that began operations this month is temporarily not accepting foreign guests, without elaborating.
The beach resort is one of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's pet projects. Kim has a private mansion on the coast, and during construction of the facilities he often visited the site to oversee progress on a project that features about 7,000 guest rooms in luxury hotels and private villas, an outdoor waterpark and an airport, according to state media.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited the resort town during his recent North Korea trip in which he met with Kim on the leader's yacht. Lavrov said at a meeting with his North Korean counterpart in Wonsan that Russia will 'do everything' to expand the flow of Russian tourists to North Korea.
Tourism is a key revenue source for the sanctions-hit Kim regime but the country has been allowing only a trickle of inbound tourists from Russia since it began easing its pandemic border restrictions. North Korean authorities keep close tabs on overseas visitors, who are usually required to stay at lodgings designated for use by foreigners and restricted in their movements in the country.
It's not immediately clear why North Korea decided to restrict foreigners' access to the resort area, but some analysts say there's more work to be done on the project.
'The resort is undoubtedly open, but it's not quite finished yet,' the 38 North programme at the Stimson Center said, citing satellite imagery.
'One of the largest buildings at the resort, a hotel near the Kalmaegi Hotel, does not appear to be in use. There is little activity nearby and the rooftop pool has yet to be filled with water.'
Lavrov's latest visit took place less than a month after Pyongyang agreed at a June meeting between Kim and Sergei Shoigu to send an additional 6,000 military workers to the Kursk region. Shoigu is Putin's top security aide and a former Russian defence minister. — Bloomberg
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Russia's night attack on Kyiv leaves eight injured, including child, Ukraine says
KYIV (Reuters) -A Russian overnight air attack on Kyiv wounded eight residents of an apartment building, including a three-year-old child, authorities in the Ukrainian capital said on Monday. Four of those injured in the attack, which took place soon after midnight on Monday, have been hospitalised, with one person in serious condition, the head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on the Telegram messaging app. Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that all of the people were residents of a multi-storey apartment building in the city's Darnytskyi district on the left bank of the Dnipro River. "The blast wave damaged windows from the 6th to the 11th floor," Klitschko said in a post on Telegram. The capital and most of Ukraine were under air raid alerts for several hours overnight following Ukrainian Air Force warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks. With the threat of missile strikes on western parts of Ukraine that border Poland - a NATO member - Polish armed forces scrambled aircraft to ensure the safety of Polish airspace. The central Ukrainian city of Kropyvnytskyi came under an attack, regional Governor Andriy Raikovych said, adding that emergency services were working on the site and information about potential damage will be released later on Monday. The full scale of the Russian attack on Ukraine was not immediately known. Reuters' witnesses heard loud blasts shaking the city of Kyiv overnight in what sounded like air defence units in operation. There was no comment from Russia on the attack. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes in the war that Russia started in February 2022. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. (Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Kim Coghill and Saad Sayeed)
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
EU-US tariff deal "unsatisfactory", "imbalanced"
BRUSSELS: A senior European lawmaker has strongly criticised a draft trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US), warning that it could undermine the bloc's economic stability and job security, reported Xinhua. Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, described the proposed framework, which includes a 15 per cent tariff on all EU exports to the US, as "unsatisfactory" and "significantly imbalanced." The tariff rate, he noted, would represent a fourfold increase over current average levels, while the EU would commit to zero tariffs on US goods. "This is a deal with a slant. Concessions have been made that are difficult to bear," Lange said in a statement on Sunday. US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced earlier in the day that the two sides had reached a trade agreement, under which the US would impose a baseline tariff of 15 per cent on EU goods. Although both leaders described the deal as a step toward restoring "trade balance" and promoting more equitable two-way commerce, the agreement allows Washington to levy broad tariffs while securing zero-tariff access for a range of strategic American exports. In contrast, the EU has pledged to purchase US$750 billion worth of American energy and commit an additional US$600 billion in investments in the US. Lange noted that while Trump publicly declared a blanket 15 per cent tariff during remarks following the talks, he had earlier explicitly excluded certain sectors, including steel and pharmaceuticals. He added that increased European purchases of US energy, particularly liquefied natural gas, were anticipated, as the EU continues efforts to reduce its reliance on Russian fossil fuels. However, Lange criticised the US$600 billion in planned additional investments, including increased funding for US military technology, calling such measures contrary to European economic interests. He likened the pressure tactics used in the deal to those Washington employed in recent negotiations with Japan. "Overall, this deal will contribute to weakening the EU's economic development and harming its gross domestic product," he said.
The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
Kim vows to win on Korean War anniversary
Kim Jong-Un said the country would achieve victory in 'anti-imperalist, anti-US' battles, as the country marked the anniversary of the Korean War armistice, state media reported. Kim 'affirmed that our state and its people would surely achieve the great cause of building a rich country with a strong army and become honourable victors in the anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown,' KCNA state news agency said. North Korea signed an armistice agreement with the United States and China on July 27, 1953, ending the fighting in the three-year war. North Korea calls July 27 'Victory Day' even though the armistice dividing the Korean peninsula roughly equally in area and restoring balance after the two sides made major advances back and forth during the war. South Korea does not mark the day with any major events. — Reuters
