The Benidorm of North Korea is about to open. Your problem is how to fill the crazy number of rooms

In October 2024 confirmed the plan that had Pyonyang in hands. Benidorm is only one, but if tourism has become the Economic engine Of so many nations, they did not want to stay in the saga. Thus, North Korea announced that the ambitious project to turn Wonsan into a kind of Benidorm to the Korean There was a stern wind. The idea is now about to become a reality, it is called Wonsan-Kalma, and the number of rooms has gone hand in hand.

An unparalleled resort. As we have gone countingKim Jong’s ambitious tourism project on the Kalma Peninsula, on the east coast of North Korea, seeks to position itself as one of the world’s greatest holiday complexes. A fact exposes the intentions: it has an estimated capacity between 7,000 and 20,000 rooms.

Conceived as a tourist city from scratch, the resort Wonsan Kalma is described by analysts as the most huge tourism project ever driven by the regime. Announced Back in 2014the complex suffered multiple delays attributable to international sanctions and then at the closure of borders during the pandemic. However, its opening is already planned for June, and the regime has rehearsed a shy reopening to international tourism, although the economic viability of the resort remains deeply uncertain.

Tourism as a strategy. Kim conceives the resort not only as a source of income in foreign currency, but as showcase of power and the modernity of your regime. However, the attractiveness of the enclave is in question: experts like Bruce W. Bennett and Marcus Noland They explained this week The doubts that foreign visitors attract in sufficient quantity to justify their huge investment.

The logical basis of the project, which presumably aspired to capture South Korean tourists for its proximity and purchasing power, collides with the diplomatic impossibility of allowing them to enter. Meanwhile, and as We explain weeks agoRussian agencies have begun Offer tour packets for Citizens of Vladivostokbut even there the enthusiasm is doubtful. Russian travelers, According to the operators themselvesThey continue to prefer traditional destinations such as Thailand or Dubai.

Oasis restricted to internal consumption. Thus, another plausible strategy of the regime would be to take advantage of the resort as an internal control and reward mechanism. They counted in Insider that the facilities could be used as an incentive for loyal citizens or exemplary workers, and the complex is designed with areas reserved for presidential delegations and suites.

The problem? As Bennett points outaccess will be rigorously segregated, mainly to prevent North Korean citizens from entering foreign visitors. This structure reinforces the propaganda nature of the resort that, a priori, would serve more as a political showcase than as a real tourism center (something similar To “little manhattan” They raised recently).

Structural limitations. Despite the monumental effort, the project drags many of the endemic problems of the regime. The Lack of experience North Korean in the hotel industry and the rigid state censorship are important obstacles to offer a credible tourist experience.

In addition, recent history of the Ryugyong Hotel (That unfinished skyscraper for decades and symbol of North Korean failed excess) remains a latent warning. Plus: Kim’s fear of the free flow of information is incompatible with the logic of contemporary tourism. Therefore, although it is seen of modernity and luxury, it is likely to end up being Another monumental decorationwithout sufficient and useful tourists only as a propaganda tool. There is several examples similar

A “diplomatic” letter. If you want, in parallel, the complex can be seen as a piece on the diplomatic board. In 2018, Trump had suggested Kim towill help your “big beaches” For economic development, and it is not ruled out that the resort is used precisely as a symbolic gesture in future negotiations, especially if Pyongyang seeks recognition as a nuclear power. Remember that the nation already has made “resort” For Russian soldiers.

In that context, Kalma can always fluctuate, like promise or threat: It can be used to show openness or reinforce the cult of the leader. If so, Kim Jong Un, determined to differentiate himself from his predecessors, could see in “his Benidorm” not only a tourist destination, but a political statement to the world.

Image | Diego Delso, Clay Gilliland

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