Wonsan Kalma: My trip to the “Benidorm” in North Korea

It was the security agents accompanying the group of Anastasia Samsonova who suggested that it was not a typical beach vacation.

In July, the 33 -year -old human resources worker was one of the first tourists to stay in a new holiday station in North Korea, a largely closed country in the outside world.

Located in an exclusive area on the east coast where the leader Kim Jong one spent a large part of its youth, the coastal tourist area of ​​Wonsan Kalma opened its doors on July 1.

Built near a missile test site, the station offers hotels, restaurants, shopping centers and an aquatic park, according to the state media.

But although it was initially presented as open to international tourists, so far, only the Russians, entering groups and organized by accredited travel agencies, have been authorized to enter.

Anastasia traveled there last month with 14 other people. The visit was closely checked, with guides and guards who accompanied them and a fixed route which could not be diverted without the authorization of the North Korean authorities.

She said that the guides told her that the guards were necessary to “warn the situations where we interacted with the inhabitants and surprised them”.

“When we walked in the street, they (the North Koreans) looked at us with a big surprise because the country has been closed for a very long time,” explains Anastasia.

BBC News Russian came into contact with her after having searched the geotags of people on social networks who had gone to the complex, regardless of any travel agency or media.

Anastasia says that her group was also invited not to photograph the construction sites and should not wear revealing clothes.

However, despite the restrictions, she says that she “appreciated a vacation without people” on almost empty beaches with white sand.

“Every day, the (beach) was cleaned and leveled perfectly. Everything was impeccable,” she said.

“The goosebumps were absolutely new, everything that is impeccable. The entrance to the sea was very soft, so yes, it was really a very good beach.”

From the cocovated pandemic, international tourism in North Korea was on a break to prevent the spread of the virus.

But last year, the Republic began to allow Russian tourists to visit again.

In February, he also began to receive tourists from the West, notably Australia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, although he suddenly arrested this week later, without saying why.

Wonsan Kalma was presented as a key element of Kim’s ambitions to stimulate tourism in the country.

He would have been inspired by the tourist hotspot of Spain Benidorm, where a North Korean delegation was sent in an fact teaching the facts in 2017.

But the details of the way it was built was enveloped in secrecy, and human rights groups criticized the alleged severe treatment of workers.

A few weeks after its opening, North Korea announced that foreigners were “temporarily” not authorized to visit – with the exception of tourists from Russia, an ally of the Republic.

Until now, two groups of Russian tours have visited the station, with another currently there.

A week -long trip from Russia to North Korea, including three days at the Wonsan Kalma Resort, costs $ 1,800 (£ 1,300) – 60% more than the average monthly salary in Russia.

Certain advertisements for the trip even refer to the nearby missile test site, describing it as a “unique” vacation place.

Anastasia says that no missile was launched while she was there, but toy rockets were sold nearby for $ 40 (£ 30).

Describing a typical day during his trip, Anastasia says that the group would have breakfast at 8:00 am when many activities were scheduled and 9:30 a.m. by a more relaxed day.

Regarding the food which was given to them, there was “a lot of meat”, generally in sweet and sour sauce, and a dish implicating cabbage finely and carrots in the sauce.

She says that a bottle of 500 ml beer was very cheap, costing about 60 cents at the beach, while the memory of choices for tourists was North Korean Olympic clothes.

Another tourist, Daria, writing on Instagram, described the complex as “very raw” and “not the kind of vacation that Russian tourists are used”.

“But if you are tired of Asia, Turkey, etc., and want something exotic-that’s all,” she added.

However, there is uncertainty at the moment when the next Russian tourists are allowed in Wonsan Kalma.

The travel agency which organized the first three trips to the complex, Vostok Intur, said that there was a great interest in potential visits in September, but that the North Korean authorities had not yet accepted them.

Initially, the visits were announced online by Russian travel agencies for mid-September, but they were then deleted.

It is not only the Russians who have difficulty going to Wonsan Kalma.

Even the citizens of China, who borders North Korea and who is its main ally and economic partner, have difficulty accessing the station, according to Andrei Lankov, an expert in North Korean-Russia relations and professor at the University of Kookmin in Seoul.

He says that Pyongyang deliberately limits the number of tourists and closely controls their movements, in part so that the North Koreans do not compare themselves unfavorably to richer foreigners.

“Ordinary people could start wondering:” How is it that even without our great chef, or his son or daughter, they seem so well? “,” Says Lankov.

For this reason, North Korea concluded that it is largely preferable not to have too many foreigners entering the country, he adds.

With travel restrictions in the softening of North Korea, Russia tourism has increased, although it remains modest compared to other destinations.

In 2024, around 1,500 Russians went to North Korea for tourism, according to the border guards of the Federal Security Service in Russia.

On the other hand, more than 6.7 million visited Turkey and nearly 1.9 million went to China.

However, in the second quarter of 2025, 1,673 Russians entered North Korea as tourists – a level seen for the last time in 2010, before the introduction of tourist restrictions.

Wonsan Kalma is considered the key to relaunching the sick economic fortune of North Korea, but it was not without controversy.

Since the start of the construction complex in 2018, human rights groups have protested the presumed ill -treatment of its workers. They indicate that reports of people forced to work long hours to complete the massive project in difficult conditions and inadequate compensation.

The BBC approached the North Korean Embassy in London to comment.

Despite the challenges of going to Wonsan Kalma and the restrictions on what Russian tourists can do when they arrive in North Korea, Anastasia says she hopes to come back next year.

“We actually think of gathering the whole group next year to go to the same place.

“I do not know if it will work, but I heard that there is also a ski resort near Wonsan Kalma. So, maybe I will also visit this station.”