Chinese Embassy in North Korea introduces Wonsan Kalma tourist zone on website

The Chinese Embassy in North Korea introduced the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist zone, a beach resort that opened last year and has so far been limited mainly to Russian tourists, on its website on Wednesday.

The embassy posted 15 photos of hotels, beaches and the sunrise as part of a regular series that began in September 2025 and aims to introduce North Korea.

The embassy described the zone as North Korea's first large-scale coastal tourism complex and called it a “cultural resort” and a “world-class tourist attraction on the east coast.”

The tourism zone opened in July 2025 and was built to accommodate up to 20,000 visitors, initially receiving Russian group tourists through a Russian travel agency.

The post came after China's Ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun and other embassy officials visited the resort area on the occasion of the Lunar New Year holiday last month.

It marked the first time the North's state media carried a report on Chinese Embassy officials visiting the tourism zone, raising speculation that Pyongyang may be preparing to accept Chinese tourists.

Chinese tourists had previously been a major source of tourism revenue for North Korea, but that flow was suspended after Pyongyang closed its borders in early 2020, following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Formal tourism for Chinese visitors has yet to resume.

Yonhap