North Korea appears to be preparing to finally open a giant beach resort for visitors, according to NK Pro analysis, paving roads and adding other finishing touches over four years after the project went dormant.

Planet Labs imagery shows workers have repaved miles of roads and parking lots inside the sprawling Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area and that construction has finally resumed on a turtle-shaped arena, one of the last major elements still in a state of bare concrete.

Beach chairs also appeared to be set up for the first time on Wednesday, suggesting guests could arrive soon.

Though imagery has sporadically revealed small-scale updates since 2020, such as the completion of tourist tram infrastructure, the latest work points to wider efforts to finish the construction of the resort.

Black asphalt repaving typically appears at major projects like new skyscraper streets in the capital in the weeks ahead of official opening ceremonies attended by Kim Jong Un, though it is also seen in many other cases that don’t culminate in such events.

The new Wonsan Kalma resort has only hosted tourists once — a group of Russians and media crews in February this year — but this was simply a brief drive-through to preview the facilities. Russian tour companies have been told the resort is nearing completion but have not received details about a full opening and access to actual overnight stays.

It could provide a new revenue stream for Kim from foreign visitors and serve as a major new destination for domestic students and other organized tour groups, as the DPRK leader seeks to demonstrate an interest in improving living conditions for ordinary people in the face of his priority on military spending.

But its lengthy disuse has likely racked up significant maintenance costs and the megaproject still faces questions over how successful it can be as a destination for foreigners.

Construction on the inclusive resort zone started in 2018 on the Kalma Peninsula directly next to the Wonsan Kalma International Airport, in the southeast city of Wonsan. The resort appeared mostly finished by early 2020, though the pandemic likely complicated plans for opening. 

It includes dozens of hotels, shops and other facilities along a 5.5 km-long (3.5-mile) stretch of white-sand beach, covering a total area of around 245 hectares (605 acres).

NEW CONSTRUCTION

The repaving work appeared to start in the first week of May and progressed in stages throughout the resort area in the following weeks, according to Planet Labs imagery.

This includes outer main roads and service roads leading into facilities, as well as parking lots that appeared covered in simple gravel when Russian tourists visited in February.

It is the first time the entire resort’s roads and lots have been fully paved with what appears to be finishing asphalt.

In another sign of preparations to allow real use of the beach for the first time, beach chairs appeared to be set up in the central area of the zone on Wednesday — though only at two of the resort’s 24 chair-and-umbrella stations along the coast.

The new work on the arena started last week, between June 4 and 5, representing the first noticeable attempt to complete the facility since it stalled in early 2020.

Nearby, however, there is also a largely unfinished outdoor waterpark where attractions have yet to be installed. 

This and the arena likely require more specialized materials and installations than the zone’s hotels, shops and restaurants that are made from basic concrete, rebar and tiles, suggesting they have taken particularly long to finish due to resource shortages exacerbated by the DPRK’s pandemic border closure.

But North Korea appeared to mostly lift those restrictions this year and has recently demonstrated its ability to acquire large foreign goods and materials for other large construction projects. 

In a move possibly related to sprucing up facilities for more visitors, airport runway markings appeared to be repainted and plane parking pads resurfaced between May 29 and June 2, satellite imagery shows.

Wonsan Kalma is likely to be formally opened with a big ceremony promoted in state media, billed primarily as a gift from leader Kim Jong Un to ordinary North Koreans, before becoming fully staffed and available to regular and extended foreign tours.

Kim last publicly visited the site in April 2019.

Signs emerged in state media earlier this year that propaganda authorities were promoting the resort to domestic audiences again, after the project missed its most recently publicized deadline of April 2020 and mostly disappeared from official news.

Meanwhile, there is also a large-scale construction project underway on the west end of the Kalma peninsula, on the other side of the airport from the resort.

NK Pro reported in March on the start of large-scale apartment demolition and the buildup of a construction worker camp. 

In the months since, work has started on a number of large rectangular building foundations — suggestive of apartment or office buildings — but the purpose of the project remains unclear. 

Edited by Bryan Betts

Updated on June 12 at 4:17 p.m. KST with details about beach chairs from new satellite imagery