North Korea has signaled it intends to open at least one of its major delayed construction projects to celebrate the 110th birthday of the country’s founding leader on April 15, but the Wonsan-Kalma beach resort is not likely to be one of them, according to new satellite imagery. 

High-resolution Maxar images taken last month and medium-resolution Planet Labs images taken in the last week show no signs that authorities are preparing to welcome visitors at the 3.25 mile-long (5 km) resort zone. 

The images show a mostly finished and well-landscaped resort on the outside, but also bare concrete facades of an aquatic arena and multiple high-rise hotels, an empty outdoor waterpark without any rides or finishing details and a construction crane still attached to one of the tallest hotels.

NK Pro estimates the Wonsan-Kalma resort contains over 7,000 rooms for tens of thousands of guests, based on analysis of satellite and state media images of over 36 hotel buildings and dozens of additional extended stay facilities along the beach. 

North Korea has also advertised dozens of shopping centers, restaurants, sports facilities, movie theaters and other amenities for an all-inclusive experience, all serviced by the recently upgraded Kalma Airport right next to the resort. 

North Korea could begin taking in domestic tourists if it chooses to open Wonsan-Kalma before lifting its COVID-19 inbound travel ban. But with material shortages leading to nationwide construction delays and a focus on mobilizing society to fill labor deficits at factories and farms, opening the resort does not currently appear to be a priority for Pyongyang. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un originally demanded the resort open in April 2019 — a timeline that only allowed 15 months for construction. He subsequently announced two delays and publicly ignored the project when it missed its most recent deadline of April 2020.

Despite no known visits to  Wonsan-Kalma in almost three years, state media claimed last year that Kim’s been busy approving designs for various aspects of the resort behind the scenes, suggesting he still expects military construction crews to be making progress toward completion.

North Korea will likely continue losing a significant amount of money and resources on the megaproject as long as it remains unopened, with upkeep and maintenance a major ongoing operation that could require hundreds of employees. 

Edited by Arius Derr