The North Korean regime has received this week the first group of Russian tourists In his brand new tourist complex of Wonsan Kalmaa huge hotel infrastructure on the east coast of the country. While the authorities present it as a symbol of modernization and openness, human rights organizations They denounce the very hard working conditions that made its construction possible.
Kim Jong himself a headed the opening ceremony of the resort last month, praising it as a world category cultural and holiday reference. “However, the process behind this work has been marked by secrecy. Satellite images, internal documents and testimonies of North Korean deserters, collected by BBC VerifyThey point to a systematic use of forced labor.
Kim Jong-un has a strong personal bond with Wonsan, city where part of his childhood passed. Before this megaproject, it was already a holiday destination reserved for the elite. In 2017, a year before the works began, a North Korean delegation He traveled to Spain to study the Benidorm model: “Architects and senior political positions came; they took note of everything,” says Matías Pérez Such, a member of the Spanish team that accompanied them in their tour of hotels, thematic and marine parks.
As a result, a development was achieved that, according to a North Korean brochure, has 43 hotels in front of the sea, guest houses, camping areas, a water park, entertainment centers, cinemas and a theater. Satellite images confirm that much of this infrastructure was raised along a coastal section of four km, at a dizzying pace. At the end of 2018, 80% of the project was already completed, although later the works were paralyzed for years.
The construction was reactivated after a meeting in June 2024 between Kim and Vladimir Putin, in which the Russian president He promised to foster tourism towards North Korea.
This initial impulse had a high human price. United Nations has repeatedly denounced The use of the so -called “shock brigades” In the Asian country: groups of workers submitted to strenuous days, precarious conditions and without minimal guarantees.
“We received reports that the complex was built by these brigades, with people working day and night to meet the deadlines,” explains James Heenan, responsible for the UN Human Rights Office in Seoul.
Chung Hui, that of Kang Gyuri, ancient Wonsan resident who fled in 2023, points out that his cousin offered as a volunteer to work on the work, hoping to access a Pyongyang residence. “I didn’t sleep just. He ate bad and many colleagues died in accidents without anyone responding for it,” He recounts. Kang also denounces forced displacements of neighbors, whose houses were demolished without compensation to give way to the development of the resort.
$ 1,800 a week
North Korea has remained almost completely closed to international tourism In recent years, allowing only a drip of visitors under strict supervision. The Wonsan Kalma project seeks to change that. According to leaked documents, the initial objective was to attract more than one million tourists, mainly from Russia and China.
At the moment, only Russia has begun to send visitors. Three country agencies offer tourist packages that include the resort, with prices close to $ 1,800 per week. One of the first groups, composed of 12 people, arrived at the complex at the beginning of July. Two other trips are scheduled for August.
Despite these first steps, experts doubt their long -term viability. “For the Russians, North Korea is not an attractive destination compared to places like Türkiye or Thailand “says Andrei Lankov, a professor at the Univerisad Kooknin de Seoul. “There the services are better and nobody constantly watches you.”
While Pyongyang exhibits his new tourist jewel, the contrast between the official image and the shadows that surround it puts the opacity and Abuse complaints that continue to mark the internal reality of the regime.
