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Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Toronto Sun
North Korea bars foreign tourists from new seaside resort
Children play at the newly opened Myongsasimni Water Park in the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in North Korea. Photo by KIM Won Jin / AFP Seoul (AFP) — North Korea has barred foreigners from a newly opened beach resort, the country's tourism administration said this week, just days after Russia's top diplomat visited the area. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The sprawling seaside resort on its east coast, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's pet project, opened to domestic visitors earlier this month with great fanfare in state-run media. Dubbed 'North Korea's Waikiki' by South Korean media, the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone appears to be lined with high-rise hotels and waterparks, and can purportedly accommodate some 20,000 people. State media previously said visits to Wonsan by Russian tour groups were expected in the coming months. Domestic tourists watch as a man uses a slide into a swimming pool at the Myongsasimni Water Park in North Korea. (KIM Won Jin/AFP/File) Photo by KIM Won Jin / AFP/File But following Lavrov's visit, the North's National Tourism Administration said 'foreign tourists are temporarily not being accepted' without giving further details, in a statement posted on an official website this week. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Kim showed a keen interest in developing North Korea's tourism industry during his early years in power, analysts have said, and the coastal resort area was a particular focus. He said ahead of the opening of the beach resort that the construction of the site would go down as 'one of the greatest successes this year' and that the North would build more large-scale tourist zones 'in the shortest time possible'. The North last year permitted Russian tourists to return for the first time since the pandemic and Western tour operators briefly returned in February this year. Seoul's unification ministry, however, said that it expected international tourism to the new resort was 'likely to remain small in scale' given the limited capacity of available flights. North Korea has barred foreigners from the newly opened Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist zone. (KIM Won Jin/AFP/File) Photo by KIM Won Jin / AFP/File Kim held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Wonsan last week where he offered Moscow his full and 'unconditional' support for its war in Ukraine, KCNA reported. Lavrov reportedly hailed the seaside project as a 'good tourist attraction', adding it would become popular among both local and Russian visitors looking for new destinations. Ahead of Lavrov's recent visit, Russia announced that it would begin twice-a-week flights between Moscow and Pyongyang. Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA Tennis Toronto & GTA Toronto Maple Leafs
Sinar Daily
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Sinar Daily
North Korean detained after crossing land border
North Koreans are typically handed over to Seoul's intelligence agency for screening when they arrive in the South. 04 Jul 2025 10:33am People use umbrellas to shelter from heavy rain as they walk along Changjon Street in Pyongyang on June 20, 2025. (Photo by KIM Won Jin / AFP) SEOUL - A North Korean who crossed the heavily fortified land border into the South has been detained and taken into custody, Seoul's military said Friday. The North Korean managed to cross the Military Demarcation Line in the midwestern part of the Demilitarised Zone on Thursday, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. A person uses an umbrella to shelter from heavy rain as they walk along Changjon Street in Pyongyang on June 20, 2025. (Photo by KIM Won Jin / AFP) The MDL is the de facto border, which runs through the middle of the DMZ -- the border area separating the two Koreas, which is one of the most heavily mined places on earth. "The military identified the individual near the MDL, conducted tracking and surveillance," the JCS said in a statement. It then "successfully carried out a standard guiding operation to secure custody," it added. Seoul's military said "relevant authorities" will investigate the detailed circumstances of the incident. North Koreans are typically handed over to Seoul's intelligence agency for screening when they arrive in the South. The incident comes after a wooden boat carrying four North Koreans drifted into waters south of the de facto maritime border in May. Another North Korean defected to the South across the de facto border in the Yellow Sea last year, arriving on Gyodong island off the peninsula's west coast near the border between the Koreas. Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s, with most going overland to neighbouring China first, then entering a third country such as Thailand before finally making it to the South. Defections across the land border that divides the peninsula are rare. The number of successful escapes dropped significantly from 2020 after the North sealed its borders -- purportedly with shoot-on-sight orders along the land frontier with China -- to prevent the spread of Covid-19. South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung, who took office last month, has vowed a more dovish approach towards Pyongyang compared with his hawkish predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol. "Politics and diplomacy must be handled without emotion and approached with reason and logic," Lee said Thursday. "Completely cutting off dialogue is really a foolish thing to do." - AFP More Like This
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Runners fly to North Korea for first post-Covid Pyongyang Marathon
The last Pyongyang Marathon was held in 2019 (KIM Won Jin) Foreign amateur runners on Thursday flew out of Beijing for North Korea to race in the first Pyongyang Marathon in six years, an official travel agent said. The marathon is part of celebrations marking the birth of North Korea's founding leader Kim Il Sung in 1912 and is the largest international sporting event in the reclusive country. Advertisement It is scheduled to take place on Sunday, offering a rare opportunity to run through the streets of the tightly controlled capital. The last edition of the Pyongyang Marathon was held in 2019, after which it was suspended because of the pandemic, which prompted the nuclear-armed state to seal its borders in an effort to quell the virus. With North Korea tentatively reopening, foreign participants departed from the Chinese capital on a six-day visit organised by Koryo Tours. The travel agency specialises in trips to North Korea and describes itself as the exclusive travel partner of the marathon. "Participants departed today," an agency official told AFP. Advertisement A group of foreigners was seen boarding an Air Koryo commercial flight from Beijing to Pyongyang in a video posted on the company's Instagram account. "The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals," the Beijing-based firm said on its website. "An experience truly like no other." The marathon is listed on the website of global governing body World Athletics. In 2019, about 950 Westerners took part in the race, up from the roughly 450 recorded the previous year. This year, about 200 foreign runners were expected to compete, along with more than 200 North Koreans, Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours, recently told Australian broadcaster SBS. Advertisement "North Korea is a complex and fascinating place that intrigues many people, and while it is certainly not for everyone, it definitely appeals to those curious about the experience of visiting such a country and seeing what they can," he said. bur-kjk/pst/dh
