North Korea Opens Beach Resort, Celebrates Kim Jong Un’s ‘Creative Genius’

North Korea’s regime propaganda machine is back in overdrive, this time declaring dictator Kim Jong Un a “great artist of creation” for overseeing the construction of a flashy new beach resort a desperate bid to distract from the country’s economic collapse and growing isolation.

Set to open July 1, the new resort in Wonsan supposedly stretches along four kilometers of coastline and can accommodate 20,000 visitors, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). North Korea claims the site includes “sea-bathing service facilities,” sports, amusement attractions, commercial stores, and food service venues.

But let’s be honest: this is North Korea. What’s being hyped as a “world-class” resort is far more likely to resemble a lifeless Potemkin village than a luxury vacation destination.

• In April, Kim boasted about a new 10,000-unit apartment block in Pyongyang. CNN later found non-functioning elevators due to power shortages.

• A similar apartment project collapsed in 2014, killing an unknown number of residents.

• Just last month, North Korea’s new 5,000-ton warship capsized during its launch yet another “ambitious” project that fell flat.

KCNA described Kim’s role in the resort as deeply personal, stating that the development was “what he most wanted to do for the people.” In reality, it’s another monument to a dictator obsessed with appearances while his people endure poverty, malnutrition, and political terror.

Ironically, North Korea remains nearly closed to the outside world. While the regime briefly reopened borders to Westerners in early 2025, they quickly shut them down again, maintaining strict isolation. The United States still bans travel to North Korea for its citizens due to the “serious risk of arrest, detention, and wrongful imprisonment.”

Americans haven’t forgotten Otto Warmbier, the college student who was imprisoned in North Korea in 2016 for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster. He was returned home in a coma and died shortly thereafter.

Even exotic tourism operators are skeptical. Rowan Beard of Young Pioneer Tours said most international visitors if they ever return will continue to focus on the brutalist landmarks and military showcases that define the North Korean experience. Not beach resorts run by a regime notorious for power outages and building failures.

Kim Jong Un may call himself a “great artist,” but the world sees a tyrant with a crumbling nation, propped up by lies, propaganda, and a brutal grip on power.

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