ICBM Tubes Next to Swimsuits: Unexpected Souvenirs Appear in North Korea

[Anchor]

Following the recent North Korea-China summit, attention is focused on whether tourism exchanges between the two countries will resume in earnest. North Korea is accelerating the renovation of large-scale tourist complexes, and it is even commercializing nuclear missiles.

Reporter Kim A-young has the story.

[Reporter]

This is a video uploaded to social media last September by a Russian tourist who visited the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in North Korea.

[We warmly welcome everyone who has visited the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area.]

Missile models stand out in a shop selling swimsuits and beach balls.

[Russian tourist: Well then, shall we buy some souvenirs?]

They appear to be inflatable pool tubes modeled after the Hwasong-18, a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and the Chollima-1 satellite launch vehicle.

The tourist wears one on each arm and even jokes about launching a missile.

The Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area on North Korea's east coast, which opened in July last year, is considered one of Kim Jong-un's key projects for earning foreign currency.

[Russian tourist: I am playing Iron Man.]

The area has been elaborately decorated, even featuring virtual reality gaming machines, but here, even nuclear missiles are treated as tourist products.

While visits in the first year of operation last year were centered around Russian tourists, there is interest in whether Chinese tourists will visit this summer.

The Chinese ambassador to North Korea visited the site in February and expressed hope that more guests would visit, and Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed on the 8th of this month to expand people-to-people exchanges, using the resumption of passenger flights and trains as a catalyst.

If tourism to North Korea by Chinese citizens resumes, it will mark a normalization six years after the COVID-19 lockdown measures began in January 2020.

[Kim Han-kyu / Deputy General Manager, Korea Tourism Organization: Historically, the number of tourists between North Korea and China has always increased significantly after a visit by the top leader (of China). One of the key points for the success of Wonsan-Kalma is whether Chinese tourism resumes....]

Russian authorities have stated they are expanding air routes to Pyongyang and are considering opening a route to Wonsan, so the influx of Russian tourists is expected to continue steadily this year.

(Source: YouTube, Video Editing: Nam Il)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.