North Korea is one of the world’s most secretive nations. Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 https://bbc.in/3VyyriM For years it’s been almost entirely closed to foreign visitors (apart from a few highly-controlled tours each year). But in July the state opened the luxury Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone, which was promoted as an attraction for both locals and foreigners. It has hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and a water park, with a capacity of 20,000 people, according to state media. Since the resort began construction in 2018, human rights groups have protested the alleged mistreatment of its workers. According to early planning documents seen by BBC Verify, the initial goal was to attract more than a million visitors, with foreign tourists expected to mainly come from China and Russia. But now, a notice on North Korea's tourism website says that foreigners are "temporarily" not allowed to visit. Russian tourists appear to be the exception. We speak to Rachel Lee, a BBC reporter in South Korea about why North Korea is trying to boost its tourism. And we hear from Anastasia Samsonova, a Russian tourist who visited the resort. 00:00 Coming up 00:18 Intro 00:52 What is the new resort like? 01:52 Changing the image of North Korea 02:38 Why only Russian tourists? 03:05 How much does it cost to visit? 03:31 Tourist’s experience in North Korea 05:35 Missile testing in the area 06:31 Can people wander freely? 07:52 Were rules relaxed for the Russians? 08:30 What’s it like living in North Korea? 09:26 Did the tourists feel safe? 10:07 Criticism of beach resort construction 11:33 Will other countries be allowed to visit? Watch more episodes from What in the World here 👉🏽 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison and Abiona Boja Additional reporting: Yaroslava Kiryukhina Video Journalist: Baldeep Chahal Editor: Julia Ross-Roy ---------------- This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel. If you like what we do, you can also find us here: Instagram 👉🏽 https://www.instagram.com/bbcworldser... Twitter 👉🏽 https://twitter.com/bbcworldservice Facebook 👉🏽 https://facebook.com/bbcworldservice BBC World Service website 👉🏽 https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio Thanks for watching and subscribing! #BBCWorldService #WorldService #northkorea #northkoreatravel #kimjongun
#BBCEye brings you original documentary investigations from around the world - revealing secrets, rooting out injustice, and exposing crime, corruption, and abuse wherever we find them. Nothing stays hidden forever.

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