North Korea Has a Seemingly Harmless Plan to Get Ahead, But There's a Dark Truth Behind It: Report
It seems North Korea might be facing the same reality as the former Soviet Union regarding the long-term financial viability of Communist dictatorships.
It’s at least as good an explanation as any for the North Korean regime’s bizarre new plans to make North Korea a tourist destination. Yes, you read that right: North Korea wants to become a hot new tourist destination.
But why? And how?
According to a recent story from Metro, this grandiose plan began way back in 2017, after Kim Jong-Un and his officials were impressed by Benidorm, a popular tourist destination for Spaniards and British tourists alike, during a visit to Spain.
Beginning construction that same year in Wonsan, North Korea, the plans included everything from luxury hotels to an enormous series of water parks.
The hope was that this gigantic new resort would jumpstart North Korea’s flagging tourist industry and bring in those sweet, specifically British, tourist dollars.
Initially given a completion date of 2018 for the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone, the project quickly ran into some unfortunate roadblocks, as do many such grandiose projects in North Korea.
First, the initial deadline kept getting pushed back due to inevitable delays in construction, and then the construction halted altogether thanks to a little respiratory virus unleashed by its fellow Communist neighbor.
However, despite the unfinished buildings being now overrun with homeless people and garbage, it seems North Korea never fully gave up on its dream of making its oppressive dictatorship a coveted tourist destination.
An unknown source with insider information told Daily NK, a South Korean newspaper, that officials in charge of the project have been instructed to buy up the needed construction materials, with a date set sometime in 2025 for the project’s final completion.
That said, even if North Korea decides to lift its draconian COVID restrictions and travel bans in time to welcome foreigners and their sweet, sweet tourist dollars back into the country, visiting this resort would be an unbelievably risky, if not unethical, thing to do.
A brief perusal of the United States’ travel advisories for North Korea is enough to make your blood run cold.
Not only are you advised to avoid entering the country at all thanks “the continuing serious risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. nationals,” but if you find yourself compelled to make the journey, you are advised to draft a will and discuss funeral plans with loved ones before if you even leave.
Aside from the threat of random and possibly permanent imprisonment, any money generated by this resort will find its way into the hands of the hermit regime back in Pyongyang.
Even a casual observer knows North Korea’s reputation for cruelty and injustice to its own people, with refugees like Yeonmi Park sharing their stories of the horrific human rights violations they faced as part of their daily lives.
It’s foolish to think that any of the money generated by this potential water park would be used to improve the roads or infrastructure of North Korea, never mind improving the lives of ordinary North Koreans.
Any money this ill-conceived project might generate would only be used to beef up the military might of North Korea, enabling the regime to further oppress its inhabitants and strengthen its corrupt regime.
In North Korea, all financial roads lead back to Kim Jong-Un and his cronies. In the event this resort is ever finished, do yourself a favor and choose a similar destination closer to home.
If nothing else, not only would you be keeping money out of the pockets of corrupt dictators, you’d also have a chance of getting home safely.
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