N. Korea completes new railway station at Wonsan-Kalma resort
The Korean Central Television shows crowds packing beaches at the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone, July 18. Yonhap
North Korea has finished building a railway station at the Wonsan-Kalma tourist area on the east coast, state media said Friday, as the nation seeks to nurture tourism.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said a ceremony marking the completion of Myongsasimni Station took place the previous day, attended by high-ranking officials, including Vice Premier Pak Hun.
State media lauded the 7,000-square-meter station as a "standard for local railway stations, designed to meet its mission, function and purpose of tourist travel."
The resort, one of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's signature development projects, officially opened in June 2025 and can reportedly hold up to 20,000 visitors at a time.
While visiting the resort in June to inspect its facilities, Kim unveiled plans to modernize railway stations in provincial cities across the country, urging officials to draw on lessons from the project.
The North has ramped up efforts to draw visitors to the resort, running domestic flights to and from Pyongyang since July 23.
According to Flightradar24, a flight-tracking site, state carrier Air Koryo operates the route twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, using the Ukrainian company Antonov's An-148 aircraft.
Pyongyang's state media have launched a promotional campaign for the resort, claiming tens of thousands of people have visited the zone this summer.
"The Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist area in the DPRK is now overflowing with many visitors who came from across the country by train or bus to enjoy the Korean-style tourist culture," the KCNA reported Saturday. DPRK is short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.