A reported fact-finding mission to the Costa Blanca to build a beach resort dubbed the ‘North Korean Benidorm’ lies in tatters.
Instead, abandoned and unfinished hotels are lived in by squatters.
The North Korean Benidorm was planned to be built near the city of Wonsan, with the nickname given after Kim Jong-un reportedly sent a fact-finding mission to Spain’s Costa Blanca in 2017.
The completion date was scheduled from April to October 2019, extending to April 2020.
Works ceased after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, with locals saying the site – once used for missile tests – is filled with faeces and overrun by “kkotjebi”, a North Korean term for homeless people.
“The buildings are no different from toilets, with bowel movements left behind by kkotjebi everywhere,” one person told Daily NK, a South Korea-based newspaper.
A source in Kangwon Province, of which Wonsan is a part, said: “Buildings without doors have become gathering points for kkotjebi, and now they’re full of human waste and soot from fires. And who’s going to clean all that up?
“Ultimately, the people of Kangwon Province will be mobilised, and labour and money will be wasted on a project, when nobody knows when it will open or if tourists will actually come.”
Photos from April 2019 show Kim Jong-un inspecting the resort, walking past high-rise hotels taking in the view from one of several private villas built directly over the water.
North Korea expert Jacob Bogle, who has created a comprehensive map of the country from satellite photos, said: “Construction at the Wonsan Beach Resort has been stalled since mid-2020.
“All of the hotels and other buildings have been constructed, but work on finishing the exteriors windows, paint, lighting and interiors is nowhere near completed.
“The resort was constructed alongside the dual-use civilian-military Wonsan Airbase.
“The main entrance to the resort would require anyone to pass in clear view of the base and that would make hiding difficult.
“However, there is a second entrance to the south, where all of the temporary workers’ housing and workshops are located.
“It is conceivable that homeless people have begun to take up residence in those huts, and from there, entering into one of the numerous hotel buildings would be fairly easy.”
Mr Bogle said the term “kkotjebi” had originally been applied to children orphaned by North Korea’s brutal famine in the 1990s, but was now used for all homeless people.
Costa Blanca similarities
During their visit to Spain’s Costa Blanca, it’s said North Korean officials were amazed by the dimensions of Benidorm’s towers and holiday parks.
Speaking in 2019, Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours, said the completed Wonsan resort would likely be a bit quieter than its Spanish counterpart.
According to Daily NK, the regime approached builders in late January asking what equipment, supplies and manpower they would need to finish the job.
Mr Bogle said there’s no proof yet of a final push to complete the resort.
Many of the construction workers building the resort were redeployed to build Pyongyang General Hospital at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
