North Korea News Podcast by NK News - North Korea’s mega resort opens, testimony of executions and taekwondo rivalry

Episode Date: July 1, 2025

North Korea finally opened the long-delayed Wonsan Kalma mega resort on the east coast last week, with leader Kim Jong Un calling for a “new era” of tourism. But with the tourism zone boasting over 50 hotels and capacity for 20,000 tourists, questions remain about who will actually visit the resort as the country keeps […]

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Kim Joo-hun, welcome back on the show. Thanks for having me. We've got four news stories to tell the people about today. Let's start with the long awaited, much delayed opening of the Wonsan Kalma Beach Resort. Yeah, it took almost, well, more than seven years from what I've heard. And yeah, they... Over time and over budget probably. Exactly, right.

And it's a very fancy resort with over 54 hotels. And there's a water park, movie theater and all kinds of fun stuff. Right. And it's very big. I mean, if people look at the story on the NK News website, the story came out on the 26th of June, title, North Korea Opens Giant One Sun Kalima Beach Resort for 20,000 Tourists. You can see a great, what do you call it, overhead satellite shot of just the stretch of the whole beach, this whole this whole peninsula longer than the airport

and more elongated than the city of Wonsan and so on. It's massive, right? It's almost like a separate, like a country within a country, isn't it? Yeah, exactly. Looked like a South Korean resort. Couldn't really believe that it was North Korea. Yeah, it does look nice.

Now, as I already gave away in the title there, it has capacity for 20,000 tourists, which is a lot of tourists. Is North Korea expecting this to be largely domestic tourists or foreign or what's the... I think it's going to be domestic, but some say Russian tourists will also visit there, but I'm not sure if they'll open to the West and China. Right. I saw in the story there a Russian tour company Vostok Intour is going to take a group, we don't know how large, of Russian travelers, probably not 20,000, but a group of Russian

travelers to Wonsan, Kalima on July the 7th. So I can imagine that we will soon see Russian social media. I don't know if they're into Instagram or what, but in your Russian social media with with photos and film of What they're seeing and how it is so we'll get some sense of how good it is in the resort Yeah, okay, and who was there for the grand opening Kim Jong-un and his wife He sold you as well. Also the Russian ambassador. I can't pronounce his name Matsagora. Oh, all right. So research you Russian ambassador, I can't pronounce his name. Matsagora. All right. So Ri Sol-Ju got a lot of attention for bringing her fancy Gucci handbag. They're quite costly, aren't they?

A couple of thousand dollars. Right. Seems like it. But she's very unusual for North Korean residents and commoners. Yes. And also, let's not bury the lead here, not only Ri Sol-Ju, but also don't I mean let's not bury the lead here not only to resolve to but also the daughter the Alright, the special daughter who whose name is not mentioned yet in North Korean media, but we believe that she may be True. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She was there too. She's getting up close to I think 12 12 years old now

She's quite quite tall. Yeah, she's very tall and she dresses not like a young girl but like a woman, right? Right. Right. There's obviously some speculation about whether her frequent appearance with her father makes that means that she'll be the next successor. Yeah. So 54 hotels. Anything else about the facilities there? Shopping malls, restaurants and beer, yeah, beer pubs. Five. No fewer than five beer pubs. So plenty of places to drink at. Also, you can play golf. Wow. Yeah. Well, full-size golf or mini golf?

It's a mini golf. Yeah. And arcades as well. So it's massive and it is close to the hotel. So people, if it does ever get more than just this one group of Russian visitors, people will be able to fly into Pyongyang and then fly from Pyongyang to Wonsan. And then it's really it's a short shuttle bus, I imagine, to Wonsan Kalma. Now, if you look again, if you look at the overhead picture there, you see that

it's really separated from the rest of North Korea. You know, it's kind of hidden. Well, not hidden, but it's located beyond the airport. So there has been some speculation that North Korea chose this area as a resort, because it's a good way to keep any foreign visitors sequestered. You know, they're not able to wander off into the countryside and, you know, look at locals homes and things like that. True. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. It don't make sense. Okay. All right.

Well, then let's get on to our second story of the day. And this is a much sadder event that occurred here in Seoul last week. The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights had a two-day event in which recent defectors from North Korea came and talked about their experiences. Right. So defectors were testing about executions in the DPRK and those testimonies are being gathered to help update the UN's official records of human rights violations. It's been more than 10 years now since the Commission of Inquiry's final report came out, so this is like an update on that. Right. And. And I was there on the first day, and Kim Il-hyuk, who defected in 2023,

was giving a speech. And he defected by boat, didn't he? I think he's one of the rare people who came directly from North Korea to South Korea by boat, not through China and South East Asia. Right, right. And then he appeared a lot in the rock media. One thing that's interesting about him was that he also filmed a lot of North Koreans looking for a job and... He took footage inside North Korea? Yeah, right before coming to South Korea. And then...

Very rare. Right, right. Yeah, and then those footages were being shown in rock media, on a South Korean variety show. Ah, yes, right. So very impressive. So that's a journalist mindset. Yes. Yeah, I felt like.

What's he doing in South Korea now? I'm not exactly sure, but I know that he's very famous. He's active in the media. Right, right. It's a variety show called Imangab, where a lot of defectors share their experience. And yeah, very active on YouTube as well. And what was he testifying about at the event last week?

He was talking about harsh censorship laws, like the anti-reactionary culture law. This is the law that forbids North Koreans from watching any outside entertainment. Right, right. And then he said he saw a 22-year-old man, like, yeah, and this guy was executed for watching and sharing K-dramas and K-pop. So I think they're getting punished just for watching those Korean dramas and Hollywood films, but they get executed if they share them.

Yeah. Right, okay. Yeah, so there has been a lot of talk in the media, including here at NK News, is about what are the death penalties for, and it's mostly for distributing, uploading, or sharing through a USB stick or an SD card or something like that, yeah.

Yeah, so that's what he said, but another female defector, yeah, she didn't reveal her name, but she... Some of those people were talking anonymously and they didn't show their faces either, because they're worried about repercussions for their family back in North Korea, right? Yeah, but she was saying you could get executed just for watching it, so I'm not sure if they changed anything. Right.

Yeah, probably it's getting stricter. Or it could be a... what do you call it, the carrying out of the laws, the enforcement of the laws could be different in different areas or you know under different local authorities. Right and also it's getting more challenging to defect after the Kim Jong-un regime. Right so so these modern, or modern, but recent defectors, are these people who were already in China before COVID? Recent defectors? Yeah, most of them were staying in China or Southeast Asia. And yeah, but they left North Korea before the COVID shutdown. With the exception of Kim Il-hyuk, who came by boat. Right. And I also interviewed another defector who defected.

He came here in 2019, but he crossed the DMZ. He was a soldier. Yeah, I think he was on vacation or something. But then he didn't step on any landmines at all. Very lucky. He crossed on foot. Right. Through the demilitarized.

Yeah, that's very tricky because there are so many mines there. And of course, there are also North Korean soldiers ready to shoot you if they see you trying to cross. As we remember with Sergeant Oh, back in what year was that? 2018. I think that he drove and then ran across and his former colleagues tried to shoot him. So it's quite a dangerous way to cross. Right, right. Well, then we'll go on to our next topic. And we've got you've got some sports related stories to tell us about. So this is about taekwondo. I'm not sure if you know the difference. But in South Korea, WT, which stands for World Taekwondo is very prevalent, while in North Korea, they have ITF taekwondo. Like ITF taekwondo was also created by a South Korean army general, but in North Korea, they're

not really practicing WT. They're just mainly doing ITF. So yeah, the difference is that ITF is, it's more like a traditional, they have a lot of martial arts elements. So basically you can punch your opponent in the face while that's not allowed in South Korea and WT. Now it used to be WTF. When did they get rid of the F? They changed, probably because it sounds very similar to ITF.

Maybe they got rid of it, but yeah, not exactly sure. The World Taekwondo Federation. So the Taekwondo that we see at the Olympics, that's WT. That's WT. World Taekwondo, right? Yeah, that's mainly kicking. And I think you can just punch your opponents in the body. Yeah. Yeah. And the founder of Taekwondo, Choi Hong-hee, interesting fellow.

He was a member of the military under Park Chung-hee. I think he was a general, if I'm not mistaken. I believe he was a major general. Okay, so he's pretty high up there. And he left South Korea, he wasn't happy with Park Chung-hee. And defected, but not to North Korea, he defected to Canada. Lived in Canada. But then later on in life, around 1980, so after Park Chung-il had been assassinated, he went to North Korea and started up Taekwondo there. So North Korea is actually kind of recent in North Korea. Right, right. So it's started... It's got a longer history in South Korea. Because he introduced in 1980 exactly.

Right. And when I say longer, I mean, I think it's only about 13 years difference. It's not much in the span of human history. But anyway, so North Korea is trying to get UNESCO recognition. Right, right. They already applied last year. But South the South Korean government is not really taking any action. So I talked to one of this, these South Korean Taekwondo masters, and he is in in this organization designed to raise awareness about this situation. So he's urging the group is actually encouraging the ROK government to take action about this. Because he doesn't... When you say take action, you mean what? That the South Korean government should try to block North Korea's registration or get

their registration in first? Yeah, to get the registration. Well, North Korea already did. They already applied. Right, but they haven't got it yet. Not yet. So UNESCO will decide next year, according to Choi, the South Korean Taekwondo masters. And yeah, so basically he was saying it's going to be a national disgrace if the North Korean taekwondo is registered, not the South Korean.

So yeah, he was visiting unification ministry and Korea heritage service. Yeah, but nothing is... There's no action from the South Korean government. Interesting. I mean, I imagine if it were the government of China or the government of Japan that was trying to register their version of Taekwondo with UNESCO, there might be more uproar about this more public sentiment, more government action. What do you think? Probably, but the South Korean WT is recognized by Olympic comedy already. Yeah.

Right. So maybe that's why they're not worried about it. Yeah, they're not putting efforts. Yeah, not sure. I was interested to read in that story that at one stage, North and South Korea were working together, right? Sports officials who were based in Europe were somehow trying to collaborate. And this is even after relations broke down

between North and South Korea and even after North Korea blew up the liaison building in Kaesong, I thought that was interesting. Right, so the North Lat's ITF, that federation, is based in Austria and Choi visited... Not Choi the founder, but Choi this currently living master of world taekwondo. Right, right. And yeah, he was talking to the North Korean master named Mr. Ri. Yeah. And then the initial plan was to submit a joint application. But then the North Korean sides with Jew because of worsening inter-Korean relations. But then they proposed submitting applications separately. So the North would submit first and then, yeah, they proposed South to do it later. Which is a very similar approach to shireum, the traditional Korean wrestling. So I think it was in 2016 when North Korea applied

and then a year after South Korea did, but UNESCO jointly inscribed the sport. Yeah, because it's the same thing Yeah, basically a similar situation. Yeah now for our last story. We've got another sports or fighting related one Here's a North Korean defector living in South Korea who has turned to mixed martial arts for his his future career, right? So he escaped when he was very young with his mom, but his uncle and grandparents are still in the North. So yeah, he actually didn't want to take this interview at first.

You interviewed him yourself? Yeah, so I had to visit his, he's working as a barista. Yeah, in a coffee shop. Yeah, in Southern Seoul. And I had to visit there twice to convince him first. And then I visited him again. Because he's worried about his family back up north. Right, right, right, right.

So how's he doing in this sport? He was a champion in Japan. It was a very small MMA organization. But yeah, he won the gold medal or the trophy. And yeah, he's running his own gym right now. And so- Oh, wow. He's a very busy man.

Right. He's fighting, he's running a gym, and he's being a barista. Yeah, right, right. He's in the gigging economy. Yeah, I know what that's like. And he's trying to get into UFC. That's his dream, actually.

Right. And I asked him. Imagine if he went to UFC, and if he became a champion, he might end up meeting Donald Trump. Like, you know, Donald Trump's a UFC fan. Yeah, right, right. He's going to be the first North Korea-born athlete. Yeah, it's a good story. People should read it.

It's certainly a story of triumphing over adversity. And he does talk about how sometimes in his fights he sees himself not just fighting the opponent but beating down the the North Korean system, the security guards and all of that and he's incredibly buff. I mean he has built up his body. I can only look on with envy. He's amazingly fit. Right, right, right. Yeah, Yeah. So check out that story and all the other ones that we've discussed today, listeners, on nknews.org and we'll talk to you again next time. Thanks, Ju-Hon, for coming on the show. Thank you.

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