The Kalma Coastal Tourist Area appears to be suspending operations with the onset of winter. While this is a common phenomenon for large-scale tourist facilities during the winter season, it seems that North Korea, with hardly any foreign tourists this past summer apart from a small number of Russian visitors, was unable to secure sufficient foreign currency due to the limited spending power of domestic tourists. Although efforts are likely to be pursued to overcome the limitations of tourism infrastructure, such as the lack of winter tourism facilities, due to North Korea’s unique characteristics, a decrease in winter tourists might lead to the diversion of existing infrastructure to other uses – for instance, ‘converting it to the Masikryong Ski Resort,’ potentially creating a vicious cycle. Therefore, the operational status of Masikryong Ski Resort, the only winter tourist facility adjacent to Wonsan, appears to significantly influence the success or failure of the Kalma Tourist area.

Meanwhile, at the Songdowon Special Villa in Wonsan, three groups of the Kim Jong Un’s family enjoyed summer sports using VIP-designated vessels, and most have since returned to port. This pattern was like last year, but one VIP barge showed irregular activity, unlike before, and appears to belong to the most influential figure.