The respected Comrade
"We should foster external relations in a multilateral way and accelerate the projects for economic development zones, including the Wonsan-Mt. Kumgang international tourist zone."
Wonsan-Mt.Kumgang international tourist area is situated at 127 degrees 23 minutes east longitude-128 degrees 22 minutes east longitude, and 38 degrees 02 minutes north latitude-38 degrees 23 minutes north latitude. It covers Wonsan city and some regions of Anbyon county, Bopdong county, Chonnae county, Tongchon county, Gosan county and Kumgang county in Gangwon province. Since it is geographically situated in the middle of Korean peninsula, the east of Asian continent, it has a very favorable condition for tourism and its development.
This is the intermediary area that connects all the famous tourist areas of the DPRK: Pyongyang area, Mt. Paektu area, Mt. Chilbo area and Nampo area.
This area has many tourist resources which are rare not only in Korea but also in the world and also many developed economic foundations.
In this area there are hundreds of scenic tourist spots including the historical relics, white sand beaches, natural lakes and mineral water springs, and also about millions of tons of peloid very effective to treat neuralgia and colonitis. And it has a firm foundation for the development of industry, agriculture, fishing, tourism and service, with its infrastructure favorable for the development of this area as a tourist zone.
So, the DPRK government appointed Gangwon province as the international tourist area and has accelerated the work to build Mt.Kumgang and its area as a special zone for the international tourism.
To build Wonsan-Mt.Kumgang international tourist area into the worldwide scenic tourist one is a firm will of the WPK and our government.
The respected Comrade
To enlarge and develop further the international tourism to the scenic spots of the Korean East Sea areas including Wonsan and Mt.Kumgang, the DPRK government declared Wonsan-Mt.Kumgang area an international tourist area on June 11th, Juche 103 (2014).
The total size of this area is about 430km2 and consists of Wonsan area, Masikryong Ski Resort, Ulrim waterfall area, Sokwang temple, Tongchon area, and Mt.Kumgang area.
The plan for the development of these areas is to turn Wonsan area into the worldwide tourist area equipped with various kinds of cultural and recreation facilities which are in harmony with good ecological environment, and to develop Mt.Kumgang area, Tongchon area and Sokwang temple into the international tourist areas for historic relics as well as for recreation and medical treatment.
The Wonsan-Mt.Kumgang international tourist area will be developed step by step in a planned way, on the principles of diversifying the investment, protecting the natural and ecological environment of the surrounding areas, using land and resources rationally, enhancing the international competitiveness of production and service, and ensuring both the convenience for economic activities and the common interest of society.
The total development size of Wonsan area covers about 7 400 hectares and the development includes forming the city axis, the residential districts and the industrial belts; setting up tourist facilities; creating green grass areas; and modernizing accommodation facilities.
Masikryong Ski Resort area was expanded as the comprehensive resort area with the total size of about 2 200 hectares, consisting of about 10 ski courses, total length of which is 49.6km, outdoor skating ground, outdoor swimming pool and wonderful Masikryong hotel with the capacity of 300 people. Around Ulrim waterfall as high as about 75m, there are several scenic spots including Gusul waterfall, Bidan waterfall and several pools. So the DPRK government plans to supplement and increase the capacity of the facilities for accommodation, physical training and public catering, while running effectively the existing service facilities according to the increasing demand for tourism.
In Sokwang temple area, there are many historic relics, the routes for mountaineering, several mineral springs, the places for the medical treatment and tourism, and accommodation facilities with the capacity of 100 persons. The DPRK government plans to build a new route from Sokwang temple to Bomunam, and modernize the existing accommodation facilities and the surrounding scenic spots. The total development size of Sokwang temple area is about 1 500 hectares.
In Tongchon area there is a well known Chongsokjong for its beautiful scenery and natural lakes – the Lake Tongjong and the Lake Sijung, and, on its seaside, a sun-bathing resort place. In particular, it has about 3.2 million tons of peloit very effective for the treatment of neuralgia and colitis, with the accommodation facility for about 1 000 persons, shops, restaurants and other services.
The total development size of Tongchon area is about 9 000 hectares.
The government plans to build the centres for the health improvement and medical treatment, by rebuilding the hotel, and setting sports and health improving facilities in the Lake Sijung. It plans to build a new accommodation facility with the capacity of 5 600 persons and other service facilities in the Lake Tongjong, and to build the supporting facilities including sun-bathing resort place, boating place and wharf at Chongsokjong area.
Mt.Kumgang is well known to the world for its beauty, wonder and magnificence and here are about 30 living monuments, about 10 historic relics, 2 nature reserves, a bathing resort place and a hot spring.
The DPRK government plans to develop Mt.Kumgang area by establishing more tourist facilities, increasing the accommodation capacity to more than 10 thousand persons and building several natural parks, traditional streets, folk dancing halls, aquariums and several kinds of recreation facilities. It also plans to modernize further the facilities along the sightseeing path to Mt.Kumgang, build several kinds of facilities for sightseeing including cableway, and modernize the existing commercial and service facilities such as Mokran restaurant and Danpung restaurant in order to increase the service capacity.
The government is making a great effort to develop the infrastructure including the harbor, railway, road, power-supply net and ecological environment - the primary sectors in the development of this area.
As part of the plan the Wonsan harbor will be enlarged and several small and middle size passenger ports will be built in several regions; the existing Wonsan-Mt.Kumgang railway will be rebuilt for the transport of cargo and a new high-speed railway for tourism will be built together with a new Wonsan-Mt.Kumgang tourist road.
The existing Wonsan-Mt.Kumgang tourist road is planned to be modernized, a new Wonsan-Mt.Kumgang road to be built, the major road across the Wonsan city to be enlarged, and several road systems to be rebuilt or modernized to form the ring road net.
It is also planned to create the power transformation facility with the capacity of thousand kVA, increase the productivity of the existing hydroelectric power generations and make effective use of natural energies in order to create the power generation capacity by hundreds of thousand kws.
The government also plans to build a large-size modern waste treatment facility and sewage treatment plant and improve their management in order to prevent pollution of sea water.
Not much time has passed since the DPRK declared to establish Wonsan-Mt. Kumgang international tourist area, but it already attracts attention of world tourists and investors.
The Economics Faculty of
It hopes the investors and other people from foreign countries attend the joint research, the lectures as guest speaker, and scientific discussions regarding the development of this area.
It will render active cooperation to them.
Wonsan-Mt.Kumgang international tourist area will become one of the good examples in terms of the development of tourist areas, with its beautiful sea, mountains, lakes and the city, as well as all the basic tourist resources. It will give a great economic profit to the investors.
