00:00A water park, a VR arcade, bumper cars, and Kim Jong-un watching you soak.
00:07These aren't scenes from a typical holiday destination.
00:11They're from North Korea, where the leader wants his citizens to have more state-sanctioned fun.
00:18Kim has been shown touring beach resorts, hotels, and hot springs,
00:23drumming up demand among North Koreans for new ways to spend their wealth.
00:27From movie theaters and holiday camps to new places designed for rest and recreation.
00:33That's according to a Reuters review of trade data, state media, and verified social media footage.
00:40There was even a visit to a pet shop with his daughter, Ju A.
00:44Then there's the shopping, with the consumption drive extending to luxury malls.
00:49Department stores were shown stocked with handbags, watches, and mobile phones.
00:54And social media footage from a shopping complex in Pyongyang showed the logos of international brands.
01:01The brands either declined to comment or said they didn't export products to North Korea.
01:07But analysts tell Reuters that it is not about expanding access to life's little luxuries,
01:12and is instead about channeling spending through state-controlled leisure and retail networks.
01:18The personal spending boom is squeezing informal markets
01:22and unlocking new sources of revenue and growth for the nuclear-armed state.
01:27Jung Chang-yoon is a director at the Peace Economy Research Institute.
01:33I think North Korea is evolving toward a system where residents can access state commercial infrastructure
01:39close to where they live, where they can watch movies and buy a wide range of products,
01:48from daily necessities to other consumer goods.
01:51In this way, the state is naturally drawing people
01:53who used to go to private markets into the state supply system.
02:01North Korea's glow-up has ballooned, even as it faces heavy UN sanctions,
02:06including on luxury goods designed to impede Kim's weapons program.
02:12South Korean researcher Sae Pyongyang's leisure blitz is bankrolled by cryptocurrency heists,
02:18the deployment of North Korean troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine,
02:22and exports of coal and other minerals.
02:27From North Korea's perspective,
02:29the conditions are much more favorable now than they were five years ago.
02:55North Korea's embassy in Beijing didn't respond to a request for comment.
03:01China's foreign ministry said it maintained trade and cooperation with North Korea
03:06while implementing UN Security Council resolutions,
03:09adding that sanctions should not affect the country's livelihood.
03:13North Korea's economy grew 3.5% in 2025,
03:18a third consecutive year above 3%,
03:20the South Korean Central Bank said in July.
03:23And nowhere was this more obvious than on-state TV coverage of a heat wave
03:28at Wonsan Beach Resort in August.
03:31Its coastline featuring beaches, water attractions,
03:34arcades, and virtual reality rides
03:37was teeming with happy domestic tourists.
03:40Consumption appears to be buying time for now,
03:43but will it continue to buy loyalty?
03:45For next season, at least,
03:48there are ski slopes.
03:49And the coastline
Comments