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North Korea goes Club Med: Visit the Majon Bathing Resort

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) on Nov 24th 2010 at 9:30AM

majon north korea

Are you tired of the French Riviera? Bored with St. Barths? Well, if you're looking for a new sand-filled destination, you aren't stuck with the likes of Iraq. Make your next beach resort getaway Majon. Yes, that's right: the Majon Bathing Resort in North Korea. Fortunately, you'll be on the side of the DMZ that lobbed artillery shells yesterday, and if there's a retaliation, you probably won't be alive long enough to notice anyway.

Offered by the Korea International Travel Company, Majon is "The Resort in the Suburbs of Hamhung, an Industrial City," according to the official brochure. I don't know about you, but I've already packed my Speedo and sunscreen!

This summer destination has a "sandy beach [that] spreads over 1,200 m. The width is 50 m." Sticklers for accuracy are probably getting excited already. And if your obsessive behavior stretches further, you'll be happy to know, "You can enjoy sea-bathing in safety." On the resort, you'll find 4,000 trees and "41 kinds of beautiful flowers decorat[ing] the gardens."

Is this really the same North Korea that routinely wishes the west to drown in a "sea of fire"? Majon sounds downright pleasant!

The resort has 20 "lodgings" – three first class, six second class and 11 third class, ensuring that the proletariat can gain access, too (chuckle). And, they're pimped out nicely:

Every lodgings has single and double rooms, drawing rooms, studies, a restaurant and bathrooms. Every room is equipped with an air conditioner, a fridge, a TV set, etc.

The insanity continues in the original brochure.

Unfortunately, it still isn't easy to get to Majon, or any other place in North Korea. NK News reports:

Today, visitors to the DPRK must be accompanied by guides of the state run Korea International Travel Company (KITC), at all times. Trips must be planned weeks in advance, with detailed itineraries that oblige patrons to keep on the move as much as possible. Freedom of movement and personal time is highly limited, helping reduce the risk that overly inquisitive visitors might cause problems. Quite who the intended audience of the Majon Beach brochure is, or perhaps more accurately, was, is thus, unclear.

Perhaps the brochure is an appeal to those living in the past. NK News notes the "distinctly 1980s hue" and references to the "German Mark." So, if you never got around to cashing in that dated currency, you still have a place to use it!

Filed under: Asia, North Korea, Luxury Travel