![North Korean leader Kim Jong Un tours dining facilities with his daughter, Ju Ae, at the opening ceremony for the Samjiyon Milyong Hotel on Dec. 20. [Photo: Yonhap]](https://images-cdn.newspic.kr/detail_image/588/2025/12/23/1240b234-4676-42f4-abdf-cd409c0747bb.jpg?area=BODY)
SEOUL, December 23 (AJP) - North Korea has completed five hotels in the country's tourist zone of Samjiyon near Mt. Paektu, state media reported on Tuesday.
According to the state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency, its leader Kim Jong-un attended an opening ceremony along with his daughter Ju-ae last Saturday, expressing "his unshakable will to turn [it]..... into an innovative and highly civilized city representing the tourism culture of the country."
Ju-ae accompanied her father, following her public appearance the day before at a factory opening in Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province. North Korean media released several photos of her in a black coat touring the hotel. Kim's wife Ri Sol-ju also appeared to attend, though she was less frequently featured in these photos.
They suggest that the hotels feature upscale rooms and amenities, including banquet halls, saunas, and an outdoor pool, in an apparent effort to highlight year-end achievements ahead of the country's key Workers' Party congress scheduled for early next year.
Separate grand opening events for the remaining four hotels were also held last weekend.
North Korea has been promoting tourism to earn hard currency amid international sanctions, focusing on developing Mt. Paektu areas along with its coastal tourist zones in Wonsan and Kalma in Kangwon Province.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said, "North Korea seems to be promoting Kim's modernization drive, which now extends beyond the capital of Pyongyang to include more remote areas like Samjiyon."
According to the state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency, its leader Kim Jong-un attended an opening ceremony along with his daughter Ju-ae last Saturday, expressing "his unshakable will to turn [it]..... into an innovative and highly civilized city representing the tourism culture of the country."
Ju-ae accompanied her father, following her public appearance the day before at a factory opening in Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province. North Korean media released several photos of her in a black coat touring the hotel. Kim's wife Ri Sol-ju also appeared to attend, though she was less frequently featured in these photos.
They suggest that the hotels feature upscale rooms and amenities, including banquet halls, saunas, and an outdoor pool, in an apparent effort to highlight year-end achievements ahead of the country's key Workers' Party congress scheduled for early next year.
Separate grand opening events for the remaining four hotels were also held last weekend.
North Korea has been promoting tourism to earn hard currency amid international sanctions, focusing on developing Mt. Paektu areas along with its coastal tourist zones in Wonsan and Kalma in Kangwon Province.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said, "North Korea seems to be promoting Kim's modernization drive, which now extends beyond the capital of Pyongyang to include more remote areas like Samjiyon."
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