North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) cuts a ribbon at the ceremony celebrating the completion of the Yangdok spa resort in the North's South Pyongan Province, December 9, 2019. (Photo: Yonhap)

Kim has visited the spa resort four times this year, apparently highlighting his strong determination to build a competitive tourism industry as part of self-reliance efforts in the face of crippling global sanctions. Mr. Kim ordered the construction of the spa resort when he visited the site in November of last year.

The Yangdok hot-spring resort is one of North Korea’s key economic projects, together with a just completed mountain resort in the town of Samjiyon and a summer tourist complex in the town of Wonsan.