On a recent trip to Indonesia, I was seated next to Kalani Jabour, (Kiron’s brother). Kalani has his own freesurfing gig and told me about a trip to Nth Korea he’d been invited on by the Nth Korean tourism board. Kalani had footage on his lap-top, which featured him riding fun waves behind Korea’s iron curtain, but suggested his movements were highly restricted. According to Kalani he could see much better waves just up the coast from where he surfed, but was denied access by a team of chaperones who had been given very strict instructions.
Now it seems that Nth Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un, has taken a fancy to beach culture and wants to encourage tourism. Desperate to see foreign currency flowing into his embattled nation, the Nth Korean dictator is reportedly investing billions in a seaside resort town. And it could have surf.
Wonsan is 180 km from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and close enough to the Sth Korean border to make it relatively accessible for tourists. For Kim it was a childhood playground, but know he’s eager to open it up to the world. That’s right – condos, skyscrapers, bikinis and beach umbrellas in one of the most repressive authoritarian settings on the planet.
According to news reports, Kim visited Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone, ordering the completion of the project by April 15 next year.
A thorough search of google earth imagery by Guy Hastings from guyssurfarimaps.com suggests that Wonsan may also be holding some quality, right hand points. However, before you race to figure out how you can get a visa for Nth Korea keep in mind that the region has been dubbed the city of ‘fun and guns’ by Reuters news agency. The loaded tag is a result of the fact the region is also one of Kim’s favourite firing ranges and the site of more than 40 missile launches associated with Kim’s Nuclear Deterrent strategy.
In an ideal scenario Kim would drop the Nukes in favour of working on his cutback and surfing would be credited with saving the world from the possibility of Nuclear War. Stranger things have almost happened.
Kim, a huge basketball fan, famously befriended former NBA star, Dennis Rodman, and flew him in to Nth Korea for a bro-down. Is it possible that Kim will take a shining to a former Pro Surfer if he discovers that Wonsan has serious surf potential? Kim meets Kong (Gary Elkerton) or Kim meets Kelly. Now they would be exciting experiments in international relations.
In the meantime, keep an eye on the charts for Wonsan in North Korea.
