Kim Jong-Un wants a Benidorm-style beach resort in North Korea

With it’s frequent missile testings and heavy-handed rules on travel, it’s fair to say North Korea isn’t exactly the most popular tourist destination.

Despite loosening travel restrictions to his self-reliant socialist state, Kim Jong-Un still only managed to attract 100,000 tourists in 2016.

But all this could be about to change, as the North Korean leader is believed to be planning to construct a beach resort inspired by the beloved beaches of sunny Spain, according to The Daily Mail.

The news comes days after the tragic death of Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old American student who died after being imprisoned by the country last year.

Twenty North Korean officials spent a month visiting the most popular parts of Spain, including Benidorm, Salou and Barcelona.

And while the touring officials were unimpressed by the culture-rich city of Barcelona, they fell in love with Benidorm’s resorts such as Costa Blanca.

A spokesperson from North Korea’s embassy in Madrid said that the visitors were amazed by the dimensions of Benidorm’s towers and holiday parks.

The spokesperson added: ”We wanted to focus on the beaches because that is what we are interested in.’

Now the heavily controversial North Korean leader is looking to bring a little bit of sun and sea to his own country, or more specifically, Wonsan, a port city in the country’s eastern coast.

This new beach resort will be ‘aimed at the domestic and international markets’.

Officials hope the resort could be ready to welcome holidaymakers by as early as mid-2018, although it more likely to be a campsite resort without the high-rise hotels which are found on the Spanish coast.

Matías Pérez Such, an organiser of the trip, told El Confidencial: ‘It’s logical that if they want to begin developing tourism, they start with campsites and not with a 55-storey hotel.’

‘But it is very positive that they want to stop being the most hermetic country in the world.’

..metrouk