COFFEE bars. Waterparks. Retail therapy. North Korea – a country few would associate with leisure or pleasure – is experiencing an unlikely outbreak of fun.
Leader Kim Jong-un, himself no stranger to indulgence, is orchestrating new ways for citizens to spend their wealth.
Chinese customs data tells the story: North Korea’s imports of massage equipment have surged 40-fold over the past decade. Treadmill shipments jumped more than 600%. Pianos and even bumper cars are pouring in, too.
The consumption drive extends to luxury malls, beach resorts and ski destinations, according to a Reuters review of trade statistics and state media reports, as well as interviews with visitors and defectors.
It’s not just about expanding access to life’s little luxuries, analysts say.
By channelling personal spending through state-controlled leisure and retail networks, Kim strengthens government control of commerce, squeezes informal markets and unlocks new sources of revenue and growth.
The strategy draws “the production, distribution and capital flows concentrated in the markets into an official economic space managed by the state”, said Kang Seong-hyeon, a research fellow at Hyundai Research Institute.
The avenues for consumption have proliferated even as North Korea faces heavy UN sanctions, including on luxury goods, energy and mineral trade, designed to impede Kim’s weapons programme.
North Korea’s economy grew by 3.5% in 2025, its third consecutive year above 3%, the South Korean central bank said in July.
The glow-up has attracted outside attention.
After visiting Pyongyang in May, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan called the capital’s progress “remarkable”, saying it resembled “any modern city” in East Asia.
Residents drink cappuccinos and browse home appliances at the Rangnang Aeguk Kumgang Service Complex, a luxury mall that opened last year, according to verified social media videos.
A hard-earned thirst can be quenched at the Hwasong Taedonggang Beer Restaurant, a two-year-old drinking den celebrated in state media.
In April, Kim toured a new pet shop with his daughter Ju-ae, who was drawn to the kittens and puppies.
Pyongyang’s leisure blitz is bankrolled by revenue streams including cryptocurrency heists, the deployment of North Korean troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine, and exports of coal and other minerals, according to South Korean researchers.
The Seoul-based Institute for National Security Strategy estimates North Korea earned up to US$14.4bil from its involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war between August 2023 and December 2025.
US officials and cybersecurity experts have repeatedly tied crypto theft to North Korean state-sponsored hackers.
But accumulated wealth creates a problem.
“A middle class of roughly eight million people with savings and nowhere to spend them,” said Ruediger Frank, a professor of East Asian economy and society at the University of Vienna.
Consumption is Kim’s answer, Frank said: it reduces frustration, channels money away from bidding up prices of essentials such as rice and generates growth through domestic demand.
Parks and recreation
Mentions of tourism, leisure and cultural life in North Korean state media have increased since 2022 as attractions have opened or been refurbished, a review of more than 1,200 articles found.
These include the Wonsan Kalma beach resort, which launched in summer 2025; five luxury hotels that opened in December in Samjiyon, near the Chinese border; a ski resort under construction nearby; and a waterpark and equestrian club in the northeast.
State TV coverage of a heatwave in August showed the Wonsan beach resort packed with domestic visitors.
“One local contact even told me that when taking his family there, several members had to share a twin room because everything else had already been booked,” said Rowan Beard, co-founder of travel operator Young Pioneer Tours.
Kim is also building leisure complexes containing libraries, restaurants and cinemas across the country, with at least two dozen completed or under construction, according to state media.
But the most lavish additions are in Pyongyang. State media has described a new housing district containing a gaming arcade, car dealership and a barbecue restaurant serving salmon belly and foie gras burgers.
Buying time
The range of goods available in North Korea has also expanded.
At Ryugyong Golden Plaza, which opened in 2023, shops display logos of watchmakers including Rolex, Omega and Herbelin, while an electronics store features Huawei branding, according to social media footage.
Omega and Herbelin said they have no official retailers or distributors in North Korea.
North Koreans also shop online using mobile apps resembling China’s Alipay, according to images published by Beard and NKTechLab, an analysis project of the US-based Stimson Centre think tank.
Trade statistics show the leisure drive encompasses both personal goods and state-led infrastructure.
Chinese customs data reveal surging shipments of pianos, watches and amusement equipment, including merry-go-rounds, rollercoasters and waterslides.
After the 1990s famine, semi-legal markets flourished as the state could not supply residents.
Attempts to close them failed because the government lacked the distribution infrastructure to replace them, according to Jung Chang-hyun, director of the Peace Economy Research Institute in Seoul.
Now, he said, Kim’s consumption gambit serves that purpose: building state commercial infrastructure that can compete with and eventually undermine private markets.
Payment and delivery apps also enable official scrutiny of private spending, analysts say.
In 2023, Pyongyang passed a law requiring every bank and store to accept electronic payments.
However, not everyone benefits from the consumption boom.
Yang Il-cheol, who worked as a driver in Pyongyang before defecting to South Korea last year, said people like him had little access to the new restaurants and leisure facilities.
Frank said Kim’s campaign to boost domestic spending appeared to be paying off – for now.
“Consumption buys time,” he said. “It does not buy loyalty forever.” — Reuters
