On 24 June supreme leader and General Secretary of the Workers' party of Korea visited the coastal town of Wonsan Kalma on North Korea's east coast to formally open the resort that has been under construction there for over 10 years. The opening has been delayed several times due to the effects of the COVID pandemic on the workforce and the potential for visitors. The event was attended by the Russian ambassador and embassy staff as this where most overseas visitors will come from. The resort has a railway station and a former military airfield converted for civilian use.
Wonsan city is served by trolleybuses, but in 2019 work started to build an 8.5km single-track metre-gauge tramway loop serving Kalma. Infrastructure work was completed in late 2020, and single unit bogie trams, apparently modelled on the Czech EVO-1 design, were delivered by the Kim Jong Thae Locomotive Works, including some with open sides. However the effective closure of the resort area during the COVID pandemic seems to have meant the tramway never carried passengers. Work to install the overhead restarted in 2023 and was completed in 2024. It is understood the first passengers were carried on 26 June 2025.
A ceremonial first ride on a Wonsan tram. (jiachen)
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