New Delhi, July 6 -- North Koreans swam, rode water park slides and enjoyed other water activities at a newly opened mammoth beach resort, state media reported Wednesday, as the country largely maintains a ban on the entry of foreign tourists.

The Wonsan-Kalma eastern coastal tourist zone, which North Korea says can accommodate nearly 20,000 people, is at the heart of leader Kim Jong Un's push to boost tourism as a way to improve his country's struggling economy. But prospects for the resort, the biggest tourist complex in North Korea, aren't clear, as the country won't likely fully reopen its borders and embrace Western tourists anytime soon, observers say.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported the Wonsan-Kalma area began se...