North Korea, however, is in the midst of an unlikely reinvention, with officials attempting to rebrand the state as a surfer’s paradise.

An official eight-day surf tour is underway in North Korea in a bid to evaluate the regime’s potential as an international surfing hotspot

An official eight-day surf tour began this week, with 20 serious surfers, guided by the Italian champion Nicola Zanella, invited by the regime’s leader Kim Jong-un to evaluate its eastern coastline.

The surf group – with members from the US, Italy, China and Germany – will study the country’s coastline in detail, exploring the quality of the beaches, seabeds and waves, as well as examining access, evacuation routes and weather patterns.

The visit – organised by the US travel operators Uri Travel in conjunction with the North Korean tourist board – is being masterminded in order to help develop the region’s potential as a serious surfing destination.

The tour is expected to include a visit to the capital Pyongyang, where according to official protocol, the surfers will pay their respects at monuments to past leaders before heading to surf on the eastern coast.

While small surf groups have recently started to visit North Korea, this is reportedly the first time that the country’s status as a future surf hotspot is being officially evaluated.

The mission to establish North Korea’s surf credentials is the latest move by the leader Kim Jong-un who is pulling out all the stops to boost tourism in the isolated state.

The regime’s tourism-push is reportedly aiming to increase the annual number of overseas visitors from 100,000 to over a million in the next two years.

North Korea’s first luxury ski resort Masikryong opened in Kangwon Province last year after only ten months of construction, complete with a hotel, ice rink, heliport, swimming pool and restaurants.

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