North Korea is banning the entry of foreign tourists to a recently opened mega beach resort, a move that dims prospects for the complex that leader Kim Jong Un hailed it as “one of the greatest successes this year.

The decision is an about-face to the beach club's declared goal of attracting overseas visitors and helping initiate a tourist industry in the totalitarian, hermetic country.

Just weeks after opening a massive new beach resort, North Korea has temporarily suspended foreign tourism to the self-proclaimed "world-class" facility.