North Korea to reopen for international visitors, tour operators say

North Korea will resume international tourism this winter, ending a COVID-era ban on travelers, according to operators that organize trips to the country.

Travel companies KTG and Koryo Tours, which organize trips to North Korea, said on Wednesday that their partners in the country had informed them about government plans to allow travel to some locations. 

According to the companies, trips to the North Korean city of Samjiyon will be permitted by December, while other areas of the country could also be potentially opened up for travel.

“Having waited for over 4 years to make this announcement, Koryo Tours is very excited for the opening of North Korean tourism once again,” Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based tour operator, said in a statement on its website.

North Korea has largely been closed to foreign tourists since 2020, though some international flights in and out of the country resumed last year. A small Russian group reportedly visited North Korea in February. 

The country has been preparing for a wider reopening for some time now. 

According to Koryo Tours, North Korea has been working for years to develop and build tourism facilities in Samjiyon, a mountain city near the Chinese border. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who visited the city last month, has praised it as “a model of highly-civilised mountain city,” with new hotels, attractions, and a ski resort, according to North Korean state media. 

Another major tourism site is being constructed on the country’s eastern coast. 

The efforts could help North Korea with its economic recovery from the devastating impacts of the global pandemic. 

According to Koryo Tours’ website, introductory tours to North Korea typically range between 600 euros and 1,500 euros per person, depending on factors such as the point of departure, duration, group size, and lodging. 

The only nationalities restricted from travel to North Korea as tourists are citizens of the Republic of Korea.

The U.S. government, meanwhile, has a strong advisory against travel to the country. “U.S. passports are not valid for travel to, in, or through North Korea, unless they are specially validated by the Department of State.”

It is likely that an opening of Samjiyon is aimed at attracting Chinese travelers, who constituted the majority of international tourists visiting North Korea before the pandemic.

In 2019, a record 350,000 Chinese tourists visited North Korea, providing a huge revenue stream for Pyongyang, according to NK News, an U.S. website that provides analyses of the country.