Is North Korea (DPRK) open for tourism?

Ben Johnson

July 8, 2024

We all know the question on everyone’s minds. When will North Korea reopen?

Frankly, no one exactly knows, but most indicators are pointing to the second half of 2024 or early 2025 , and as such, February 2025 seems like a realistic, but still optimistic start to the new era of post-COVID tourism in North Korea, which is when we’ve scheduled our first tour for at this point.

Full details of visa processes and how travel will work when it reopens are also still to come, but we will be updating you as they come through.

Tourism has already begun to resume in North Korea, however this has been very limited and has only be allowed for Russian tourists thus far.

The first group of Western people being organised to go back to North Korea was reported on by NK news in January. Our very own Ben Crowley is quoted in the article saying:

“The general feeling within the tourism industry is that with every step, the future opening is just around the corner.”

Read the full article here .

When were people first allowed to visit North Korea?

Since the 1950s, North Korea has had people coming as tourists, albeit in quite low numbers. Before the 1990s the overwhelming majority of western tourists came from the socialist bloc, from places such as the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, which probably won’t come as a huge surprise to most people.

Tourism from China during this period also rapidly increased as the spending power of Chinese citizens rose and North Korea offered a cheap travel option close to home.

Once the Cold War ended, western tourists from other nations started to visit, however tourism for westerners in the country didn’t really take off until the 2010s.

What is the situation for tourists now?

North Korea has always taken a very cautious approach to dealing with any kind of epidemic. Previously, they shut the country for months when Ebola started to rear its head in Africa. They were then by far the first country to close for COVID, back in January 2020, before most of the world had even heard of it. And as you obviously know if you’re reading this article, they are the last country left to fully open to tourists after COVID.

Currently, the country has reopened to selected groups of Russian citizens and businesspeople. However, for everyone else, the country remains closed.

What is tourism like in North Korea?

North Korea is a unique destination which requires everyone that visits to be on a tour – it can be either in a group or solo, but you must be on a guided tour . This can be an experience in itself as not many countries around the world still require this.

While on tour, you will see the highlights of the country, usually including grand monuments, amazing natural scenery, friendly people and quite often some sort of performance for one of their many national days, which are a great way to really get a feel for the country.

Previously tourism in North Korea was quite limited to Pyongyang and the DMZ, but over the years different parts of the country have opened to foreigners, such as the East and West coast, Mt Kumgang and even up to Hamhung and the Rason Special Economic Zone. Exploring more remote areas of the country provide a unique insight to life outside the bustling capital of Pyongyang.

How many people visit each year?

Prior to COVID, North Korea received roughly 130,000 foreign tourists. This may seem quite high, but of that number, only about 5,000 were western tourists . Chinese tourism and Western tourism in North Korea are conducted quite differently. Usually, Chinese groups will come for very quick trips, with some only lasting a day from the border town of Dandong. Western tourists tend to stay longer and see much more of the country.

When it reopens who will be allowed?

At the moment, we have no indication that tourism will be different to how it was before COVID. Based on that, the only people not allowed to currently visit North Korea are South Korean citizens (a ban put in place by North Korea) and United States citizens (a ban put in place by the US government).

The US travel ban is up for renewal on 31 ^st August 2024. We anticipate that with the current US-DPRK relations that the travel ban will be reinstated for another year, but it is possible that it could be lifted. This means that if you have only have a US passport, you will not be allowed to travel to North Korea.

Our tours

Currently we have three tours schedules for 2025. We’ve chosen February 2025 as a starting point, because this a timeframe that feels realistic, however if the borders were suddenly opened tomorrow, we’d be getting there before February! The tours we’ve scheduled so far will take place during some of the biggest celebratory days of the year, which isn’t an accident of course! But we will also be looking to add more tours, once the country has opened and everything can be confirmed.

To see what we are offering please visit the North Korea (DPRK) section of our website .