North Korea for the first time in many years opened doors for a group of foreign travelers

The tourist company Koryo Tours from Beijing organized a five -day trip from February 20 to 24 for 13 foreign tourists to the Rason border city in North Korea. Travelers from Great Britain, Canada, Greece, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria, Australia and Italy entered the country across the land border with China.

This is the first group of tourists to visit North Korea over the past five years, not counting travelers from Russia to whom the entrance to the country has been opened since the beginning of 2024. According to the official data of the Russian Federation, in 2024 the DPRK visited approximately 880 Russian citizens. Chinese group tours to North Korea are still suspended.

With the beginning of Pandemia, North Korea closed the borders for tourists, brought out diplomats and significantly limited the border movement, introducing some of the most stringent measures to combat Covid-19 in the world. Experts believe that permission to enter the country of travelers from abroad may indicate that North Korea is being prepared for the complete restoration of international tourism in order to attract the necessary foreign currency to maintain their economy. It is assumed that in June North Korea will open a large tourist facility Vonsan-Kalma on the east coast about 160 kilometers from Pyongyang.