North Korea to open borders for tourism for the first time after pandemic.

North Korea to open borders for tourists after a five-year hiatus

After nearly five years of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, North Korea has decided to open its borders to tourists from abroad. Bloomberg reports.

According to the report, two leading tour operators specializing in foreign travel received notification from their partners in North Korea about the resumption of tourist trips. This is planned to be done from December 2024.

Initially, tours will be organized in the city of Samjiyon, located near the border with China. Later, tour may be available throughout the country, according to Koryo Tours representatives.

KTG Tours also announced that visitors will have the opportunity to travel to Samjiyon in winter.

Important note: "Kim Jong Un's regime began to relax border restrictions almost a year ago, but did not open borders for tourist groups. Tourists brought in funds that helped the country conduct transactions abroad, although it remained cut off from international banking services."

The North Korean authorities are already closely monitoring foreign tourists, who usually can only stay in special hotels for foreigners and have limited ability to move around the country.

Earlier this year, North Korea allowed a small number of tourists from Russia to enter its territory.

It is also worth mentioning that Russia invited a delegation from North Korea to the international military-technical forum "Army-2024", which was attended by leading developers of ballistic missiles of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. However, Kim Chon Sik, the chief developer, was prohibited from entering the territory of UN member countries, including Russia.