North Korea has announced it plans to reopen to international tourism by the end of 2024 after closing the country’s borders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Tourism companies including the Beijing-based Koryo and Shenyang’s KTG Tours have announced tour groups would be allowed to visit Samjiyon and other destinations in the country as of December of this year, according to CNN.
Since closing its borders, North Korea was even hesitant to allow its own citizens living abroad to return home, which they only authorized in August of 2023, which even still required those citizens to quarantine for a week upon returning.
Koryo Tours’ official announcement also reported that the itinerary and further details would be finalized in the coming weeks. As the country slowly opens its borders once again, tourists will be able to visit the recently redeveloped mountain city of Samjiyon where the former North Korean leader Kim Jong II was born, but tourism experts predict that other cities will soon open to tourism as well.
Samjiyon is near Mount Paektu, a summit that is completed by many North Koreans as a religious pilgrimage. CNN reports the “fabled” Paektu bloodline is that which makes the ruling Kim family legitimate. The mountain city and mountain have been popular destinations for Chinese tourists, who visited frequently in the past, crossing the border to North Korea by bus. For a while, tourism was a prime source of revenue for the country in the face of international sanctions, imposed over Pyongyang’s possession of illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Prior to shutting down to protect from the spread of COVID-19, North Korea saw plenty of development of leisure facilities under Kim Jong-un, according to the BBC. When the pandemic struck, North Korea became the first country to completely lockdown, shutting its international borders. Since then, it’s been a slow comeback to allowing non-citizens to enter the country. Yahoo! News reports, about a year ago Air Koryo saw its first commercial flight in three years between Beijing and Pyongyang.
American passport holders have been barred from traveling to North Korea since 2017, following the death of Otto Warmbier who was detained while attempting to leave North Korea, and returned to the U.S. with life altering brain damage that eventually led to his death. In addition, South Korean citizens are barred from traveling to their northern neighbor.
