North Korea to reopen border to international tourists for first time in five years

An Air Koryo commercial plane on the tarmac at the Beijing Capital International Airport in 2023. Credit: AP

North Korea is planning to reopen its borders to international tourism by the end of 2024, five years after it sealed its borders during the Covid pandemic.

Two tour operators based in China have made separate online announcements saying tour groups would be allowed to visit Samjiyon, birthplace of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Beijing-based Koryo tours said: “We have received confirmation from our local partner that tourism to Samjiyon and likely the rest of the country will officially resume in December 2024."

KTG Tours, based in Shenyang, also confirmed in a Facebook post exact dates for the tours were still not clear.

“So far just Samjiyon has been mentioned but we think that PY [Pyongyang] and other places will open too,” the statement read.

Samjiyon is a mountainous city close to the Chinese border, close to the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, Mount Paektu.

The mountain has significant cultural importance, with visiting its summit considered similar to religious pilgrimage for North Koreans.

South Korea’s former president Moon Jae-in and then first lady Kim Jung-sook visited the top of the mountain with Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju in 2018, underlining the site's significance.

A North Korean man pushes his bicycle past a monument to late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung at the Samjiyon Great Monument Credit: AP

Samjiyon was once a popular destination for Chinese tourists, who arrived in busloads prior to Covid.

Tourism was an important source of revenue for North Korea amid international sanctions over the country's nuclear missile programs.

Authorities have not yet made any reopening announcements, but North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has previously said visitors from "friendly" nations would be prioritised, including Russia and China.

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Small groups of Russian tourists were welcomed into North Korea in early 2024 amid Kim's deepening partnership with Putin, despite borders being closed to tourists more widely.

Around 100 were allowed to enter, travelling via a North Korean-owned Air Koryo plane from Vladivostok.

Hints of a border reopening came after Kim Jong Un visited a new beach resort under development on the country's east coast.

He announced it would open in May 2025 after construction was delayed by the Covid pandemic and United Nations sanctions.

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