North Korea is a bucket list location for a whole lot of people who want to visit every country in the world (their longing to go undoubtedly increased after seeing that video tour of the Hotel Koryo, in Pyongyang). And now, after nearly 5 years, some of them will be able to.
Opening to tourists
It’s been announced this coming December that North Korea plans to allow tourists again. Well, to at least part of the country, anyway. It will be the first time the secluded country will have allowed visitors (save for a small group of Russian tourists who got a private tour this past February. Oh, and Vladimir Putin this past June) since they effectively closed their doors to everyone when the pandemic hit in 2020.
Showing off their “socialist utopia”
Even before the pandemic, North Korea had been busy building what it called a “socialist utopia” in Samjiyon, a city in northeastern North Korea. According to The Washington Post in December 2019, North Korean propaganda claims the town is a “model of a highly civilized mountain city,” complete with apartments, hotels, ski resorts, etc.
Anyway, Koryo Tours and KTG Tours have both announced that they will host group tours of Samjiyon.
“Having waited for over 4 years to make this announcement, Koryo Tours is very excited for the opening of North Korean tourism once again,” the Beijing-based company said on its website.
“Exact dates to be confirmed,” KTG Tours wrote on Facebook. “So far just Samjiyon has been officially confirmed but we think that Pyongyang and other places will open too!!!”
My fellow Americans, don’t pack your bags yet
Koryo Tours told the BBC that North Korean authorities were allowing tourists from any country to join the trips, except for South Korea. But before anyone from the U.S. starts making plans, don’t get too excited. The United States bans its citizens from traveling to North Korea, unless they have special permission by the Secretary of State (as per the State Department).
Meanwhile, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un fired or demoted some senior officials this past July, for their “irresponsible” handling of his flagship Samjiyon project. So it’s not surprising that some analysts aren’t so certain any of this will actually happen, in part because the city isn’t actually yet complete.
“I will believe it when I see it,” Chad O’Carroll, CEO of US-based analysis firm Korea Risk Group, told the BBC. “For now, I am quite skeptical we will see any real movement in December.
“If it does get completed in time, I can imagine only Russian tourists and possibly Chinese visiting in any real numbers at first,” O’Carroll said. “Unless [the Democratic Republic of Korea] offers direct Samjiyon flights to a neutral connection country like Mongolia.”
It’ll be…interesting?…to see what happens of all this.
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