North Korea to reopen border town to tourists after 5 years

Tourists will soon be able to travel to North Korea again.

The Hermit Kingdom will soon reopen a city to foreign tourists after nearly five years of border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to two tour operators in China. Visitors will be allowed to travel to the northern mountain town of Samjiyon starting in December, CBS News partner BBC News reported.

North Korea cut itself off from the world at the start of the pandemic in early 2020 and began easing its restrictions in mid-2023.

“So far only Samjiyon has been officially confirmed, but we believe Pyongyang and other places will open!!!” Shenyang’s KTG Tours wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

In a later post giving more details, KTG Tours said the borders will be open this winter, “probably in December,” but exact dates have not been confirmed. It also said there was no official confirmation for other North Korean cities.

“After waiting over four years to make this announcement, Koryo Tours is very excited about the opening of North Korean tourism,” the company said on its website.

Koryo Tours told the BBC that North Korean officials have allowed tourists from any country except South Korea to join the tours they offer. The United States bans its citizens from traveling to North Korea.

International flights to and from North Korea resumed last year and a small group of Russian tourists flew to North Korea for a private tour in February, Reuters reported. Senior foreign officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, have also visited the country amid warming ties between the two nations.

North Korea is said to be building what it has called a “socialist utopia” in Samjiyon, a city near the border with China, which will include a “highly civilized model mountain city” with new apartments, hotels, a resort skiing and commercial, cultural and medical facilities, Reuters reported.

In July, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fired or demoted some senior officials for what he called “irresponsible” handling of his flagship project, state media KCNA reported at the time. Kim said the irresponsibility of senior officials had caused serious irregularities, including poor construction work and financial losses, Reuters reported.

Chad O’Carroll, CEO of US-based analyst firm Korea Risk Group, told the BBC this week there were doubts about the reopening announcement.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said. “For now, I’m pretty skeptical that we’ll see any real movement in December.”