(Adnkronos) – Koryo Tours, a British tour operator based in Beijing but specializing in tourism to North Korea, has announced the opening of bookings for a trip to the border city of Rason, to celebrate the birthday of former leader Kim Jong Il, offering foreign tourists the first opportunity to visit the country since 2020, when North Korea closed its borders due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Koryo Tours announced that the February tour to Rason will be “the first trip to North Korea since the border closure in January 2020”. The trip includes a visit to the Rason special economic zone, along with celebrations for Kim Jong Il’s birthday, which falls on February 16, one of the country’s most important holidays, usually celebrated with military parades and other public ceremonies. The excursions also include visits to factories, schools and a bank, where tourists can open a North Korean bank account. However, Koryo pointed out that the tour “is not yet confirmed”, pending news from the Chinese authorities regarding the opening of the Chinese side of the border. The tours will depart from China, with participants being accompanied to the border with North Korea.
Rason is a special economic zone in North Korea, established in 1991, and is known for being a laboratory for new economic policies. Before the pandemic, tourism in North Korea was limited, with around 5,000 Western tourists visiting each year. Travel is prohibited for US citizens following the imprisonment and death of young Otto Warmbier in 2017. After closing its borders in 2020 to stop the spread of Covid-19, North Korea has only reopened the border for a few official delegations and trade, also allowing Russian tourists to enter in 2024.
Chinese tourists, who before the pandemic made up the vast majority of foreign visitors, have not yet returned. Analysts suspect that this may be linked to Beijing’s growing discontent over strengthening ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, particularly for the military support given to Russia in the war in Ukraine. Although China publicly maintains good relations with North Korea, it appears to be putting subtle pressure on it, limiting tourism and applying economic measures to express its disappointment.
