100 Russian Tourists Arrive in North Korea as 'Hermit Kingdom' Opens Its Gates to Foreigners

North Korea has finally opened up its doors for tourism, as the first Russian tour group arrived in the country since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Knewz.com has learned that the group comprising 100 Russian tourists landed at the Pyongyang International Airport on Friday, February 9.

North Korea opened its borders in August 2023. By: MEGA

North Korea is seeing the first group of foreign tourists to visit the country since the borders of North Korea were reopened in August 2023.

According to Al Jazeera, the 97-member group included people in the tourism business and “travelers from literally all parts of Russia from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.”

“We will look forward to new encounters with tourists from Russia!” the embassy added, according to the news agency. The tourist group includes teen ski athletes from Russia as well.

Citing a post from Russian provincial authorities and a Western tour guide, Reuters,and%20a%20Western%20tour%20guide.) reported that the trip was a result of a visit by the governor for Russia’s far-eastern region of Primorsky Krai, which borders North Korea, in December.

It seems development of tourism in North Korea is on the agenda for Kim Jong-un. By: MEGA

It’s a landmark move for North Korea, which imposed some of the strictest COVID-19 sanctions when the pandemic began. According to Reuters, an online itinerary says the trip will last for four days, including stops at Pyongyang and a ski resort.

Simon Cockerell, general manager at Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which is not involved in the trip, told the outlet that his partners in North Korea confirmed the trip is taking place.

“It is a good sign, but I would hesitate to say it necessarily will lead to a broader opening due to the special circumstances for this one trip… But given that no tourists have been for four-plus years, any tourism trip can be viewed as a positive step forward,” he said, per Reuters.

The official DPR Korea Tour website has recently uploaded promotional pictures of various tourist attractions in the nation. By: DPRK Tourism website

According to Al Jazeera, North Korea has been making serious efforts in promoting tourism. The news agency reported that the official DPR Korea Tour website has recently uploaded promotional pictures of various tourist attractions in the nation, such as the Taedong River and the snow-covered Mount Paektu.

It seems the development of tourism in North Korea is on the agenda for Kim Jong-un once again, as the nation battles economic crises and extreme food shortages. The North Korean dictator may be eyeing tourism as a means to develop the economy of the isolated nation.

While discussing regional development during a speech at the 19th Enlarged Meeting of the Political Bureau of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim Jong-un stated that the inability to provide food and basic necessities to the people of his nation is a “serious political issue” and called for “a swift change to raise the living standards of people” in his country.

The snow-covered Mount Paektu. By: DPRK Tourism website

However, foreign tourism in North Korea has seldom fared well, as Al Jazeera pointed out an unfortunate incident from 2008 when a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.

“Pyongyang and Seoul once also cooperated on the Mount Kumgang complex which thousands of South Korean tourists visited. But that came to an abrupt end in 2008 after a North Korean soldier shot dead a tourist from the South who strayed off an approved path, and Seoul suspended travel,” the news agency wrote.

Before Washington, D.C. banned traveling to North Korea following the imprisonment and subsequent death of American student Otto Warmbier, the United States made up about 20% of foreign tourists visiting the nation.