North Korea is trying to lure tourists to its newly-built ‘socialist utopia’

The reclusive country will reopen to international visitors this winter, five years on from its Covid closure

North Korea will reopen to international tourists this December, nearly five years after closing its borders at the outset of the Covid pandemic. The Beijing-based tour operator Koryo Tours will be among the first to send travellers to the reclusive country.
“We have received confirmation from our local partner that tourism to Samjiyon and potentially the rest of the country will officially resume in December 2024,” the tour company said on its website, adding that the official itinerary and dates would be announced soon.
Another tour operator called KTG Tours, based in Shenyang, China, posted on Facebook: “We have just been told that tourists will be able to go to Samjiyon (Mount Paektu area) this winter. Exact dates to be confirmed. So far just Samjiyon has been officially confirmed but we think that Pyongyang and other places will open too.”
In January 2020, North Korea became the first country in the world to shut its borders in response to the pandemic. While the rest of the world reopened to international tourism – some countries sooner than others – North Korea has remained largely closed to the world.
Limited international flights did resume last year, but primarily for travelling diplomats, and in February 2024 a Russian group was welcomed into the country on a one-off tour, with an itinerary including visits to Pyongyang and the Masikryong ski resort.
The focus of North Korea’s proper reopening this winter, Samjiyon, is a new tourist destination just 10 miles from the Chinese border. The city is close to Mount Paektu, the tallest mountain in North Korea, which has cultural significance for both North and South Koreans, featuring in the national anthems of both countries.
According to North Korean propaganda, Mount Paektu is where North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung, fought Japanese occupation forces and launched the revolution. It is also said that Paektu is where current leader Kim Jong-un’s father, Kim Jong-il, was born, although most historians say he was actually born in Russia.
The redevelopment of Samjiyon is one of the biggest economic initiatives overseen by Kim Jong-un, and includes new apartments, hotels and a ski resort, with space to accommodate 4,000 families. According to the Korean Central News Agency, Kim described the city as “an oasis of our people and the world [which will] make tourism a major driving force of regional development”.
He has also described it as a “socialist utopia” and North Korean state media has labelled it the “epitome of modern civilisation”. However, construction of Samjiyon has been hampered by a shortage of materials and labour, and human rights groups say that youth labour brigades were drafted in under poor conditions to help complete the project.
Simon Cockerell of Koryo Tours has suggested that access to Samjiyon will likely be via a land crossing in the north of China not previously used by Western tourists. However, Chad O’Carroll, the chief executive of US-based analysis firm Korea Risk Group, told the BBC that he has doubts around the reopening plans given that the Samjiyon redevelopment is not yet fully finished.
“If it does get completed in time, I can imagine only Russian tourists and possibly Chinese visiting in any real numbers at first,” he said. “Unless [the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] offers direct Samjiyon flights to a neutral connection country like Mongolia, I will believe it when I see it. For now, I am quite sceptical we will see any real movement in December.”
Some British tour operators are keeping a close eye on developments. Andrea Godfrey, head of Regent Travel, says: “We believe that travel is a force for good, and that it broadens the minds of both visitors and locals alike. That said, every destination and situation needs careful assessment, and whilst we would like to go back into North Korea at some stage, we have always been clear that this would depend on the circumstances. We don’t feel the time is right, but we’ll keep a close eye on it and certainly hope that the time comes when we can responsibly feature it again.”
Along with the city of Samjiyon, North Korea is developing a tourist area around Wonsan-Kalma international airport on the country’s east coast. The resort will be home to a reported 10,000 new hotel rooms when it is completed next May. There have also been new buildings for the service and tourism industries popping up in Pyongyang – “all indicators that something is brewing”, suggests Carl Meadows of Regent Travel.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) currently warns against all but essential travel to North Korea. It says that North Korean authorities have reportedly detained some foreign nationals and denied them access to consular support.
“The security situation can change quickly with no advance warning about possible actions by the authorities. This poses significant risks to British visitors and residents,” the FCDO advises. The US has even stronger travel warnings against visiting North Korea – any visit must be specially authorised by the Department of State.
The United Nations condemns North Korea’s human rights record, while Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International highlight the lack of free speech in the country and prisoner camps for those found guilty of political crimes. It is reported that between 80,000 and 200,000 prisoners are subjected to forced labour, physical abuse and possible execution.

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