North Korea will open its border to foreign tourists for the first time in five years

Kim Jong Uns hermit kingdom will lower its drawbridge again.

North Korea will allow visitors to enter at least part of the country starting in December after the reclusive country closed its doors to the outside world for nearly five years due to strict COVID-19 restrictions.

Tourism in the northeastern city of Samjiyon and possibly the rest of the country will resume by the end of this year, tour companies revealed this week.

After waiting for more than 4 years to make this announcement, Koryo Tours is very excited to open North Korea tourism once again, the Beijing-based company said on its website.

Another travel agency, KTG Tours, also announced this week that tourists can visit Samjiyo this winter.

“The exact dates will be confirmed,” the company wrote on Facebook. “So far only Samjiyon has been officially confirmed, but we think Pyongyang and other places will open as well!!!”

North Korean leaders have built what they claim is a socialist utopia” in Samjiyon, a city near the Chinese border. The area is supposed to be a model of a highly civilized mountain town that has new apartments, hotels, ski resorts and other institutions, such as medical and cultural.

Passengers stand in front of an Air Koryo plane at Pyongyang Airport on April 17, 2017 — Koryo Tours released a statement saying tourism in the city of Samjiyon, near the China-North Korea border, and potentially the rest of the country will resume, citing confirmation from its local partner. AFP via Getty Images

Pedestrians cross the Arc de Triomphe in Pyongyang on August 15, 2024, as North Korea marks its 79th National Liberation Day, commemorating the end of Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II — Last updated in March, it says North Korea’s borders remain effectively closed to Australians and most other nationalities, adding that tours to North Korea have been suspended until further notice. AFP via Getty Images

While international flights in and out of the hermit kingdom led by despotic dictator Kim Jong Un resumed last year and a small group of Russian tourists took a private tour in February, the Asian nation’s borders have been closed since 2020.

Open borders still exclude US citizens.

According to the State Department, all US passports are invalid for travel into, out of, or through North Korea unless special permission is granted by the Secretary of State.

The US agency warns that Americans face a serious risk of arrest and long-term detention in North Korea.

Former President Donald Trump shook hands with Kim during a historic meeting in 2019 at the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea.

By postal wire

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