Travel in city Vladivostok

An upcoming Russian tourist trip to North Korea is the first such inbound visit by vacationers there in four years. When people think of that country under the strict dictatorship of Kim Jong Un, they don’t think of tourism. So many will have questions about what kind of travel is possible.

North Korea plans to open its much-talked about Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone within the next 12 months. The tourist site is set for an inauguration on May 2025, state media reported on Thursday.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Yuri Frolov, 25, who in 2015 and 2016 attended North Korea's Songdowon International Children's Camp, where some Russian children will be sent this summer. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

About 100 Russians flew to North Korea on Friday for a private tour, becoming the first foreign group to visit the reclusive state following the Covid-19 pandemic in a landmark trip summed up by the Russian embassy as “Pyongyang opens its door.”

Among the last countries to resume tourism activities post-pandemic, North Korea is set to welcome its first international tourists in February, marking the end of its border closure since January 22, 2020. And tourists, especially in Russia, are taking note.

Russian tourists could be the first international travellers to visit North Korea since the country's borders closed in January 2020 amid the global COVD-19 lockdown.

North Korea will welcome its first foreign tourists since closing its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to news reports, a hint the isolated nation may be considering a revival of its small tourism industry amid growing tensions on the international stage.

Even after seven unbroken days on a train from Moscow, nothing can prepare you for the Chinese border. As you pull into the platform, which is lit up in neon colours, a Chinese-tinged version of the Vienna Waltz comes blaring over the Tannoy. Trying to work out the cultural relevance of this is a hopeless task, as the tune soon changes – moving through the works of Richard Clayderman before finishing as you draw away with a stirring rendition of Beethoven’s Fifth. As the music fades, the train rolls into a vast shed manned with soldiers and workers in hard hats. Each carriage is then separated and raised on hydraulics, the wheels removed and new narrower ones rolled into place to match the Chinese gauges – the whole process lasting almost two hours. All while the passengers are still on board.