North Korea reportedly to reopen border city to tourists after 5 years

Tourists will soon be able to travel once more to North Korea.

According to two Chinese-based tour operators, the Hermit Kingdom will soon reopen one city to foreign tourists after nearly five years of border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Visitors will be allowed to travel to the northern mountainous city of Samjiyon starting in December, CBS News partner BBC News reported.

North Korea sealed itself off from the world at the start of the pandemic in early 2020 and began scaling back its restrictions in the middle of 2023.

“So far just Samjiyon has been officially confirmed but we think that Pyongyang and other places will open too!!!” Shenyang’s KTG Tours wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

In a subsequent post outlining more details, KTG Tours said the borders are set to open this winter, “presumably December,” but the exact dates have not been confirmed. It also said there has been no official confirmation for other cities across North Korea.

“Having waited for over four years to make this announcement, Koryo Tours is very excited for the opening of North Korean tourism once again,” that company said on its website.

Koryo Tours told the BBC that North Korean officials have allowed tourists from any country except South Korea to join the trips they offer. The United States bans its citizens from traveling to North Korea.

International flights in and out of North Korea resumed last year and a small group of Russian tourists flew to North Korea for a private tour in February, Reuters reported. Top foreign officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, have also been visiting the country amid warming ties between the two nations.

North Korea is said to be building what it called a “socialist utopia” in Samjiyon, a city near the Chinese border, that will include “a model of highly-civilized mountain city” with new apartments, hotels, a ski resort and commercial, cultural and medical facilities, Reuters reported.

In July, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sacked or demoted some senior officials for their so-called “irresponsible” handling of his flagship project, state media KCNA reported at the time. Kim said senior officials’ irresponsibility caused serious deviations, including poor construction work and financial losses, Reuters reported.

Chad O’Carroll, CEO of the U.S.-based analysis firm Korea Risk Group, told the BBC this week that there are doubts about the reopening announcement.

“I will believe it when I see it,” he said. “For now, I am quite skeptical we will see any real movement in December.”