North Korea to allow Russian tourists in February – first foreign travellers since Covid-19 pandemic

A group of Russian tourists is expected in February, marking the first foreigner travellers to visit since North Korea shut its borders during the pandemic

Kim Jong-un’s government has slowly been easing up on its border curbs by allowing high-level delegations from China and Russia to visit in July of last year

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North Korea is expecting to allow its first foreign tour group since the pandemic in February. Photo: AP

Published: 5:35pm, 12 Jan 2024Updated: 9:44pm, 12 Jan 2024

North Korea is set to allow the first group of tourists to visit the country since it shut its borders at the start of the pandemic in 2020, in a sign of opening that could be followed by a soccer match against Japan’s national women’s team.

A group of Russian tourists is expected to enter the country in February for a trip that includes time in the capital Pyongyang and a ski resort, Koryo Tours, one of the major travel agencies for North Korea, said on its website.

Specialist service NK News said the tour starting on February 9 is being arranged by the government of the Russian Far East region of Primorsky Krai and a Vladivostok-based travel agency, which said prices for the four-day trip start at US$750.

Tourists from China pose for photos before the Three Charters monument in Pyongyang in February 2019. Tourists from China and Russia have previously been an important source of foreign currency for the cash-strapped nation. Photo: AFP

“It may signal an opening in due course to other tourists, or may not. We wait and see!” Koryo Tours, which is not a part of the arrangement, said on its website Thursday.

Soon after the planned arrival of the tourists, Japan’s women’s team is due to play a qualifying match for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics in Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung Stadium on February 24.

If the game goes ahead, it would be the biggest international sporting event in North Korea since the pandemic, but there is a chance the match against a country Pyongyang regards as an arch enemy may be moved to a neutral site for political reasons.

In September, North Korea announced foreigners would be allowed to enter the country, according to a report by China’s state broadcaster CCTV. There was no immediate report in North Korea’s state media about the move, and no indications that any foreigners other than those representing a handful of official delegations from abroad have entered since then.

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