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North Korea (DPRK) officially reopened to tourists
Temporary suspension of tours
now lifted: effective immediately
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Koryo Tours can confirm that tourists are now permitted to
travel to North Korea (DPRK) once more.
Koryo Tours will be taking its first tour group of
2015 to Pyongyang on Sat 14 March.
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IT'S OFFICIAL! North Korea's borders have been reopened to international tourists with immediate effect. After being contacted earlier this week with news that there was some movement in the four-month-long border closure, our partners in Pyongyang have now confirmed that tourism to the DPRK will resume as normal this month.
With the North Korean border now open once more, Koryo Tours is pleased to have applied for its first trip to the country this year with a tour group now scheduled to arrive in Pyongyang on Saturday 14 March.
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British-run, Beijing-based Koryo Tours is the world's leading travel specialist to North Korea, and has been running trips to the DPRK since 1993, taking around 2,500 Western tourists each year.
In response to the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced on 24 October 2014 that no tourists would be allowed to enter North Korea until further notice.
While that decision has now been reversed, and tourism is to resume in North Korea once more, we are sorry to say that some restrictions remain on those travelling from Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Senegal or Sierra Leone, and that we are still unable to take anyone who is from, or who has recently visited, those countries.
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At this stage, the information we have is that the Pyongyang Marathon on 12 April remains closed to foreign amateurs. Our tours to North Korea during that period will be going ahead regardless, minus race participation, and we're working hard with our partners in North Korea to have the marathon reopened to our tourists if at all possible.
While there are no guarantees on that front, we will update you with further news on the race as soon as we have it. But whatever the outcome of those discussions, we are happy to say all of our April tours (and beyond) are now back on!
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Anyone interested in being one of the first tourists to visit North Korea in 2015 can join our next available tour, which departs Beijing on 4 April.
All our other tours for 2015 can be seen here.
Apply for your place on a tour of North Korea here.
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Nick Bonner, co-founder and director of Koryo Tours, says:
"Koryo Tours takes around 2,500 tourists a year to North Korea. In our 22 years of tourism in the country we have opened up a number of new destinations within the country and helped develop thousands upon thousands of positive interactions between North Koreans and Westerners.
"Koryo Tours is the only travel company working in North Korea that practices responsible tourism, and we are absolutely committed to working on cultural engagement projects -- including via film, sport and art -- as well as providing humanitarian aid where we can.
"With the country closed, all of these projects were put to a stop -- although we still managed to ship three containers of food aid to the orphanages we work with. Everything else, however, ground to a halt (as well as the cancellation of our tours, of course). We spoke to our Korean colleagues in Pyongyang most days and they certainly felt the isolation and difficulty of the situation.
"The reopening of North Korea's borders is not just good news for those interested in visiting one of the world's most mysterious countries, but also in terms of the work that can now continue in breaking down the barriers and misunderstanding that still exist."
In 2015, Koryo Tours continues its 22-year history of innovating and opening new opportunities in North Korea for curious visitors.
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Highlights for visitors in the year ahead include:
70th Anniversary of Liberation (15 August) >> This major holiday will take place on August 15. Big celebrations, dances and parades are all expected; be there on this anniversary of the ending of the Japanese occupation for an experience like no other.
The Mount Paekdu Half Marathon (21 August) >> Koryo Tours is exclusively hosting the first ever half-marathon to be held in the Mt Paekdu area in the north-east of the DPRK.
70th Anniversary of Party Foundation (10 October) >> The Workers' Party of Korea has ruled the DPRK since 10 Oct 1945. Its founding anniversary is another major holiday with mass events, and more of North Korea's signature celebrations expected to take place.
Kimchi Tours >> Koryo's entry-level division is running four tours throughout 2015 for those looking for a more frugally minded trip taking in North Korea's tourism highlights.
The full list of Koryo's 2015 group tours -- as well as the options for organising a bespoke trip at dates of your choosing (with a specially created itinerary planned for you by Koryo's specialists) -- can be found here.
Email the team at Koryo Tours (info@koryogroup.com) for a consultation and to receive expert answers to any questions you may have about travel to and within North Korea.