What Will a Post Covid North Korea Look Like?

Now that the world is opening back up, we understand that the travel bug has bitten many of us! However, some countries have remained closed up, and perhaps none more so than the isolated country of North Korea.

As many of you have expressed curiosity over the current state of affairs regarding our tours to North Korea, we have put together this FAQ to hopefully answer any questions you may have.

When will North Korea re-open to tourists?

Currently, there is no set-date for when they will re-open! We are monitoring the situation closely, and we are hopeful they may re-open for tourism later on this year.

How long have the borders been closed?

North Korea’s borders have been shut off from the world completely since January 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, save for very limited trading with China.

Has there been any official word from the North Korean Government on re-opening the borders for travel/tourism?

Officially, no.

As of January 2023, there has been no official word from North Korea on opening up its borders for tourism. However, we have cause to be optimistic that they may re-open their borders sooner, rather than later.

With projected economic losses from the lack of tourism being, as well as China slowly relaxing travel restrictions to allow for foreign travellers to enter the country again (and we are hopeful this will later include tourist visas), it is reasonable to assume that North Korea has more incentive to allow for guided tours again provided all goes well with China’s decisions to relax COVID-19 regulations.

What will a post-COVID tour look like?

The North Korea government have been stringent from the first COVID-19 reports in how they have responded to the pandemic, completely isolating from the world since January 2020. It isn’t unfounded to believe that, should they re-open their borders, their rules for foreign visitors will follow a similar strict pattern.

Whilst we can only speculate, visiting the country may include mask mandates, proof of COVID-19 vaccinations, and very limited tour numbers. The options on where the tours can visit may also be restricted compared to previous tours ran before.

More information on this will become available when we receive official news.

Have Lupine heard word from their partners about North Korea?

Whilst we are in close contact with the partners that allow us to run these tours, we have had no further confirmation on the status of the border re-opening from them yet.

Are you currently taking any bookings for North Korea tours?

Not at the moment, sadly! As the border is still closed, we have not planned any tours due to the uncertainty if they can currently run.

However, if you wish to be added to our waiting list, we will contact you directly upon first word of re-opening and provide the list of tour dates.

You can also check out our other tours that we currently are running here!