North Korea

Understand

History

Prehistory and founding of a nation

Archaeological finds of prehistoric toolmaking on the Korean Peninsula date back to 70,000 BC with the first pottery found around 8000 BC. Comb-pattern pottery culture peaked around 3500-2000 BC. Legend has it that Korea began with the founding of Gojoseon (also called Ancient Chosun) by the legendary Dangun in 2333 BC. Archeological and contemporaneous written records of Gojoseon as a kingdom date back to around 7th-4th century BC. Gojoseon was eventually defeated by the Chinese Han Dynasty in 108 BC and its territories were governed by four Chinese commanderies, but this did not last long. Natives of the peninsula and Manchuria soon reclaimed the territory, namely the Three Kingdoms of Korea, Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje. The Goguryeo Kingdom (or Koguryo) ruled the entire area of modern North Korea, as well as parts of Manchuria and the northern parts of modern South Korea. Buddhist and Confucian teachings were prominent in the Goguryeo Kingdom, which adopted Buddhism as the state religion in 372. Despite repeated attempts by China, namely the Sui Dynasty and later the Tang Dynasty, to conquer the Korean Peninsula, northern-based Goguryeo managed to repel them. Eventually, Goguryeo fell to a Silla-Tang alliance, which had earlier defeated Baekje. This unified Korea under the Silla dynasty. Even though Tang later invaded, Silla forces managed to drive them out, thus maintaining Korea's independence. Unified Silla was replaced by the Goryeo (also called Koryo) dynasty, from which the modern name "Korea" derives. One highlight of the Goryeo dynasty was that in 1234 the world's first metal movable type was invented by a Korean named Choe Yun-ui (200 years before Gutenberg's printing press). Buddhist learning spread during

See

All tours are accompanied by a government minder, who will decide what you can and cannot see. From the moment you leave your hotel, expect to be accompanied by one or more guides. Besides ensuring that tourists do not stray outside of the designated tourist areas, their jobs include inspecting any photographs which they think do not portray North Korea or its government in a good light, and ordering photographers to delete them. It is generally advisable to listen to what your guide says, and agree with it. It is always recommended that if you are uncertain about taking photographs anywhere, ask your guide, though allowances seem to vary wildly. You may get a guide that is relatively relaxed and will allow you to take photographs from a bus or within a city. Conversely, you may get one that will strictly adhere to controlling where you take photographs restricting anything taken from a tour bus or of certain areas, like Pyongyang's city streets, in general. There is simply no way to tell until you are on a tour. If you think a particular photograph might be embarrassing to the DPRK in general, ask or simply don't risk taking it at all. Photography of military personnel is also generally prohibited. Again, if in doubt, ask your guide. However, there are instances where it is impossible not to photograph certain sites without including a few military personnel within the picture such as at Mansudae (the monument site for the statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il), or at a local funfair. Reactions seem to vary between being ignored to curiosity, although you will be told where taking pictures is strictly prohibited (such as at certain areas of the DMZ), and the guards/soldiers there will react unfavourably to being photographed in general. Other

Getting there

North Korean entry requirements are perplexing and change frequently without prior warning. As of January 2026, tours to North Korea are only available for Russian citizens. Pretty much the only loophole is to join a sporting delegation, most notably the yearly Pyongyang Marathon, which is open to amateurs running distances as short as 5 km. Due to longstanding international sanctions and tensions in the Korean peninsula, you can only enter North Korea from either China or Russia. Generally speaking, most people fly or take the train from Beijing. Be careful about what you bring. Drugs, pornography or ideological material, by some definition, may cause severe problems up to death penalty.

Visas

Everyone needs a visa to visit North Korea. Tourists typically arrange a tourist visa by booking a tour with a travel agency that organises such tours. The travel agencies will usually deal with the visa on their behalf, although in some cases tourists are required to have a short telephone interview with the North Korean embassy to verify their identity and their job. In most cases, the interview is conducted in a friendly manner so it is nothing to be worried about. Visas are often only confirmed on the day before the tour, but rarely will a tourist ever be rejected unless you are suspected to be of political status or a journalist. North Korean tourist visas are often issued on a tourist card. If joining a tour group, group visas are often issued on separate sheets of paper containing all the members of the group, attached with a tourist card that bears the name of the tour leader. This visa itself is never held by the tourists, although tourists can ask to take a photo of their visa. In any case, no stamp will be placed in the passport. The only way where a visa and entr

Getting around

All your transport needs will be dealt with by your tour company. Most of the time this means buses, although tour groups visiting remote sites (e.g. Paekdusan, Mount Chilbo) occasionally use chartered flights by Air Koryo. Wandering around on your own is not allowed, and you are required to have a guide to escort you at all times. A carefully stage-managed one-station ride on the Pyongyang metro is included on the itinerary of most trips to Pyongyang, but use of any other form of local public transport is generally impossible. Some tours also include a train ride from Pyongyang to the border city of Sinuiju, in which you can stop over in Sinuiju for a 1-day tour, though this option is not available to U.S. citizens. If travelling in a small enough group it is also possible to organise a walk through some areas of Pyongyang with some travel agents (Koryo).