NORTH Korea has unexpectedly blocked tourists from visiting the nation just weeks after the dictatorship bizarrely opened up its borders to some Western visitors.
Kim Jong-un has attempted to attract international travellers with a “capitalistic city” after the secretive country shut itself off from the world in January 2020.
A public square in Rason, North Korea[/caption]
North Korea has blocked Western tourists from visiting Rason just weeks after opening borders up to a handful of them[/caption]
A selfie taken on a past Koryo Group tour[/caption]
Kim Jong Un observing the launch of a strategic cruise missile during a drill on 26 February, 2025[/caption]
The dictatorship slowly started to open up to Chinese and Russian tourists from 2023 but it only began accepting some Western tourists last month.
Kim had set up an experimental “capitalist city” to welcome some visitors under a strict itinerary.
These tours were in the northerly city of Rason – chillingly sitting right on the Russian and Chinese borders.
Despite this, Pyongyang mysteriously suspended these trips for unclear reasons, according to tour operators.
Travel agency Young Pioneer Tours wrote online: “We have been advised by our partners… that tours to Rason are currently paused.”
The group warned travellers planning to visit Kim’s reclusive nation in April and May to not book flights “until we have more information”.
KTG Tours on Wednesday said: “Just received news from our Korean partners that Rason is closed to everyone. We will keep you posted.”
The company revealed the mysterious nature of Kim’s shock announcement, saying “We do not know the reason nor how long this will last.”
A third agency, Koryo Tours, revealed those already in North Korea would “finish their trips as planned”.
Rason is a first of its kind city as it is the only part of North Korea where capitalism is promoted in the totalitarian state.
Residents can buy and sell houses and even open a private bank account – all of which are strictly prohibited elsewhere in North Korea.
This experimental city also has a special visa regime.
The first Western tourists started to come into the bizarre special economic zone on 20 February.
North Korea’s new holiday offering was set to give Westerners a five-day itinerary centred around Rason.
Tourists were firstly required to attend a “late evening pre-tour briefing” at a hotel in the Chinese city of Yanji.
This included etiquette lessons and a chilling warning on how to stay safe while travelling North Korea.
Once in Rason, each day was packed with activities which included seal watching and visiting a health facility that treats chronic gastritis.
Tour operators revealed the short-lived 2025 tours were even more restrictive than pre-pandemic trips.
Visitors previously wandering the city before the 2020 border closure[/caption]
People pictured in Rason in 2017[/caption]
Rason is a special economic zone in North Korea[/caption]
Western visitors had fewer opportunities to talk to locals or wander around the area.
KIM’S TOURISM
This shock u-turn comes just days after Koryo Tours said it was accepting applications from tourists looking to enter the Pyongyang Marathon in April, according to the BBC.
Foreigners were barred from the race for the last five years, but it is now unclear whether they will be able to join for the 2025 edition.
Kim’s “North Korean Benidorm” also started accepting requests from Western tourists to visit later this year.
250 Brits signed up to travel to the Wonsan-Kalma resort despite terrifying warnings against any visits to the reclusive country.
Kim reportedly sent a fact-finding mission to Spain’s Costa Blanca in 2017 to inspire his vanity-project resort – built at a former missile base – hence the “Benidorm” nickname.
The ribbon is set to be cut this summer, with the first trips in July up for sale through Vostok Intur, a Russian travel agency, following years of delays.
A picture from a past tour of North Korea organised by the Koryo Group[/caption]
An image from a previous pre-pandemic tour[/caption]
