A tour operator said on Monday it had opened bookings for trips to a North Korean border city to celebrate former leader Kim Jong-il’s birthday, offering foreign tourists the first chance to visit since the pandemic.
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Tour operators said in January that North Korea would reopen Rason, a city on the border with China, to foreign tourists, five years after Pyongyang sealed its frontiers in response to Covid-19.
Neither North Korea nor China have commented on the plans.
Koryo Tours said the February tour in Rason would be “the first trip back to North Korea since the borders closed in January 2020”.
“This tour will take you to the must-see sites in Rason, North Korea’s special economic zone. Plus, you will travel to North Korea to celebrate one of the biggest holidays, Kim Jong-il’s birthday,” the Beijing-based travel agency wrote on its website.
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Behind North Korea’s closed curtains: the Kim regime’s ongoing struggle against collapse
Behind North Korea’s closed curtains: the Kim regime’s ongoing struggle against collapse
The birthdays of members of the ruling Kim dynasty are typically feted in North Korea with large scale public celebrations.