Asia

North Korea

vital statistics
  • Pyongyang
  • 25 million
  • Korean
  • North Korean won
about North Korea

Despite all the propaganda and rumours surrounding the Democratic People’s Republic, North Korea is one of the most fascinating travel experiences you could have and is certainly not out of reach. At the moment about 100,000 people a year are landing north of the DMZ and Kim Jong-un wants that number to reach two million by the year 2020. Rarely is an average tourist denied a visa and rarer still do they regret taking the opportunity to go.

Of course, North Korea is by no means your standard holiday destination, and independent travel is not an option. You’ll be escorted by government guides, won’t get much freedom outside of your hotel and there will be strict rules about what you can and can’t photograph. What you will get the opportunity to do, however, depending on which tour you’re on, is view the UNESCO-nominated landscape of Mt Kumgang and its 1200 waterfalls, gawk at the monumental architecture of Pyongyang, visit the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea and, more than all that, get a first-hand insight into a culture and country barely touched by the western world.

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