The Beijing-based travel company Koryo Tours states on its website that tourists will start being let in from December.
"We have received confirmation from our local partner that tourism to Samjiyon and potentially the rest of the country will officially resume in December 2024", the company writes.
Another China-based tour operator reports the same.
"So far, only Samjiyon has been officially confirmed, but we believe that Pyongyang and other places will also open", writes KGT Tours on its social media.
Samjiyon, located near North Korea's mountainous northern border with China, is the closest city to Mount Paektu – where the country's deceased leader Kim Jong-Il is said to have been born, according to North Korea's official historiography. His son and successor Kim Jong-Un has invested enormous resources in developing the area with apartment complexes, hotels, and a ski resort.
North Korea closed its borders in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the borders have been closed to foreign tourists – except for a small group of Russian tourists in February this year.
Even before the pandemic, tourism to the closed country was limited. According to travel companies, around 5,000 Western tourists visited the country each year.
