North Korea all set to reopen for tourism

Visits restricted to Rason Special Economic Zone; 3 Singaporeans among those who sign up

- Wendy Teo

SEOUL - When Mr Rowan Beard stepped into North Korea recently, his very presence sparked a buzz. "At first, the North Korean immigration official was like, 'You Russian?' and I replied, 'No, I'm Australian,' and handed him my passport," said the tour manager, who has travelled to North Korea more than 100 times since 2012.

The immigration officer immediately shouted to his colleagues, who then gathered excitedly to look at Mr Beard's passport.

Mr Beard, from Beijing-based tour agency Young Pioneer Tours, was among a select group of travel operators - no more than 10 - allowed back into the hermit kingdom for the first time since it shut its borders in January 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The tour operators were in North Korea earlier in February on a familiarisation trip as the country gears up to reopen to tourism from Feb 20. But only the Rason Special Economic Zone (SEZ), located in the north-eastern part of the country bordering Russia and China, is being opened to tourists.

Mr Beard's agency will take about 10 visitors to Rason SEZ on Feb 20, while another agency, Koryo Tours, will lead a group of about 15 visitors.

The tours include visits to a beer brewery, foreign language school, taekwondo school and viewing spot where the North Korean, Chinese and Russian borders meet.

Mr Beard's agency is offering two runs of the tour in March, and three Singaporeans have signed up separately for the second run.

Set up in 1991 to attract foreign investment, Rason SEZ was never as popular a travel destination as Pyongyang, which remains closed to foreign visitors save Russians.