Tips on North Korean travel

Juche Travel Services offers a few tips for those wishing to take a holiday in North Korea.

All tourists to the DPRK, whether you visit as a group or private tour, whether you book your tour with us or another company, will be accompanied by two KITC guides, who will escort you at all times from the moment you arrive in the country until you leave. This applies whether you are in a group or just a single traveller. You are not allowed to travel independently around the country.

The DPRK possesses a unique social and political system, and travellers to the country are asked to respect this. Regardless of your own views, the people of the DPRK hold the eternal President Kim Il Sung and his son and present ruler General Kim Jong Il in extremely high regard. Any outward criticism, sarcasm, or negative comments about either individual will not be tolerated.

You will find your guides are sometimes quite sensitive about photography, especially if it is of something deemed to 'misrepresent' or paint the country in a negative light.

For personal expenditure in the country, we recommend taking Euros in cash. US Dollars and Yuan are also permitted, but Euros are preferred. Be sure to take small denomination notes with you, as change is often not available for larger notes. Credit cards are NOT accepted and there are no ATMs in the country, therefore please bring sufficient cash to last for your stay. Tourists are not permitted to use the local currency (Korean Won).

If you are a journalist and wish to travel to the DPRK, I am afraid we are not the people to help you. We are a tourist organisation and consequently are permitted to take only genuine tourists to the country. If you are a journalist, we suggest you contact your local DPRK Embassy to help arrange your visit. If you are a journalist, please, PLEASE do not try and sneak your way in to the country by pretending to be a tourist. It will create all sorts of problems for yourself, for us, and worst of all, for your Korean hosts.