North Korea tourist visa

The Entry Procedures note on Naenara, the DPRK's official multilingual portal, contains a single rule on visas: tourists can receive the entry visa from the DPRK's diplomatic missions or tourist agencies in foreign countries. The website of the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no visa or consular section. Neither source says which nationalities need a visa, how long a tourist may stay, what the visa costs or how long an application takes, so those points are left out of this guide rather than taken from unofficial accounts.

Two channels are named: DPRK diplomatic missions abroad and DPRK tourist agencies abroad. Naenara presents the Korea International Travel Company, a state-owned company founded on 24 August 1953, as the operator of ordinary sightseeing tours and special tours on historical relics, culture, sports and mountaineering for tourists from China, Russia and other countries in Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Europe. Its published address is Pulgungori-dong No. 2, Pothonggang District, Pyongyang. DPRK sources do not publish a list of missions or say which mission serves which country.

Naenara lists air services to Pyongyang from Beijing, Shenyang, Kuala Lumpur and Vladivostok, and rail services to Pyongyang from Beijing, Dandong and Moscow. The detailed timetable printed with this note is labelled as valid from 5 May to 27 October 2018 and also shows routes such as Shanghai, so treat it as historical and confirm current connections with the mission or agency issuing your visa.

The State General Bureau of Tourism is described as the government-level body for tourism management, established on 24 August 1953; it joined the World Tourism Organization in September 1987 and the Pacific Asia Travel Association in April 1995. The Korea International Travel Company publishes a contact e-mail address, kitc_1@silibank.net.kp. Naenara's tourism outline names Pyongyang, Nampho, Sinuiju, Sariwon, Wonsan, Hamhung, Chongjin and Kaesong, Mt Paektu, Mt Myohyang, Mt Kumgang, Mt Chilbo and the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area among the main destinations.