North Korea will allow foreign tourists to traverse the secretive country by rail for the first time, a Beijing-based tour company said Wednesday, in a rare move that could offer a glimpse inside the North.
Koryo Tours, which takes about 2,500 Western tourists to North Korea a year, said that the 11-day trip, which starts Oct. 2, “will provide the opportunity to travel along two routes very seldom traversed by rail on tours of the DPRK.”
Besides the showcase capital of Pyongyang, most parts of North Korea, one of the world’s most secretive states, have remained off limits to foreign tourists.
Tourists will fly to Pyongyang by plane and make the journey to North Korea’s northeastern port city of Chongjin by “traveling in vintage 1970s carriages with Korean diesel locomotives and a fully functioning restaurant car,” Koryo Tours said in a statement.
The trip includes stops at “as-yet-undiscovered cities, such as Sinpho and Kimchaek, and passing by isolated beaches,” it said.
Koryo Tours said the trip, which costs 2,890 euros ($3,184) will “reveal entire parts of the country very rarely seen by foreign eyes.”
Under international sanctions over nuclear and missile ambitions, North Korea has promoted tourism as a source of earning much-needed hard currency.
Earlier this month, North Korea opened a new airport terminal, which is six times bigger than the previous one.
Only two airlines, North Korea’s flag carrier, Air Koryo, and Air China, serve international flights to and from Pyongyang. (Yonhap)
