UPDATED: June 2020

What is Coronavirus?
Why did North Korea Close its Borders? 
Have North Korea Closed the Borders Before? 
When will North Korea open the borders again? 
What About my North Korea Tour? 
When Will We Know if Tours are Cancelled? 
What Can I do Now? 

On 22nd January 2020, it was confirmed that North Korea is closing the borders for tourism.

This is in order to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. 

These details have been confirmed by our partners in North Korea.

See below for your frequently asked questions on the Corona Virus, the Corona Virus in North Korea, and how the Corona Virus in North Korea will affect you and your travel to North Korea. 

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What is Coronavirus?

The Coronavirus is a cousin of the SARS virus.

It was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December. 

Coronavirus has been confirmed that it can be spread human to human. 

Coronavirus has since spread to other cities in China including Shenzhen and Beijing, as well as abroad to South Korea, Japan, and potentially also Thailand. 

Why did North Korea Close its Borders? 

On 20th January 2020, it was confirmed that the virus had spread to South Korea.

Along with cases found in other countries, this was probably a big prompt for North Korea to prevent the spread into the DPRK. 

Have North Korea Closed the Borders Before? 

Yes. 

North Korea has closed its borders to tourism for similar reasons before.

This has happened twice before.

Once in 2003 during the peak of the SARS virus, and again in 2015 for the Ebola crisis.

In both instances, borders were closed for a few months and strict quarantine rules were put in place. 

When will North Korea open the borders again? 

Unfortunately, we do not know when North Korea will open to tourism again.

This largely depends on the spread of the virus and how long it sticks around for.

Previously, it has been for a period of months.

For example, the Ebola outbreak caused North Korea to close the DPRK to tourism for 4 months.

But this outbreak was much larger and widespread - so we can hope that it won’t be as long as this. 

We are watching the situation and will announce when the situation changes. Tours to DPRK can be resumed at very short notice when the border reopens so the tours below remain open for enquiries and bookings even though they are not guaranteed to run until the border is open again. 

What About my North Korea Tour? 

We hope that the borders will not remain closed for an extended period of time. 

However, if tourism in the DPRK has still not resumed;  

Should your tour be cancelled due to the closed borders as a result of the spread of the Coronavirus, as stated in our terms and conditions, we will refund deposits in full (minus bank fees), as the tour is cancelled by forces outside of the control of Koryo Tours or yourselves.

We will activate this refund when we hear back from you. 

When Will We Know if Tours are Cancelled? 

If the DPRK government decided to resume tourism to North Korea we can arrange tours again 15 days after the announcement.

Train entry and exit will be subject to availability.

What Can I do Now? 

Unfortunately, it is a bit of a waiting game.

A lot depends on how the Coronavirus spreads.

If the Coronavirus situation calms down, then we can expect North Korea tourism to start back up again. If it gets worse, then this may take longer. 

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