How was the Pyongyang Marathon 2025, really? And a look at our first trip back to Pyongyang in 5 years!
On the 3rd of April, followed by another flight on the 5th of April 2025, Koryo Tours hosted our first group tours back to Pyongyang after a 5+ year wait and closure to tourism.
With over 10 members of Koryo staff coming together in Pyongyang leading the trips and taking part in the marathon event, after so many years, it was incredible not only to be taking such big groups into North Korea once again - but to be getting the Koryo Team back together.
It’s been a tough few years whilst the bulk of our business has been on hold, but we thank you for your support and patience during this time - that indeed is not yet over.
Pyongyang remains sadly closed for tourism. But we remain optimistic that it’ll be sooner rather than later for a resumption in regular trips!
For now, let’s take a look at how those tours went.
Tours that Were Definitely Not Tours
We had a total of 9 different groups with almost 200 people from around 50 different countries take part in this special Pyongyang Marathon event. This makes it one of the most diverse events ever to have taken place in North Korea. People from all over the world come together to travel Pyongyang - no, wait. To run the Pyongyang International Marathon!
I should mention from the get go - these were not tours. Certainly “not tours”.
We were not in Pyongyang as tourists. Rather, we went to Pyongyang as part of an official delegation of amateur athletes. invited by the DPRK Athletics Association..
What does this mean?
Well, apart from a few practical but important differences, our group was led in many ways like our trips before. The company doing most of the actual guiding was the company we have worked with for the past 30+ years. Guides old and new, plenty of familiar faces - but plenty of new faces, too.
A key difference though, apart from the inviting body, was the fact that everyone had to get full-page visas. Whereas usually tourists enter North Korea on a tourist visa which is a blue piece of paper separate from the passport, this time we had to take all passports to the North Korean embassy in Beijing in order to get the visas issued.
Further, we weren’t sure for a while who would be our guides. Indeed, as a non-tourist group, we expected not to be guided by our usual partners but instead from representatives from different organisations.
In the end, we were very happy to be able to see some old friends and make some new ones!
Nevertheless, despite the fact that these tours to Pyongyang were indeed not tours, we did get to do many standard items you might find otherwise on a tour itinerary.
Let’s have a look at what we got up to in Pyongyang, aside from the Pyongyang Marathon!
Full marathon women's medal winners
Touring in Pyongyang
(Or special delegating, in Pyongyang…?)
Aside from Pyongyang Marathon day, the groups had another 4 days to explore everything Pyongyang had on offer. Things were a bit chaotic. Things were also somehow a bit more relaxed than usual. And somehow at the same time a bit stricter.
During this trip, we were taken around Pyongyang by both the Athletics Association who we partner with for the Pyongyang Marathon, as well as our partners from the travel company. It is the first time our local travel company guides had partnered in this way with the Athletics Association and from the get-go there was definitely some tension as both are specialised in their respective areas… with little chance of wiggle room or cooperation, at least at first.
So, for example, when the Athletics Association requested that we all move together as a group (all 200 of us!), the tourism company members were aghast, fearing the image of the 200-person elevator queue up to the top of the Juche Tower.
It’s very unusual in North Korea to have two very different teams working together in this kind of capacity, so it took some time before the Athletics Association, with no experience of guiding 200 foreigners around Pyongyang, and the travel company, with little experience of dealing with those on ‘delegation visas’ and the permissions that come with this, managed to strike a balance.
But in the end it all worked out. Indeed, a lot better than expected.
And 200 foreigners all enjoyed the streets of Pyongyang and the different sites on offer - and all at different times, at that!
Pyongyang Sites
After arriving into Pyongyang on the Air Koryo flight (and enjoying the new AIR KORYO packed lunches, including the infamous burger!) the group took a drive to the centre of Pyongyang and the Kim Il Sung Stadium. From here we started to drive the marathon course to familiarise everyone with the route they would be running, before checking into the hotel and having a good rest.
The following few days had us exposing some old and new sites in Pyongyang. Each morning beginning with an optional morning run, which participants could enjoy by themselves along Sports Street.
Main Pyongyang Sites
We enjoyed a trip to Mangyongdae Native House, the birthplace of DPRK President Kim Il Sung, as well as enjoying a 30 minute Taekwondo demonstration at the Taekwondo Hall.
No visit to North Korea is complete without visiting the statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to pay your customary respects at the Mansudae Grand Monument.
We also visited iconic sites such as the Party Foundation Monument, Juche Tower, Kim Il Sung Square, the Arch of Triumph, and the Grand People’s Study House National Library.
We also had to hit up some of our favourite sites and activities, such as an extensive visit to the War Museum & USS Pueblo, as well as taking a ride on a few stations of the Pyongyang Metro.
Shopping in Pyongyang
Of course, we had ample opportunity for shopping, too, in the Foreign Language Bookshop, Pyongyang Cultural Exhibition Hall, the Stamp Exhibition Hall, and one of Pyongyang’s newest and swankiest department stores, the Taesong Department Store.
New Sites in Pyongyang
Excitingly, we also had a few new sites along the way, including the impressive new Kangsong Greenhouse and the new streets of Pyongyang.
As always, our itineraries were jam-packed - it’s hard to see all that Pyongyang has on offer in just 4 days.
But, we still managed to fit in some well-needed fun and relaxation at the Golden Lane Bowling Alley and the new Hwasong Beer Bar.
The Pyongyang International Marathon 2025
We are very excited to share that the Pyongyang International Marathon 2025 took place on the 6th April 2025 and saw hundreds of runners from over 50 different countries, amateur and professional, run alongside local North Koreans.
The Pyongyang Marathon started off with a misty morning but soon cleared up and blue skies came out.
Participants joined in the opening ceremony alongside DPRKorean athletes, and walked into a crowd of 50,000 Koreans cheering them on. It was then time to begin the full and half marathons, closely followed by the 5km and 10km runs.
For Pyongyang Marathon results, please see here.
Pyongyang Zoo & Local Cafes
The post-marathon afternoon trip was spent at Pyongyang Zoo. Being a Sunday, this was relatively full of local Koreans; couples, families, school friends - all enjoying their Sunday out at the zoo.
Some of the group (with sore legs) decided instead of the zoo to go to a local coffee shop and enjoy the best and latest Pyongyang has to offer in terms of its nascent, but burgeoning, cafe culture.
Our Korean Colleagues
One of the most delightful points of this trip was being able to see and work with our friends and colleagues from the travel company.
We weren’t told in advance we’d be working in collaboration with them on this trip - so it was a great surprise to see them at Pyongyang Airport.
Having 5 days with them, we got to catch up on life as well as all things North Korea tourism. They’ve been busy the past few years with domestic tourism, whilst eagerly awaiting the resumption of tours to international guests. Some of them have also been working with the few Russian groups who have been going in, too.
Although some colleagues have left the company to different jobs, or got married and had children, some of them had even got married, had children, left the company, and since returned in the long 5 years we hadn’t been leading tours to the country.
It was a really great experience to be able to catch up and find out what’s been going on in the country during this time. And they’re all extremely excited to start welcoming back tourists on a regular basis.
Some Thoughts on North Korean Tourism
Pyongyang remains closed for regular tourism, but we hope the success of the marathon will go some way to the resumption of tours to Pyongyang and the rest of the country once again.
We will continue to work with the Athletics Association on the Pyongyang International Marathon in 2026 and beyond and will announce when we have more informaiton on the schedule, trip packages and more.
So, for the next Pyongyang International Marathon, keep an eye out on our social media for announcements for the Pyongyang International Marathon 2026!
Join Our Mailing List for Pyongyang Marathon 2026 updates
Pyongyang Marathon 2025 Teaser Vid
Koryo Tours
Official Partners of the Pyongyang Marathon
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