Winston wrote:Btw how exactly do you get a visa to north korea? Whats the process? Is it hard? Whats the cost?
You would think they would create a tourist industry there. How else do they get their money?
Plenty of money is coming in from mining industry, but also from manufacturing.
After goods are ready, they will be brought somehow over the border and are often considered 'made in China' - for mining, mountains have two sides along the border, what is Chinese and what is North Korean, difficult to say anyway.
Next to mention are North Korean overseas workers somewhere in Russia, or construction in Arab golf area etc.
There are also North Korean restaurants overseas, which staff is all from North Korea.
They all are poorly paid, most money goes to the NK-government.
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About tourism, their few hotels are often fully booked in North Korea.
You have to contact as a tourist some of these North Korean travel agents, you might book a tour there, either in a group but also as an individual traveller.
For example Uri Tours, Koryo Tours, Youngpioneer Tours. All are out on the internet for inquiry and booking.
Visa is no problem and border checks are reported as very lenient for foreigners, except mobile phones.
Taking pictures is restricted to a few places, but many do it nevertheless, and there are plenty of North Korean videos by travellers on the internet, every single station of the railway lines, new airport, etc. in any details.
Many tourists have now large zoom lenses on their cameras, picking out all and everything even when it is far away, the country is less in hiding as you might think.
Usually starting from Beijing ending in Beijing and not cheap at all. Some cheaper tours are starting in Dandong just over the border to North Korea, check out Young Pioneer Tours.
The question is if you want to spend money for that or if you prefer to travel around without being restricted in China.
Don't expect to be out anytime as you like, you are seriously restricted in what you are doing in North Korea.
You cannot go out from your hotel during night, cannot walk around alone only together with a 'guide' and so on.
I had many possibilities to go to NK, but never did. Really not interested. However some office staff I know personally from Europe spent up to 2 years in North Korea on business.
Here in Japan is a North Korean community with 10000s of active members, they all have contact to North Korea.
So again, all in all, NK is not so isolated as you might think.
For a tourist if you ask me, I would prefer to stay only in Dandong, in China next to the NK-border.
It is said, that plenty of legal and illegal North Korean are living there.