Russia Promotes North Korea as a Tourism Destination, but Few Travelers Follow
Russian and North Korean officials are pushing tourism ties, including a new Wonsan-Kalma beach resort, but only a few thousand Russians actually visit each year.
Since North Korea reopened to Russian tourists in 2024, officials in Moscow and Pyongyang have been promoting the country as an emerging vacation spot, offering beach resorts, ski trips and discounts for Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine. Yet the numbers remain small: about 5,000 Russians visited North Korea in 2025, according to Sergei Krivonosov, deputy head of the State Duma's Tourism Committee, who expects the figure to reach 6,000 in 2026. Artur Muradyan, vice president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, said North Korea remains a niche destination for Russian travelers.
The tourism push comes as Moscow and Pyongyang deepen cooperation following Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang in June 2024, his first trip there since 2000, signing a mutual defense treaty with Kim Jong Un that also called for expanding tourism links. At the same time, travel to Europe has grown harder for Russians, as the EU tightened Schengen rules and, since November 2025, barred most Russian citizens from multiple-entry visas.
Tours and pricing
One Russian tour operator offers first-time visitors two eight-day trips to Pyongyang priced at nearly 100,000 rubles ($1,244), with a 5,000-ruble discount for veterans of the war in Ukraine. A more expensive "popular" itinerary, around $1,900, departs from Vladivostok and combines Pyongyang sightseeing with a stay at Wonsan-Kalma, a beach resort Kim opened with his daughter in June 2025. Tourists fly on Air Koryo, whose fleet consists entirely of Soviet- and Russian-made aircraft.
One operator alone lists more than 40 North Korea tours, starting at 10,000 rubles ($124), with part of the payment required in U.S. dollars. Offerings include a "patriotic" tour timed to North Korea's Army Day in early 2027, and trips to the ski town of Samjiyon, a major construction project that human rights groups say relied on forced labor — a fact tour operators do not mention to clients.
Russian visitors who documented their trips online described hotel quality comparable to Russian hotels, attended concerts featuring Russian officials, and, from their hotel balcony, reported hearing what they described as a ballistic missile test on nearby islands — an area North Korea uses to launch missiles into the Sea of Japan.
