With all these bans and rules, people might want to get some break and think about foreign vacations but No. North Koreans are not allowed to travel abroad except under special provisions such as the Olympics.Â
People who try to divert to South Korea and fail, are also executed. Those who try to flee to China are sent back to face the same dreadful fate. They cannot complain about it either because complaining is also banned remember?
North Koreans can travel abroad with permission from the government. If you have been on tour to North Korea with us before it is not uncommon, either at Dandong Station or the Air Koryo Check-in Counter, at Beijing Capital Airport Terminal 2 to see scores of North Koreans travelling home often with boxes and boxes of goods to take back home with them.
We often say that the North Korean experience starts at Beijing Airport at the Air Koryo check-in counter. The check-in process from the passenger’s point of view for Air Koryo is like for any other airlines at Beijing Capital Airport, only that it’s much slower.
Travel for leisure is unknown for North Koreans. At least internationally. Domestic tourism In North Korea has been on the rise since 2018.
Also, it doesn’t mean that an official trip overseas can’t have leisurely elements like sightseeing, excursions, shopping, and the culinary experience. They certainly do.
Leisure tourism apart, North Koreans travel for the same reason as nationals of other countries do; business, exchanges, conferences, international sports events, medical treatment, study and work.
I personally know or met North Koreans who have been to African countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Hungary, Lebanon, Mongolia, Poland, Russia (USSR), South Korea, Switzerland, the UK, and Vietnam.
China and Russia estimated to have up to 20,000 Korean guest works and students, and there used to be a considerable number of Korean guest workers in countries of the Persian Gulf.
Obtaining a passport is not easy though, and they have to be submitted to the authorities upon return from overseas.
Since the 2000s the DPRK started to issue certificates to travel to China and Koreans holding these documents – mostly merchants – can stay for up to 4 days without a visa.
