DPRK opens up for Beijing tourist trips

As many as 200 travelers will leave on the first tourist trips from Beijing to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) starting April 12.

They will be there during celebrations marking the birth of the country's deceased former leader, Kim Il-sung.

It will be the first time Chinese travelers will visit the country on tourist visas, despite the fact that the DPRK officially became an overseas tourist destination for Chinese people in September 2008.

"It only takes 10 days to apply for the tourist visa now, which is five days shorter than the previous visa application procedure," Zhao Hui, director of the Korean marketing department from the China Comfort Travel (CCT), told METRO on Wednesday.

To apply to visit the DPRK, tourists must submit their passport, two passport photos and one application form. The trip costs about 5,000 yuan per person.

According to a press release on the National Tourism Administration's website, five travel agencies in Beijing are able to arrange such trips. In addition to CCT, the China Travel Service Head Office Co Ltd, China International Travel Service Limited, China Women Travel Service and China International Travel Service Beijing are approved to organize such trips.

The trip will take in famous sightseeing spots in the DPRK, including Panmunjom, where the Korean War armistice agreement was signed, the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, the Friendship Tower and the Mansudae Hill.

"The 200 Chinese tourists will be invited to a dinner celebrating tourist cooperation between both governments on the night of April 14 and witness the 100,000 DPRK children's performance memorializing their great leader Kim Il-sung's birthday the following day," Zhao said.

Before the tourism cooperation was established, as many as 30,000 Chinese tourists visited DPRK each year, which was more than 90 percent of the country's foreign visitors, the National Tourism Administration's website said.

Even though the new policy makes the trip much easier, agencies are waiting to see what happens with the DPRK market.

"DPRK has relatively tighter regulation on foreign visitors," Zhao said. "The tourism places and shopping spots are not as plentiful as in other Asian countries. We hope the new tourists cooperation will bring more trips to DPRK, but we have to wait and see how the first group works."

According to Zhao, more than 80 percent of the Chinese tourists who visited the DPRK before were aged between 40 and 50.

They were interested in visiting a place that was important in their past. Some went in memory of family members who volunteered during the Korean War.

However, younger generations also seem interested in the unusual destination.

Luan Yiming a 32-year-old man working in Chaoyang district is looking forward to taking the trip.

"DPRK is like a mysterious place since we couldn't get much accesses to that country in the past. It might be a good chance to get to know our neighbor."

(Source: China Daily)