According to local media reports, more than 160 Russians traveled to North Korea this year via Vladivostok, a coastal state in the Russian Far East.
“More than 160 Russians have already visited a neighboring country (North Korea) that operates international flights only from Vladivostok,” Tas news agency said on the 26th (local time).
Russia resumed group tours to North Korea in February after four years and two months, which had previously been suspended due to COVID-19 in January 2020. Prior to this, North Korean authorities and delegates from Primorsky Krai signed an agreement on tourism in North Korea in December last year.
Demand for tourism in North Korea is also expected to increase next month due to Labor Day (May 1) and Victory Day (May 9). In fact, Russian travel agencies that have received permission to travel to North Korea are preparing and booking North Korean travel programs during these holidays.
According to the website of the travel agency ‘Vostok Intour’, it is selling North Korean tourism products for four nights and five days from May 6th to 10th for US$750 (about 1.03 million won). Primorsky Krai is also conducting regional promotional activities, citing that it can only enter North Korea through Vladivostok International Airport.
The Primorsky Krai Tourism Administration said 40 to 50 percent of tourists to North Korea are interested in touring Primorsky Krai together and are developing various programs. The Primorsky Krai Tourism Administration is also pushing ahead with plans such as creating modern roads and establishing car camping sites to revitalize local car tourism. The Maritime Province is adjacent to the East Sea above the Tumen River.
Meanwhile, Russian tourist Ilya Boskresensky, who visited North Korea in February, expressed her feelings about visiting North Korea in an interview with CNN. As a travel blogger, he felt anxious about traveling to North Korea, so he deceived his job as a part-timer in a store and participated in a group trip. He said he chose to travel to North Korea because he wanted to experience the old Soviet Union, which he had only heard in words through North Korea’s appearance.
He arrived in North Korea with 97 Russian tourists, visited Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, the Mangyeong University Student Boy’s Palace, and the Wonsan Masikryong Ski Resort before returning to Russia after a three-night and four-day schedule.