Have You Ever Visited North Korea?

Would anyone ever want to? They have been known to kidnap people, and keep them in their country involuntary.

This from lonelyplanet.com
North Korea

North Korea has some exquisite national parks, and the country is almost completely unexploited by commercial tourism. From the ultra-clean showcase capital, from which old people and pregnant women are excluded, to Paekdusan, where they're still rewriting history, there's weirdness galore.

Full country name: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Area: 120,540 sq km
Population: 23 million
People: Korean
Language: Korean
Religion: All religion has been effectively prohibited since the 1950s
Government: authoritarian socialist
Head of State: Eternal President Kim Il Sung
Head of Government: Chairman of the National Defense Commission (highest post held by a living person) Kim Jong Il


GDP: US$22 billion
GDP per capita: US$1,390
Annual Growth: -5%
Major Industries: Military products, machinery, electric power, chemicals, mining, metallurgy, textiles, food processing
Major Trading Partners: China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia

Facts for the Traveler
Visas: This is the difficult part. If you're from the US or South Korea you can pretty much forget about it. Other nationals may have some luck approaching the tourism office in the North Korean Embassy in Beijing; your chances of being granted a visa are far lower at other embassies. A visa, if it is going to be granted, can normally be granted quickly.
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +9
Dialling Code: 850
Electricity: 110/220V ,60Hz
Weights & measures: Metric




When to Go

The best months to visit North Korea are May, June, September and October. In May and June, the worst of winter will be gone and the days will be warming up, in September and October you'll get a brilliant display of autumn colours.



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Events

North Korea does not celebrate Christmas or the Lunar New Year, nor many of South Korea's major holidays. May Day and Liberation Day are the big holidays, and the parades are huge extravaganzas featuring mass gymnastics, which rank among the country's most memorable sights. By all means try and be in Pyongyang for those events.

Money & Costs
Currency: North Korean won

It's going to be an expensive trip. Not counting transport to and from North Korea, you'll have to spend between US$100 a day if you're in a large group, to US$250 a day if you're travelling alone. Foreigners must exchange money at hotels. When you get your visa you are usually also given a currency declaration form, and you must fill in another when you leave. The only currencies you can exchange easily are the Euro, British pound, US dollar and Japanese yen.

Although you can usually get a far better black market rate for North Korean won in Chinese cities near the border, forget it. The money will be confiscated and you'll be turned back or arrested.

Re: Have You Ever Visited North Korea?


From the FCO's website [FCO= Foreign and Commenwealth Office]:



That link above gives more detailed information, especially - but not only - for British subjects.

Lonely Planet is the bomb publisher but NK?

Certainly, one can go to the DPRK, but there are many restrictions.
Trains from Beijing to P'yongyang leave every week. The border across the Yalu River, from China's Dandong to DPRK's Sinuiju(which is a Special Economic Zone) is easy to go through, for both Chinese and Koreans.

It is easy if you carry a PR China passport. Otherwise, go to Koryo Tours.
http://www.koryogroup.com/

shibo77 - I think, the question was, if they led Britons in :wink:

(Which they do, as my link above says.)

No comment!
Just like to declare that the N Korean Goverment issue all of its citizien education and medical care for totally free.