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| A tourist takes a selfie during a visit to a subway station in Pyongyang on July 23, 2017. Korea Times file |
By Ko Dong-hwan
The number of Chinese tourists to North Korea has reportedly skyrocketed to 2,000 a day, following warmer relations between China and North Korea after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's recent visits to Beijing.
Reports citing Chinese tourism agencies in regions close to the border say Chinese tourists to North Korea have filled all available trains.
An agency in Dandong, in Liaoning Province, said up to 2,000 Chinese were going to Pyongyang daily and all train seats were booked until July 10. When asked about safety, an agency official reportedly said Chinese "inundating all the tourism hotspots in North Korea" will likely prevent any problems.
NK News, an American news site specializing in North Korea, said there had been a sudden uptick in Chinese group tourists from early June after a travel ban was lifted.
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| Tourists bow before statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung, left, and Kim Jong-il on Mansu hill in Pyongyang on July 23, 2017. Korea Times file |
In November 2017, China banned people, except those in northeastern provinces next to the North Korean border, from travelling to North Korea. Shortly after, direct flights connecting Beijing and Pyongyang were stopped. But they resumed in early June.
NK News cited a Chinese travel agency that said a 15-car train had been launched between Dandong and Pyongyang, the longest the agency had seen.
Another sign of rising North Korean tourism in China is that almost all tourism agencies in Dandong have sent at least 300 customers to Pyongyang daily.
The boom has increased demand for North Korean tour guides who speak Chinese. Beijing-based tourism agency Korea Tour, which specializes in serving foreigners, said demand has been so great that North Korean guides who often go farming during the off-season have been called up to serve the Chinese tourists.
"Even these tour guides are not enough to meet the demand," a Korea Tour official said. "We are now training English-speaking guides in Chinese."
