Tour onlyAsiaLicensed operator onlyCheck · Sep 2026
North Korea: tour-only entry
Entry only on a state-approved tour with government guides at all times; tourism for most Western visitors has been largely shut since 2020.
Travel advisory
Voykit carries a travel advisory for North Korea. Several governments advise against all travel and the US bars its passports without special validation.
The permit
- Who issues it
- DPRK state tourism bodies, through approved foreign agencies
- How to get it
- Licensed operator only. Only a small number of approved agencies can book; independent travel does not exist.
- Lead time
- 2 months+ · Months, and only when tours for your nationality are running.
- Cost (check)
- Tours historically cost several thousand US dollars for a week (check).
- Documents
- Passport
- Tourist card arranged by the agency
- US citizens need a special passport validation from their government
- If you skip it
- Detention and long prison sentences have been imposed on visitors for minor acts such as taking a poster.
- Official site
- There is no official tourism site you can apply through.
Check before you pay
Fees, quotas and closed areas change, sometimes with days of notice. These figures were last checked in Sep 2026; confirm on the official site or with a licensed operator before you book flights.