Practical Information

Currency

The local currency is the North Korean Won (KPW), but tourists are not expected to use it and cannot take it in or out of the country. All tourist transactions are handled in Euros, Chinese Renminbi, or US Dollars — the Euro is most commonly accepted. Most of your spending (hotels, meals, entrance fees) is pre-paid through the tour operator. The main opportunities to spend cash on the ground are at souvenir shops, hotel bars, and occasional market visits. Bring enough Euros for these extras; there are no ATMs and no card payment facilities.

Phones and Internet

Your home SIM card will not work in North Korea. Local SIM cards for tourists are available at Sunan Airport — they give you a 3G data connection usable within the country but cannot call or receive calls from international numbers. Most visitors do not bother. Hotel Wi-Fi is either absent or unreliable. Accept that you will be largely offline for the duration.

Photography

Take photographs freely at designated tourist sites. Ask your guide before photographing people, military installations, construction sites, or anything that shows the country in a poor light. The guidance is genuinely useful — what seems innocuous to a visitor may be considered sensitive by the authorities. Guides will tell you when to put the camera away. Follow this advice without argument.

Never photograph or handle printed materials bearing the image of the Kim leaders carelessly. Do not fold, write on, or discard newspapers with their portraits — this applies even to the propaganda papers left in hotel rooms.

Behaviour at monuments

At Mansudae and any site with statues or portraits of the leadership, bow when your group bows. Lay flowers if requested. Do not joke or make light remarks within earshot of anyone. This is not performance — it is how you stay out of trouble and keep your guides out of trouble.

Health

No vaccinations are specifically required, but standard travel precautions apply. Carry any prescription medication with documentation, and bring more than you need — nothing is available locally. Travel insurance that includes medical evacuation is essential.

Safety

Day-to-day safety in North Korea is not a concern in the conventional sense. Crime against tourists is essentially unheard of. The risk is of inadvertently violating rules — and the consequences of that can be serious. Follow your guides' instructions, do not attempt to wander off independently, and do not accept any materials from locals.

Several Western tourists have been detained in North Korea for activities ranging from leaving a Bible in a hotel room to making critical social media posts before departure. The US case of Otto Warmbier — detained in 2016, returned in a coma in 2017, died shortly after — is the most extreme example of what can go wrong.

Tour operators