Competitors pass through a street in Pyongyang during the 28th Pyongyang International Marathon on April 15, 2017, then called the Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, in this photo published by North Korea’s Choson Sinbo. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 4 (Korea Bizwire) — A China-based tour agency has begun taking bookings for an international marathon in Pyongyang next month, marking the latest sign of North Korea reopening to foreign tourists.
Koryo Tours, which specializes in North Korean tours, has recently begun taking bookings on its website for the amateur competition in the 2025 Pyongyang International Marathon, with reservations open until March 14.
“Pyongyang’s annual marathon is your chance to run the streets of the capital along with hundreds of locals and visitors,” the tour agency said, adding that the tour is exclusively available through the company.
Launched in 1981 to celebrate the April 15 birthday of North Korea’s late founder, Kim Il-sung, the annual marathon had been suspended since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sports in the DPR Korea, a website run by North Korea’s sports ministry, announced in January that the marathon will resume on April 6.
Koryo Tours offers two packages for the Pyongyang marathon, each departing on April 3 and April 5. The six-day trips include tours of major landmarks in the North Korean capital and cost 2,195 euros (US$2,302) per individual.
The itinerary included visits to a water park, a fountain park, a famous traditional restaurant as well as the streets of Hwasong and a greenhouse farm in Kangdong County, just east of Pyongyang, both recently developed under leader Kim Jong-un.
This marks Pyongyang’s first reopening to foreign tours since COVID-19, and comes after the country allowed Western tourists to the northeastern special economic zone of Rason in February for the first time since the pandemic.
Tourism catering to foreigners remains a source of foreign currency for North Korea, which is heavily sanctioned by the international community for its nuclear and missile programs. It also serves as a tool for the country’s propaganda aimed at outsiders.
(Yonhap)
