Key Takeaways

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits important attractions in the country, in order to gain press coverage and promote tourism.
• Kim ordered his top admirals to dress in bathing suits and swim 10 kilometers around Wonsan bay, as state TV filmed it. He sat at a desk on the sand. Wonsan is a small city and tourist hot spot.
• From 2019, North Korea has had plans to branch into medical tourism starting in 2020. It wants to combine oriental and western medicine with spa and spring treatments in order to attract Chinese tourists in particular.

Introduction

Strategy 1: Promotion by Kim Jong Un

• Description: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits important attractions in the country, in order to gain press coverage and promote tourism.
• Examples: In 2019, Kim visited Yangdok Country Hot Spring Resort (see image below) and lavished praise on it. He compared it to the Mount Kumgang tourist area, which South Korea had invested in as part of improving ties between the two countries.
• Also in 2019, Kim rode a white horse on a snowy mountain considered sacred to locals. Mount Paektu, is an active volcano and an important cultural and geological site. It is also the highest point in the peninsula and the birthplace of Dangun, who, according to myths, founded the first Korean kingdom 4,000 years ago.
• More generally, Kim has promoted North Korea as a country worth visiting because of its amazing scenery - mountains and beaches, its monuments and museums, but especially because it is unlike any other country.
• In 2014, Kim ordered his top admirals to dress in bathing suits and swim 10 kilometers around Wonsan bay, as state TV filmed it. He sat at a desk on the sand. Wonsan is a small city and tourist hot spot, with extensive development plans for department stores and golf courses, so that people can come and enjoy the beaches, mineral springs, and natural lakes. Kim also visited the area in 2018 in order to promote it. A mass civilian-military rally was held in the city as part of the government's commitment to finish it by April 2019.
• In 2019, Kim opened a new mountain resort in Samjiyon County.
• Visuals: 1) Kim visiting the Yangdok Country Hot Spring Resort (photo). 2) State media released photos of the country's leader on a white horse at Mount Paektu (photo, photo, photo). 3) Kim in Wonsan (photo). 4) A state-provided photograph of Samjiyon County (photo).

 

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Strategy 2: Medical Tourism as an Attraction

• Description: Since 2019, North Korea has had plans to branch into medical tourism starting in 2020. However, while the pandemic likely affected these plans, Chinese tourists resumed visits in April this year, and are the main target of the strategy.
• Examples: In December 2019, the Treatment Tourism Exchange Corporation was launched in the country, to promote treatments such as cataract surgery, dental implants, and therapy for tumors to mostly Chinese tourists. The state corporation would operate health clinics near hot springs. It argues that mineral waters can help treat neuralgia, arthritis, and heart and skin ailments. Elements of oriental medicine could be a strategic way to attract Chinese people, who appreciate it.
• Promotional efforts included combining medical treatment with natural scenic sites, including the Juche Tower, Mount Kumgang, and the Central Botanical Gardens, as one complete medical trip. Newspaper articles promoted this plan.
• Participating health facilities include Ryugyong General Ophthalmic Hospital, the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital Breast Tumor Institute, and the Ryugyong Dental Hospital.
• Visuals: 1) A public hospital in Sogwang (photo). 2) Treatments include hot springs such as Yangdok, which Kim visited in 2019 (photo).

 

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Research Strategy

Key Takeaways

• Due to North Korea's secrecy, the last available number of immigrants in the country is from 2015. In 2015 there were an estimated 48,458 immigrants in North Korea. This is a 10.11% increase from 2010 when the total number of immigrants reported was 44,010. 
• The majority of foreign residents in North Korea have a diplomatic mission, humanitarian aid ties, or are linked to universities.
• North Korea is one of the hardest countries to immigrate to in the world, with extremely strict policies. Visa applications must be sent to a North Korean embassy and very few are approved. Very few westerners are granted visas to live in the country.

Introduction

Foreigners Live in North Korea

• Due to North Korea's secrecy, the last available number of immigrants in the country is from 2015. In 2015, there were an estimated 48,458 immigrants in North Korea. This is a 10.11% increase from 2010 when the total number of immigrants reported was 44,010. 
• From 1995, the immigrant population in North Korea only grew 2.96% in the next five years, with 36,183 immigrants reported in the country in 2000.
• In 2022, according to CIA World Factbook, North Korea's net migration rate per 1,000 of the population is -0.04. The country's population is estimated to be about 25 million.
• In 2019, North Korean researcher, Andray Abrahamian, estimated there were only about 200 Westerners living in the country. Most of the foreign residents have a diplomatic mission, or humanitarian aid ties, or are linked to the universities.

• Foreigners in North Korea can broadly be classified as Chinese, Russian, and others.
• In 2021, it was reported that diplomats and humanitarian group workers were leaving the country quickly and in large numbers. They were leaving due to medication, food shortages, and economic chaos caused by the yearlong lockdown of the Chinese border.

Reasons Foreigners Move to North Korea

• The majority of foreign residents in North Korea have a diplomatic mission, humanitarian aid ties, or are linked to universities.
• Diplomats living in North Korea are required to live within the diplomatic compound, a specific area in Pyongyang. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was reported that most left the country. There are 26 embassies, 2 consulates, one representative office, and a UN mission located in Pyongyang.
• Foreign students are able to study in North Korea, although this is a very small population. The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology has an exchange program for teachers. Students need some sort of connection to be granted the opportunity to study in North Korea.
• Foreign students in North Korea are normally only granted short stays of study and will have some ties to the country. In 2019, the first Australian student to study in North Korea was deported from the country, after being caught spying, due to his blog, which detailed his activities in the highly secretive country.
• The American-run school, the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, has around 70 American professors and staff members each semester.
• Immigration to North Korea is also driven by organizations providing humanitarian aid, with organizations like UNICEF, Mercy Corps, and World Vision providing aid in the country. Organizations need to secure a North Korean partner or sponsor who will vouch for them.

Restrictions When Moving to North Korea

• North Korea is one of the hardest countries to immigrate to in the world, with extremely strict policies. Visa applications must be sent to a North Korean embassy and very few are approved. Very few westerners are granted Visas to live in the country.
•  Citizens of South Korea are forbidden from entering North Korea, and will not be granted entry under any circumstances.
• If a visa is granted, foreigners are not allowed to own property in North Korea. Immigrants will be provided housing by the government. Foreigners must then hire local staff that they spend a lot of time with.
• While immigrants can travel in North Korea, they must first apply for permission to travel to other cities.
• Since 2017, United States-issued passports are not seen as valid proof for travel to North Korea, unless the passport is validated by the Department of State.

Research Strategy