North Korea resumes China transport links but clamps down on tourist entry
North Korea resumed rail and air links with China in late March after a roughly six-year COVID-19 suspension, marking a significant development in North Korea-China travel. But the reopening has already hit a snag. Air China suspended new bookings on the Beijing-Pyongyang route within days of launch
Daily NK
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North Korea resumed rail and air links with China in late March after a roughly six-year COVID-19 suspension, marking a significant development in North Korea-China travel. But the reopening has already hit a snag. Air China suspended new bookings on the Beijing-Pyongyang route within days of launching flights, raising questions about how far Pyongyang is willing to go.
The Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang confirmed that an international passenger train departed Dandong, in China’s Liaoning province, and arrived at Pyongyang Station on March 12. The two countries had suspended regular cross-border train service since early 2020. Air China then launched weekly Beijing-Pyongyang service on March 30, also the first such flights since January 2020.
The aviation recovery proved short-lived. Air China’s website showed the April 6 Beijing-Pyongyang flight as unavailable for booking. Yonhap, South Korea’s national news agency, reported April 3 that the carrier had halted new reservations for April and May.
A former senior Japanese government official who long handled Korean Peninsula affairs told this reporter that North Korea has not officially decided to accept Chinese tourists. Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based travel company specializing in North Korea tourism, confirmed on its website as of April 1 that North Korea has not formally reopened to tourism.
North Korea-China travel resumes, but tourism remains frozen
Before the pandemic, North Korea accepted roughly 300,000 Chinese tourists annually, a meaningful source of hard currency. Pyongyang has long treated tourist inflows as a potential vector for outside information, and that wariness has not changed.
A former senior South Korean government official said intelligence services in South Korea and other countries systematically collected photos and videos that Chinese tourists shot inside Pyongyang. Analysts used that material to track construction activity and the expansion of surveillance camera networks. The official noted that North Korea’s construction pace far exceeded what outside observers would consider structurally sound, suggesting authorities prioritized political optics over safety.
The profile of Chinese tourists deepens those concerns. Russian tourists number around 2,000 per year. Chinese visitors arrive in far larger numbers and include a significant share of ethnic Koreans who speak the Korean language fluently. That creates opportunities for direct, unmonitored conversation with North Korean people, which authorities work hard to prevent.
The cancellation of the Pyongyang International Marathon also fits this pattern. North Korea called off the April 5 event abruptly and notified Chinese travel agencies. In recent years, marathon participants have photographed Pyongyang’s streets using selfie sticks and personal cameras, and that footage has spread widely online.
China has moved to signal its eagerness to restore the relationship. Ambassador Wang Yajun personally greeted arriving passengers at both Pyongyang Sunan International Airport and Pyongyang Station when the first trains and flights arrived. Beijing is also pushing ahead with plans to open the New Yalu RiverBridge connecting Dandong and Sinuiju, a project that would significantly expand cross-border capacity.
Analysts say China is accelerating its efforts to restore ties partly because it sees North Korea keeping its diplomatic options open, including toward the United States. Beijing does not want to lose ground if Pyongyang pivots.
North Korean state media did not cover the resumption of rail or air service. Authorities in Pyongyang issued no official welcome. That asymmetry underscores how cautiously North Korea is managing the reopening.
Trade drives North Korea-China travel revival
Economics, not tourism, is driving the revival. China accounts for more than 90% of North Korea’s external trade. That dependency gives Beijing structural leverage and makes a full economic break impossible for Pyongyang.
Cross-border sources told this reporter that government officials and trade representatives make up the vast majority of passengers on both the train and early Air China flights. Of roughly 10 train carriages, only two carry passengers. The inaugural Air China flight on March 30 reportedly carried around 10 passengers.
Economic pressure on Pyongyang is growing. At a recent Supreme People’s Assembly session, North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, Minister of Metal Industry Kim Kwang Nam called for steel production to expand by 1.8 times. Analysts link that target to ongoing arms cooperation with Russia. If the war in Ukraine ends, the economic boost North Korea draws from that relationship could shrink quickly.
Kim Jong Un is simultaneously tightening market controls and pursuing other policies that limit domestic economic activity. That leaves trade with China as one of the few remaining growth levers.
The resumption of North Korea-China travel and transport links reflects that structural reality. Pyongyang may have deep reservations about Chinese tourist access and the intelligence risks it brings. But North Korea cannot afford to close the door on China. The real question is not whether Pyongyang will deepen economic ties with Beijing, but how tightly it will try to control the terms.
