North Korea’s Stalled Reopening: Trains Move but Tourists Wait at China’s Edge

Now retired, Wang Meili wants to see the world—including North Korea, the reclusive nation that lies across the river from her lifelong home in northeastern China. North Korea has long kept tight control over foreign visitors and effectively sealed its borders at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic six years ago. While it has since partly reopened and restored daily passenger train services with China this month, Pyongyang has not yet resumed issuing tourism visas to Chinese citizens, who once made up the bulk of its overseas visitors. "We'd like to get visas to go. I've already got my passport," said 68-year-old Wang, who grew up in the border city of Dandong.

In another apparent sign of North Korea's reopening, Air China is set to resume flights to Pyongyang on Monday. But for now, only those with work or study visas can go. AFP journalists in Dandong, the main gateway for cross-border travel and trade, saw a mostly empty passenger train rattle over a bridge into North Korea this week. Nearby, tourists on another bridge, partly destroyed by US bombs during the Korean War, posed for photographs and peered through binoculars at the North Korean city of Sinuiju on the opposite shore. Tour boats took curious sightseers to gaze at North Koreans cycling along the Yalu river or cleaning boats on the bank, while uniformed guards stood at regular points along the boundary.

Li Shuo, manager of a Dandong-based travel agency, said the resumption of passenger train services had "no impact" on his business. Unable to run tours into North Korea, he has been offering trips through border areas so customers can catch glimpses into the secretive state from a distance. "We can only wait for news" on tourism visas, Li said, adding that they "would be a good thing for domestic tourists." Others were less keen; one Chinese tourist from Shenyang told AFP that a peek from Dandong was enough, citing the totalitarian nature of the state.

AFP also spoke to international tourists from Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia, all drawn to Dandong for a rare view of the isolated nation. Louis Lamb, a 22-year-old nurse from Brisbane, described traveling into North Korea as a "bucket-list item," noting that while parts of the opposite bank appeared desolate, it seemed more developed than he had imagined. While China remains a major backer for North Korea, trade through Dandong remains a key lifeline for its economy under UN sanctions. Cross-border shipments swelled to $2.7 billion last year, nearly rebounding to pre-pandemic levels.

For some in Dandong, the tentative reopening kindles hope of returning home. Thousands of North Koreans reside in the city despite sanctions. Abrupt border closures in 2020 stranded many abroad for years. One waitress from Pyongyang, who has been in China for over six years, told AFP that travel now seemed to be getting easier. "I'll be going home soon," she said, reflecting a long-awaited shift in the border’s accessibility.