The following article is part of a series by Gareth Johnson of Young Pioneer Tours about being a North Korea tour guide. Views expressed in columns are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News.

China’s recent reversal of its strict zero-COVID policy has raised hopes that the country will soon reopen to tourism — and that North Korea will follow suit by ending nearly three years of pandemic border controls that have banned all travel into the country, even by its own citizens.

Many would-be travelers have already concluded that the end of the DPRK’s