North Korea’s tourism industry has numerous barriers to growth – infrastructural, economic, diplomatic. Perhaps, though, the two biggest barriers relate to the mindset of people within the country who seek to keep the DPRK as sealed off from outside influence as possible, and those outsiders who believe the country is closed off and should remain so.

However, the significance of these issues depends on which tourist sector is being discussed, be they broadly classed as South Koreans, Chinese and Westerners (who are essentially non-South Koreans or Chinese). As such, below follows details on a number of hurdles