Abstract

North Korea, contrary to common and unfortunately wildly spread opinions, accepts tourists from all over the world, including US citizens and also tourists from Japan. The number of Western tourists is so low, just about 1500 a year, mostly due to North Korean government policy full of suspicions towards foreigners. This policy has its origin in the culture, however is still amplified by the official ideology of Juche created by late President Kim Il Sung. The Juche ideas which encompass self-sufficiency in economy, without any foreign interference, does not create a favorable climate for foreign tourist development in North Korea. As the country nowadays is in urgent need of foreign money income, the necesity to develop the international tourism is more obvious then ever. North Korea so far opened some border areas such as City of Kaesong and a region around Mt. Kumgang to tourists from South Korea but just for one day trips. The South Korean tourism just to Kaesong can provide the country with estimating net income of 3.5 million USD a year. Unfortunately, the prospective of that form of tourism depends highly on actual state of relations between both Korean counterparts. In Poland there is only one tourist enterprise, Logos Travel, able to organize tourist groups to North Korea. A good range of services is offeedr by Beijing based Koryo Tours. Tourism to North Korea are expensive due to high cost charged by North Korean Government, e.g. overpriced hotels as well to full time control of each individual tourist by guides dabbled as secret police servicemen. By far the most interesting trips to People's Democratic Republic of Korea are organized by the Korean Friendship Association, largely for propaganda. Visitors to North Korea should be prepared to visit places out of the agenda in most tourist visits to other countries of the world e.g. collective agrarian community, dispensary, kindergartens, college, university library and, what is very unusual elsewhere, but most interesting to foreigners in such country, military areas.(original abstract)