SEOUL/BEIJING: Tickets for the first passenger train in six years from Beijing to North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, were sold out ahead of its March 12 departure, an official ticketing office in Beijing said on Tuesday.
The resumption of the rail service, suspended since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, revives a critical transport link between the largely isolated North Korea and its primary economic ally.
Tickets for the journey — restricted to travelers holding business visas — were purchased by entrepreneurs, government officials and reporters, according to the Beijing ticketing office. Tickets were still available for the next service, scheduled for March 18.
NORTH KOREA STILL LARGELY CLOSED TO TOURISTS
China’s railway authority said in a notice that Beijing-Pyongyang trains will operate four times a week in both directions on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday while Dandong-Pyongyang trains will run daily.
The resumption from March 12 will “further promote China-North Korea travel, trade and economic cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges to enhance mutual well-being and friendship,” the notice said.
North Korea remains closed to most foreign tourism, with limited exceptions largely for Russian tour groups under restricted arrangements, according to travel agencies organizing trips to the country.
Before the pandemic, Chinese visitors made up the largest share of foreign tourists to North Korea, the agencies said. Tour organizers said on Monday that North Korea had canceled next month’s Pyongyang Marathon for unspecified reasons. The race is one of the few events that has been open to international participants in the isolated state.
