Tourists are no longer allowed to enter North Korea following a series of pranks and disrespectful behavior by travel influencers. This decision came shortly after the communist state had reopened its borders to Western tourists for the first time in five years.
Dictator Kim Jong-Un had sealed North Korea off at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, but started to scale back restrictions in 2023.
In February, the first group of Western tourists was permitted to visit North Korea after a long hiatus due to the pandemic. However, subsequent trips were canceled by Pyongyang due to the negative portrayal of the country on social media by some participants.
One of the Western tourists allowed entry was British traveler Mike O’Kennedy, a popular YouTuber with around half a million subscribers. O’Kennedy documented his experiences in the country but his content reportedly did not reflect the expected respect for the local way of life.
In one clip that he shared on Instagram to his nearly 90,000 followers, he showed a ‘disturbing’ North Korean school dance, which shows a group of young children wearing red neckties performing a routine while missiles explode on a screen behind them.
‘What the f***k?’, O’Kennedy can be seen mouthing to the camera.
In a separate moment, the YouTuber told the camera that ‘almost every song that comes out of the DPRK is, as expected, a tool of worship toward the country’s current or former leaders,’ he narrates in the video. ‘The recurring theme throughout this trip was the utter devotion people had towards… To them, he’s a god.’
In an interview with Fox News following his return from the communist state, he described North Korea as being a country that is ‘at least 50 years behind anyone else’.
North Korea has shut its borders to tourists after travel influencers began to stage pranks in the communist state and mock their way of life
North Korea had only opened its borders back up to Western tourists following the Covid-19 pandemic in February. British traveler Mike O’Kennedy was one of the first Westerners to visit North Korea after five years of being closed odd
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech at a meeting held during Dec. 23 until Dec. 27, 2024, in Pyongyang, North Korea
He also described what it was like being in a country that had isolated itself from the rest of the world for years, saying that ‘there were times where you could cut the tension with a knife. You could feel the weight of this moment’.
‘There were plenty of enjoyable moments… It was just they were just shrouded by a constant kind of level of subtle buzz, of paranoia and anxiety’, he added.
Meanwhile YouTuber Alec Salvino in a video titled ‘100 Hours in North Korea’, documented some moments of his trip to the Hermit state.
While visiting a school, he showed a clip of schoolgirls dressed in bright colours and holding bouquets of flowers, while others brandish a North Korean flag.
‘Let’s sing about Kim Jong Un’, a caption on the video says.
British travel guide Zoe Stephens, who also visited North Korea, appeared to make a face when documenting her visit to a statue of the country’s leaders.
Speaking to the camera, the vlogger says ‘this where we go to pay our respects’, as she raises her eyebrows and smirks.
British travel guide Zoe Stephens also visited North Korea and documented moments of her visit
Meanwhile YouTuber Alec Salvino shared clips of his visit to a North Korean school, in which he commented how they sang songs praising their leader Kim Jong Un
Other vloggers took it a step further and pulled pranks in the heavily policed state.
American YouTuber Hunter Williams made a video based on his trip to the country titled: ‘I broke North Korean Laws at their border’, where he attempts to violate North Korean rules.
In the video, he makes his pal Ethan, who traveled with him, attempt to give a stranger a book that they brought over from the US.
In North Korean law, it is illegal to distribute foreign books as part of the country’s efforts to control the flow of information and ideology.
Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which organises guided trips to North Korea, shared a notice last week giving content creators advice when travelling to the nation.
The company warned against carrying pranks, saying that ‘North Korea is not the place to push boundaries’, saying that trying ‘controversial stunts’ could have ‘serious consequences’.
‘If your content appears to mock, distort, or disrespect North Korea, it could have consequences—not just for you but also for future travelers, your local guides, and tour operators,’ the agency said, adding that ‘staging pranks, breaking rules, or conducting risky behavior for content could jeopardize your safety, your group, and your local guides’.
‘The DPRK takes laws and customs very seriously, and even minor infractions can lead to detainment or expulsion’, the tour operator added.
O’Kennedy spoke to Fox News about what it was like to set foot in North Korea, and told of how tightly controlled his visit was
Speaking to The Telegraph, founder of Koryo Tours Nicholas Bonner said that there are ‘plenty of things that North Korea considers to be sensitive’.
‘They do like pictures that show anyone performing manual labour because they want to portray everything in the country in a positive light.’
Meanwhile, images of the country’s leadership are also heavily censored, with guides making sure pictures of the Kim dynasty portray them in a positive light.
Koryo Tours advises to respect the local culture, stay with the assigned tour guide and avoid photographing sensitive sights.
‘The best rule of thumb is simple: if you are unsure whether you can take a photo or video, ask your guide first’, it says.
It is unclear when North Korean borders will reopen to Western tourists.
The advice from Koryo Tours comes after American student Otto Warmbier was arrested on dubious charges during a trip to Pyongyang in 2016.
Accused of taking down a propaganda poster, he was detained for 17 months, released in a vegetative state and died.
