When I first started Young Pioneer Tours back in 2008 the main aim was to provide budget tours to North Korea. But we may have also had beer on the mind – not gonna lie! One of the first conversations I had when I first started arranging travel to North Korea was if we could […]

If you want to get into the very geeky territory of the best North Korean footballer ever, you’d be hard pressed to argue against Mr Pak Doo-Ick, who famously scored the goal that knocked out Italy in the 1966 World Cup. But if you’re talking about the best modern footballer then Jong Tae Se, AKA […]

Fun fact, kids! The best North Korean footballer (arguably) is a chap called Jong Tae Se. AKA The People’s Rooney, he was not actually born in North Korea and essentially holds 3 de facto nationalities: Japanese, North Korean, and South Korean. So what is a guy born in Japan doing representing North Korea in the World […]

In 2012 Young Pioneer Tours offered our first study programme in North Korea – our Juche Study. This initial trip was quite groundbreaking: it did not only focus on Juche, the state ideology of North Korea, but was also a de facto language study tour. Whilst there have been similar projects since then, very few […]

Are there Korean dialects? One of the questions we most commonly get asked on tour is if North and South Korea speak the same language. The quick and simple answer is of course yes, but after 70-plus years as a divided nation there are indeed a few caveats that are worth exploring. But it does […]

North Korea might be famous for its lack of internet, but for those of us old enough to remember there was actually a pre-internet time when people went out and, well, socialized. In North Korea bowling is a thing, and the Golden Lane Bowling Alley is by far the biggest bowling alley in North Korea. […]

Taedonggang beer? Can you drink in North Korea? Can North Koreans drink? These are just some of the questions we veterans of the DPRK get asked on a regular basis. Let’s get to some North Korea myth-busting: here’s our guide to the beer of Pyongyang and North Korea. Can you drink in North Korea? One […]

North Korea (DPRK) is one of the most closed off countries in the world. However, arranging your North Korean visa through YPT is a very simple process. Below we explain how to get a visa for North Korea. Step 1: Choose a tour to North Korea You must join either a scheduled group tour or […]

With North Korea exporting more than $50 million dollars of seafood this July and new sanctions clamping down on seafood exports along with iron and lead, some of the best meals you’re likely to have while travelling in the DPRK can be found along the East and West coasts of the country. Here are some […]

Travelling for weeks, we made our way through the Caucasus from Europe, taken a ferry across the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan, and gone through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, ending up in Kazakhstan. Almaty, Kazakhstan, is a beautiful and modern Russian-esque city not far from the border with Kyrgyzstan; a great place to rest for a few days. […]