With the U.S. currently banning all U.S. passport holders from traveling to North Korea, despite a distinct change of tone from both parties and countless positive talks between President Donald Trump and Marshal Kim Jong Un, with President Trump crossing over the border recently,  there’s unfortunately no sign of the travel ban being dropped anytime […]

A common misconception among tourists is that alcohol in North Korea is either banned or severely restricted. In fact not only is it very common, its production is actually encouraged by the state. There is a surprisingly huge range of alcoholic beverages on the market, from traditional Korean alcohol such as Makkoli and Soju, foreign […]

June 30th, 2019 Regardless of what happens with the currently-ongoing closed-door discussions between Chairman Kim Jong Un and President Trump, today’s meeting is still of immense significance. The two leaders both made history – Marshal Kim Jong Un was the first North Korean leader to step into South Korea since the Korean War, and Trump […]

When you compare the neon lights of Seoul to the starry, tranquil nights on the grassland of Mongolia, you would never expect those two countries to have anything in common. The inhabitants of the two countries, however, have a lot more in common than meets the eye. In this article we’ll delve deeper in the […]

We at Young Pioneer Tours are most noted for the varied and frequent tours we run to North Korea, but North Korean tours are not the only thing we do. We offer tours to no small number of destinations around the world besides South Korea and North Korea, from Cuba to China. We even do […]

The March 1st Movement, known in both North and South Korea as the Sam-Il Movement (‘Three-One’ Movement, meaning ‘March 1st’ obvs), is named for the first major protest against the unpopular and tyrannical Japanese colonial rule of the Korean peninsula of 1910-1945. At the end of World War I a great number of new nations […]

Whether you’re a fan of the circus or not, the talented acrobatics you’ll see at a performance at the Pyongyang Circus is enough to impress anyone and leave you wanting to pay another visit!  From magic tricks to terrifying acrobatics, the Koreans in the performance certainly have some skill. The Pyongyang Circus Completed in 1989, […]

We have written before about what a Young Pioneer is; indeed, as might be obvious, indeed our company name was indeed inspired by the Young Pioneer movement. Now whilst the Cold War might have ended (or is it back?), the International Pioneer Movement still prevails in certain quarters. In places such as North Korea, international […]

There are a few important concepts to learn about when it comes to North Korean state ideologies. The most important is probably Juche (‘self-reliance’), created by Kim Il Sung. Secondary to this is Songun – ‘military first’ – which was created by Kim Jong Il. Songun: ‘military first’ In short, Songun puts the Korean People’s […]

It has now been 74 years since the Korean peninsula was split through the middle following the end of World Word II in 1945. Since that time the two countries have not only been completely estranged politically and geographically, but also linguistically. Three quarters of a century is a lengthy amount of time and it is […]