P'yŏngyang (평양 Pyeongyang), with about 2,750,000 inhabitants, is the capital city of North Korea. It is situated on the Taedong River in the southwest of the country.
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Understand
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Get in
Nearly all visitors arrive either by plane or train from Beijing. You'll need a visa before you travel and will need a minimum of 2 weeks to process it.
Sunan International Airport (IATA: FNJ) is 24 km north of Pyongyang and, as of 2009, has scheduled services to Beijing, Shenyang, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Vladivostok.
The Air China Beijing flights depart/arrive on Monday and Friday afternoons, with an additional service on Wednesday afternoons in summer (from April 1st). Note that Pyongyang airport does not have Instrument Landing System (ILS), so if the weather is bad, flights are sometimes cancelled, or even turned back. Air Koryo usually never has problems landing in their home base, so if you need to be sure to arrive, better take Air Koryo. However, take into account that Air China is far more modern and safe when compared to Air Koryo.
If you are in a position to be able to, the tickets to Beijing are almost half price from Pyongyang. They are on sale in the Youth Hotel, in the Air China office, which is situated about 10km north-east of the city. Furthermore, they give a 30kg baggage allowance for free.
Trains from China arrive at Pyongyang's main central train station. Foreigners have to exit via the side door at the far end of the station from the gates. Don't join the scrum with the Koreans, as you won't be allowed to leave via the same door. If you have transported anything via freight on the train, you'll have to go back the next day to pick it up. The customs office is around the back of the building, and is shut 12:00-14:00. At other times, it's not very busy at all. There are no charges for collecting customs-cleared goods, and the bureaucracy is fairly simple, especially after the chaos at Beijing railway station.
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Get around
Visitors to North Korea will need to be accompanied by an accredited guide or guides, who will arrange where you can visit and how you will get there.
This is true of package tours (the only way tourists can get in). However, personal visitors of foreign residents in Pyongyang are free to go around by themselves, unless explicitly told not to by Korean authorities. This can happen, but is not always the case.
Residents are usually free to wander around. However, they cannot use buses. The subway system CAN be used, despite rumours to the contrary. There are two routes, and all the stations are open to foreigners. Despite being old, the trains run quite efficiently, and are phenomenally cheap (5 won a ride, any distance- there are roughly 5000 won to a euro on the black market). The biggest drawback to this form of transport is that the subway is only on the west side of the river, while Munsu dong, where all foreign residents live, is on the east side.
Taxis can be taken, but Koreans usually are very nervous about accepting foreigners. One exception might be the Koryo hotel, situated near the railway station. Expect the driver to check with the hotel that he is allowed to take you first. Around €5 will cover a medium distance one way ride......................
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