Koryo Tours is an independent Western travel company based in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, specializing in group and independent tourism to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. Their tours run throughout the year covering budget to exclusive trips. There are packages for staying in the capital

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

with visits to the

DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...

at the border with the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its east ...

. At different times of year there are other events such as the

Mass Games Mass games or mass gymnastics are a form of performing arts or gymnastics in which large numbers of performers take part in a highly regimented performance that emphasizes group dynamics rather than individual prowess. North Korea Mass games a ...

and the

Pyongyang International Film Festival The Pyongyang International Film Festival is a biennial cultural exhibition held in Pyongyang, North Korea. Until 2002, the film festival was reserved to "non-aligned and other developing countries". History The event originated in 1987 as the Py ...

which are available as special tours when they are running.

History

In 1993, Koryo Tours was set up by Nick Bonner and Joshua Green and they have been organizing trips into North Korea since 1993. Simon Cockerell joined the company in 2002 and in 2015 was the general manager.

Tourism

In 1993, Koryo Tours was appointed as a travel specialist by the Korea International Travel Company, part of the

Government of North Korea In the North Korean government, the Cabinet is the administrative and executive body. The North Korean government consists of three branches: administrative, legislative, and judicial. However, they are not independent of each other, but all br ...

. Koryo Tours takes in over 50% of westerners visiting North Korea. Koryo Tours is responsible for opening up of new destinations in North Korea as well as new activities such as;

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

, educational tours etc.

Film production

Koryo Tours was involved in the production of a number of films. '' The Game of Their Lives'' (2002), ''

A State of Mind ''A State of Mind'' is a 2004 documentary film directed by Daniel Gordon and produced by Nicholas Bonner.Justin Corfield, ''Historical Dictionary of Pyongyang 2013'', page 16 "Nick Bonner has also been involved in the production of a number o ...

'' (2004) and ''

Crossing the Line Crossing the Line may refer to: Films * ''Crossing the Line'', an alternate US title for the film ''The Big Man'', by David Leland * ''Crossing the Line'', an alternate UK title for the film ''Little Woods'', by Nia DaCosta * ''Crossing the Li ...

'' (2006) were documentaries. ''

Comrade Kim Goes Flying ''Comrade Kim Goes Flying'' is a 2012 North Korean romantic comedy feature film,

'' (2012) was a romantic comedy feature film, shot in Pyongyang, with a North Korean cast and crew."Comrade Kim Goes Flying"
Toronto Film Festival Koryo Tours also assisted in the production of Aim High in Creation (2013) and Michael Palin in North Korea on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

(2019). As part of the making of ''The Game of Their Lives'', Koryo Tours organised the return of the North Korean team of the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

to the United Kingdom in October 2002. Over 100,000 British football fans turned out to welcome the players at various football clubs.

Cultural activities

They have organised various cultural exchanges, including music and sport. Koryo Tours is the exclusive partner for the Pyongyang International Marathon held every April, an event that attracts between hundreds and over 1,000 amateur foreigners a year. In 2014 Koryo Tours provided the North Korean input for the Korea Pavilion at the Venice Architectural Biennale, curator Minsuk Cho. The pavilion won the Golden Lion. Koryo Tours is the international co-ordinator for the bi-annual

which has a local audience total of 120,000. In 2004 and 2006 they screened ''

Bend It Like Beckham ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (also known as ''Kick It Like Beckham'') is a 2002 sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightle ...

'', '' Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie'' and '' Bride and Prejudice'', each film seen by over 12,000 locals. They assisted the British Embassy with the nationwide broadcast of ''Bend It Like Beckham'' on December 26, 2010 (the first western feature film to be broadcast in North Korea). In conjunction with the North Korean Ministry of Sport, they arranged the first friendship

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

ultimate frisbee Ultimate, originally known as ultimate Frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a frisbee flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by AJ Gator in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its ath ...

matches between locals and westerners. In September 2010 with the support of the British Embassy and

CLSA CLSA Ltd. (formerly known as Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia) is a capital markets and investment group focused on alternative investment, asset management, corporate finance and capital markets, securities and wealth management for corporate an ...

to mark ten years of diplomatic relations they took Middlesbrough Women's FC to Pyongyang to play two North Korean teams, both matches watched by 6,000 Korean fans and broadcast nationwide.

Published work

Koryo Studio produced Printed in North Korea (2019), which contains a series of linocuts representing everyday life in North Korea. Koryo also produced Made in North Korea (2017), which focuses on the

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

of products made in the country, and an accompanying London exhibition, Made in North Korea (2018). 2009 in-house publishing of ‘The Art of DPRK – North Korean Film Posters’. 2007 produced ‘Welcome to Pyongyang’ a photographic study with Charlie Crane (winner of the

British Journal of Photography The ''British Journal of Photography'' (BJP) is a magazine about photography, published by 1854 Media. It includes in-depth articles, profiles of photographers, analyses, and technological reviews. History The magazine was established in Liverpo ...

International Prize). 2008 co-writer ‘A Night in Pyongyang’ (mass games photographic book) Werner Kranwetvogel. 2002 ''Wallpaper Magazine'' produced and wrote an architectural feature on Pyongyang in conjunction with a North Korean photographer. In 2012, Koryo Tours released ''

Pyongyang Racer ''Koryo Tours Pyongyang Racer'' or ''Pyongyang Racer'' is a 2012 racing game developed by Nosotek and published by Koryo Tours. The player drives a Hwiparam II around Pyongyang and visits several of its sights while collecting fuel and avoidi ...

'', a

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

developed by

Nosotek Nosotek () is the first Western-invested IT joint venture company in North Korea. Nosotek is known for developing computer games for various platforms, such as iPhone, j2me and Wii. They claimed to have 50+ programmers on the team jointly manage ...

with students from the

Kim Chaek University of Technology Kim Chaek University of Technology is a university in North Korea, on the banks of the Taedong River in Pyongyang. It is named after General Kim Chaek. The university's programs in nuclear reactors, nuclear electronics, nuclear fuel and nuclear ...

, to promote

tourism in North Korea Tourism in North Korea is tightly controlled by the North Korean government. All tourism is organized by one of several state-owned tourism bureaus, including Korea International Travel Company (KITC), Korean International Sports Travel Company (K ...

Media

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

– Co-ordinator for ''Travelogue''

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

(UK) the first travel programme on North Korea (1995). Arranged the first music programme on North Korea with

Andy Kershaw Andrew J. G. Kershaw (born 9 November 1959) is a broadcaster and disc jockey, predominantly on radio, and known for his interest in world music. Kershaw's shows feature a mix of country, blues, reggae, folk music, African music, spoken word pe ...

, two-parts, Sony nomination (2003).

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

- Profiled in two-part radio travelogue following Nicholas Bonner on tour in North Korea, Sony nominated (2005). Regular media contributor/interviews. (2007) CNN's ''

TalkAsia ''TalkAsia'' is a weekly half-hour interview show on CNN International, produced from the network's Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong. Each month, the show features a candid and in-depth conversation between a CNN correspondent and a newsma ...

'' interview with Nicholas Bonner. (2006) Nicholas Bonner and Daniel Gordon interview on their documentary ''

'' for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

:s ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

'' feature with

Bob Simon Robert David Simon (May 29, 1941 – February 11, 2015) was an American television correspondent for CBS News. He covered crises, war, and unrest in 67 countries during his career.Gottlieb, Hooper. Shearer, Benjamin F. ed., ''Home Front Her ...

. Co-presenter in TV travel series '' Departures'' on North Korea (2009) broadcast on the National Geographic Adventure Channel.

References

External links

* {{Official website
Koryo Studio

Danwei Nick Bonner article

Slide shows of travel and Koryo Tours projects

Tourism in North Korea Companies based in Beijing Transport companies established in 1993 Travel and holiday companies of China