Tourism in North Korea is organized by the state-owned Korea International Travel Company. All tourists/visitors are constantly accompanied by one or two "guides", who usually speak the tourist's native language. While tourism has increased over the last few years, tourists from Western countries remain few.
Most visitors come from China, Russia, and Japan. Russian citizens from the Asian part of Russia prefer North Korea as a tourist destination because of the relatively low prices, lack of pollution, and warmer climate. For citizens of South Korea, it is almost impossible to get a visa to North Korea; they can get "entry permits" to special tourist areas designated for South Koreans, such as Kaesong. United States citizens were also subject to visa restrictions, allowed to visit only during the yearly Arirang Festival; these restrictions were lifted in January 2010. Fewer than 2,500 United States citizens have visited North Korea since 1953.
In the area of the K?mgangsan mountains, the company Hyundai established and operates a special tourist area. Travel to this area is possible for South Koreans and United States citizens, but only in organized groups from South Korea. A special administrative region, the K?mgangsan Tourist Region, exists for this purpose. Trips to the region were suspended after a South Korean woman who wandered into a controlled military zone was shot dead by border guards in late 2008. When tours had not resumed by May 2010, North Korea announced that it would seize South Korean real estate assets in the region.
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