North Korea

Is North Korea safe to visit?

No, and for Americans it is not even legal on a US passport. The US State Department rates North Korea Level 4, "do not travel for any reason", because of the serious risk of arrest and long-term wrongful detention. The UK advises against all but essential travel and its embassy in Pyongyang remains closed. We score North Korea 46, near Iran (43) and far below South Korea (85), with low confidence.

Low confidence matters here more than on most pages. North Korea publishes no crime statistics, no homicide rateHomicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary and no road figures. The road death rate we use is a WHO model estimate from 2019, since WHO's 2021 estimates leave North Korea out, and our crime scores rest on what the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says about the experience of foreign visitors, not on numbers. Treat every score except conflict and health as an informed estimate.

The US passport ban

Since 1 September 2017 US passports have been invalid for travel to, in or through North Korea unless the Secretary of State specially validates them. The ban has been renewed every year; the latest notice, published on 20 July 2026, extends it to 31 August 2027. The State Department says validations are granted only in very limited circumstances.

The US has no diplomatic relations with Pyongyang. Sweden acts as its protecting power, but the State Department says North Korea has often delayed or denied Swedish access to detained Americans. Other Western governments are in a similar position: the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says its support is "severely limited", and that foreign SIM cards do not connect inside the country, so calling for help is almost impossible.

Arrest is the real risk

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says insults or jokes about the political system and its leaders are taken very seriously, and that acts which would be trivial elsewhere can bring very severe penalties. Foreigners can be arrested for not showing enough respect, including to images of the current and former leaders. Promoting a religion is an offence. North Korea has arrested visitors with and without charges; some faced public trials and prison.

In 2016 a US national was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour for trying to take a political banner from the staff area of a tourist hotel. He fell into a coma in detention and died soon after his release in 2017. In 2008 guards shot dead a South Korean tourist who strayed into a military area.

What to avoid, from the FCDO's list:

• Korean-language books, religious material and films or files that could be read as hostile; customs can confiscate them, and the penalties can be worse.
• Photos without your guide's permission, especially of officials, soldiers or guarded buildings.
• Wandering off. Guides decide where you go, and there are military checkpoints at the entry and exit of every town.

Can you go at all?

Only on a guided tour, and only when the borders are open to you. North Korea closed its borders in 2020. Russian groups returned in February 2024, and about 900 Russian tourists visited that year, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry, cited by NBC News. Western tourists reached the Rason special economic zone in February 2025, but tour operators said in early March that tourism had been halted again. We could not confirm whether Western tours run in 2026; the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says only that "some limited tourism" has restarted.

Most visitors who arrive by air fly from Beijing on Air China or Air Koryo. The UK bans Air Koryo except for two Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft, and the FCDO cites incidents in 2016 and 2017 that raise concerns about its maintenance.

Missiles, roads and hospitals

North Korea carried out six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017 and test-fires ballistic missiles regularly; it launched two on 20 September 2026, a week after another salvo. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says tension often rises around the US–South Korean military exercises in spring and autumn. The 2026 Global Peace IndexGlobal Peace IndexAn annual ranking of 163 countries by how peaceful they are, based on conflict, crime, militarisation and political instability.More in the glossary ranks the country 147th of 163.

Everyday risks are high too. The WHO estimatedWHO road-death estimateThe World Health Organization's estimate of road traffic deaths per 100,000 people in a country, adjusted for deaths that police statistics miss.More in the glossary 24.2 road deaths per 100,000 people in 2019, nearly three times its estimate for South Korea (8.6), and a tour bus crash on the road to the DMZ killed Chinese tourists in 2018. Flooding in July and August can cut rural roads.

Health care is poor. The FCDO says hospital hygiene is low, anaesthetics and basic antibiotics are sometimes unavailable, and evacuation is likely to be needed for serious illness or injury. Bring every medicine you need, drink only boiled or bottled water, and take cash in US dollars, euros or yuan, as cards are not accepted.

How we scored it

Health (25), conflict (15) and road safety (37) are the weakest factors: extreme detention risk with almost no consular help, poor hospitals and a high modelled road death rate. Violent crime (75) and petty crime (80) score higher only because the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says crime against foreigners is rare, and there is no data to test that. The weighted average is 46, below the cap of 50, so the cap does not bind.