Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

A Crazy Korean Question

Country forums / North-East Asia / South Korea

i just found out that there is a cheap train ride from pyongyang to beijing. the problem is we dont know how to cross the border from seoul to pyongyang. do we take a bus? or train? how long is the trip? we are completely clueless we are thinking of it as an alternative from our original ferry ride from incheon to tianjin. what do you think?

This is not an alternative unless you have very highly placed government connections in both South Korea and (more importantly) DPRK.

1

Take the Incheon-Tianjin ferry. As #1 points out, this isn't an option for ordinary people. To visit Pyongyang you must be on an organized tour. You can't travel overland from South Korea to China or vice versa.

2

Yep, this is one krazy kuestion!
I'd go for it, OP. You'll have to cross the DMZ on foot though. Also stock up on food for the north Korean leg. Take lots of pictures, they'll be worth a lot of money once you're back in the West.

3

If you ever get back, that is. And I thought I was a bit adventurous.

4

Are. You. Serious? Take a plane or the ferry.

5

How much is the train ticket?

You can get to the DMZ by doing a USO Panmunjom tour. From there you can do a runner for Pyongyang. Make sure you've got someone videoing you. I want to see how far you get.

6

Yes...as stated...absolutely impossible.

7

If you try, watch out for the landminds in the DMZ.

8