The visit to North Korea that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars

United States citizens are not allowed to visit North Korea. But one American citizen was determined to achieve his goal of visiting North Korea even if it meant purchasing citizenship from another country.

For most of the world, the dark days of Covid-19 are a distant memory. But not in North Korea, said Justin Martell, the first American to visit the isolated country since the pandemic began five years ago.

Strict health measures, such as wearing masks and taking temperatures, are still routine, and popular tourist areas, including local shops, are out of use due to fears of the spread of the virus.

Martelli added that pandemic paranoia still runs deep in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as it is officially known. He has also been confronted with absurd theories about the origin of the virus.

“There’s a rumor that Covid-19 entered the country via a balloon sent from South Korea,” he says. Martelli is a Connecticut-born film producer who founded Pioneer Media, a company that specializes in documenting unique and hard-to-reach places.

He was part of a small delegation that visited North Korea last week to begin preparations for the next tourist trips.

After spending five days in North Korea preparing for the limited return of Western tourism, a small delegation of tour operators crossed the Tumen River Bridge to return to China on Monday of this week.

Martelli and his fellow travelers, Australian Rowan Beard of Young Pioneer Tours (YPT) and Hungarian Greg Vaczi of Koryo Tours, are making the most of every minute.

On Thursday, they were set to begin bringing small groups of Western tourists to Rason, a North Korean outpost near the border with Russia and China. Tourists who have booked places include Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Macau and Jamaica.

Beard, who has led trips to North Korea for more than a decade, said the upcoming trips mark a significant step after years of the most extreme isolation experienced by any North Korean recluse.

"I'm over the moon that the first group is leaving this week," Beard said.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm on the ground, it is difficult to get back, and it will take time to find the balance," he stated.

Many key experiences, such as visiting the Rason market to trade with locals using North Korean currency, are currently unavailable. Despite these shortcomings, Beard is optimistic, as talks have begun with local ministries to regain access to those tourist areas and rebuild trust step by step.

He also added that his bank account that he opened in Ranson over a decade ago still has the same balance: about 25 Chinese yen or 3.29 euros.

During the visit, tour operators discussed the possibility of adding a local cinema experience to their upcoming itinerary. North Korea has recently revived its film industry under Kim Jong Un, with several Korean War dramas such as “72 Hours” and “One Day, One Night” being released in theaters.

North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, remains off the list of places to visit for Western visitors, although Russian tourists have had access since last year after strengthening ties with Moscow.

Although the pandemic has halted all visits, Americans have long been banned from entering North Korea, even before the pandemic. The U.S. State Department imposed a travel ban on September 1, 2017, following the death of Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old American student who was imprisoned in North Korea, returned home in poor health, and died shortly thereafter.

Martell, who had visited North Korea 11 times by then, was there when the ban went into effect.

"I was crossing the Sinuiju-Dandong border when it happened, I think I was the last American tourist with a US passport leaving the DPRK."

Despite the ban, Martell remained determined to return to North Korea.

"I didn't want to stop coming, I didn't want the conversation to end," he added.

To circumvent the travel ban, Martell obtained dual citizenship from Saint Kitts and Nevis, a Caribbean nation known for its citizenship-by-investment program. By contributing a six-figure sum to the island nation's Sustainable Island Contribution Fund, he said he secured a second passport, which would allow him to legally return to North Korea without violating U.S. travel restrictions.

"It was about a year of work with documents, background checks, financial information and all the necessary details," he added.

But after the war in Ukraine, prices for the citizenship by investment program have increased significantly.

He said prices have doubled and tripled as a result of Russians getting second passports. "Now it's up to 250,000 (238,992.50 euros), I paid much less than that."

Despite the cost, he sees it as a worthwhile investment.

"You have to really want to go, but my advice is that if you're going to spend the time and money, make sure the passport offers more than just access to North Korea. My Saint Kitts passport allows me to travel to Russia without a visa, something a US passport cannot do," he stated.

Beardi stated that a well-known YouTuber, who travels to achieve more views, has engaged in the same process to obtain a Spanish passport, which costs around $200.000 (191,091.00 euros).

While US policy fueled conversations among North Korean leaders, the topic of Russia's war in Ukraine was treated with silence, or a careful lack of mention.

Western and Ukrainian governments say Pyongyang has sent North Korean troops to fight on Russia's side, with many units suffering heavy losses.

Vaczi, the head of trips to the DPRK for "Koryo Tours", observed the sensitivity towards the subject.

"I had a guide who was extremely knowledgeable about Eastern Europe, but he didn't mention Ukraine, there was a sense of a line not to cross," Vaczi declared.

However, Martelli showed that North Korean leaders were aware of world events, from U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs to the conflict in Ukraine. He found their perspective more revealing in what they didn't say than in what they did say.

"We talked about geopolitics, but about Ukraine, they listened more, it was a topic they approached with caution, even when they showed support for Russia," he added.

Vaczi also emphasized that the guides showed that they are informed about world events.

"They knew about the recent events in South Korea, Trump's tariffs, and the situation in Ukraine, they are informed because they are the ones who deal with foreigners," he added.

Vaczi found the route in Rason, a special economic zone, limited and uninspired.

"Too many factories and schools, no markets, no spontaneity, it quickly becomes repetitive," he declared.

However, there are some noticeable changes. The rules of photography, once very strict, have become much more relaxed.

"They scolded me once, and it was because I filmed a guide," he declared.

However, Martelli stated that he felt the treatment of being an American, even with a Kittian passport.

"I was asked to delete two videos captured at the same time, one was when I was filming a planned mass dance and the other was because the guide had mistranslated a propaganda slogan and I had made a video explaining the slogan incorrectly," he stated.

Despite being American, Martelli stated that he did not encounter any hostility. "As for anti-American comments, there were none, once we were walking in Hae'an Park, and some kids saw us and ran away, one of the guides joked 'maybe they know you are American imperialists' and I replied 'no, just one', and we all laughed, I did not take it as a malicious comment," he stated.

Even the usual symbols of hostility towards the US seemed more subdued. Martelli noted that he had not seen any anti-American propaganda posters displayed and had to look for anti-American postage stamps in the foreign language bookstore, as they were no longer displayed at first.

Despite the barriers, it was a human encounter, unfiltered, unscripted, and personal, that stuck with Martell and his collaborators. At the local school, Martell found himself responding to curious students.

"The kids didn't care about politics, they wanted to know about music, sports, what life was like in the US, they wanted connections," he said.

Prepared by: Shkëlzen Dema