Cell Phones Allowed in North Korea

POST UPDATE: Please see our new blog post on the nuts and bolts of 3G and local SIM card rentals in Pyongyang via Koryolink Internet and Phone Service in North Korea DPRK for Foreigners.

For the near two decades that we’ve been traveling to the DPRK, cell phones were not allowed into the country by foreigners. All cell phones had to be left at the airport for the duration of your stay, in a black velvet bag that was then placed in a locker in a separate room. Up until late last year, we were following protocol and advising our tourists to either leave it at the Sunan airport in Pyongyang, or to leave it with our staff in Beijing. But that policy has changed effective January 2013! Now, foreigners may bring their cell phones and can even use it by purchasing a local SIM card sold by Koryolink, the national cellphone provider. Foreigners can even rent a cellphone during their visit. How neat!

In an AP article, the first western news agency to open a news bureau in Pyongyang (and, might we add, a long-time client of Uri Tours!), the AP reports:

Now, foreigners can bring wideband, WCDMA-compatible mobile phones into the country or rent a local handset at the airport, and purchase a local SIM card for use in North Korea. The SIM card allows them to call most foreign countries[ except South Korea], foreign embassies in Pyongyang and international hotels in the North Korean capital, according to Ryom Kum Dan of 3G cellphone service provider Koryolink.

Cellphones rent for about $3.50 per day and SIM cards cost about $67, she said Monday. Satellite phones are prohibited, she said.

So, what does this mean for our travelers and corporate clients? It means that you won’t have to solely rely on expensive hotel phones to call home, that you can now call foreign embassies from within the country (should you need to) and you can call your fellow travelers to make night plans (in the hotel only, for now). What this also means is:

• No arranging courier service with us to hold your phones in Beijing and meet you at the Beijing airport to deliver your phones after your trip;
• No encrypting your data and preparing to store your phone for a week in a foreign locker;
• No fumbling in the dark to make out the time on an old hotel radio clock (for those of who rely on our phones to tell the time);
• Yes to being able to take pictures on your phone, for easy sharing on social media after your trip;
• Yes to being able to show our guides fun pictures of family and life outside of North Korea;
• Yes to being able to access all of your fun offline apps.

In our opinion, not being able to have cell phones during the trip is not all too bad. In a digitally-forward age, to be away from technology for one full week was a welcomed change for some of us. We also found that it lends itself to better human exchange and inter-personal connections. In any case, we’ll have more first-hand information to report after our first group trip of 2013 in February.

In the meantime, for your enjoyment, see our pictures from 2004 of the Sunan airport. The airport is now undergoing construction and a temporary building is being used while the main 2-level terminal is being made over.

Filed under: Uncategorized | January 21, 2013