Passenger rail services between Pyongyang and Beijing resumed on March 13 for the first time in more than six years, as North Korea and China seek to expand trade and diplomatic coordination.

North Korea sealed its borders at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, and while freight trains between North Korea and China resumed in September 2022, passenger rail and air links remained dormant.

According to China Tourism Group, the Pyongyang–Beijing service now runs four times a week. A separate line between Pyongyang and the Chinese border city of Dandong operates daily.

Air links are also set to expand. Chinese flag carrier Air China is scheduled to resume a weekly flight between Beijing Capital International Airport and Pyongyang's Sunan International Airport from March 30, according to the airline's booking system.

North Korea's national carrier, Air Koryo, has already been operating limited services to China since August 2023, currently flying twice a week between Pyongyang and Beijing and between Pyongyang and China's northeastern city of Shenyang.

China and North Korea build ties

Former South Korean Unification Ministry spokesperson Jeong Joon-Hee told DW that working-level exchanges between China and North Korea have increased recently, with bilateral trade rising by around 20% year-on-year.

"The resumption of train services suggests that exchanges of people and goods are gradually returning to normal," Jeong said. "It also appears to send a message to the international community that China and North Korea are strengthening ties amid the current global situation."

He added that the train's primary importance is not civilian travel but rather official exchanges and the transport of key materials.

"For this route, the movement of high-level officials and strategic commodities [such as crude oil, food and other sensitive supplies] matters more than ordinary passenger traffic," he said.

"If Air China's flights operate regularly rather than temporarily, that would further indicate both countries' intention to deepen cooperation."

What is the train ride like?

Travelers going by train from Beijing to Pyongyang typically transfer at Dandong, and then board a North Korean train at North Korea's border town Sinuiju to enter North Korea.

While North Korean nationals travel in separate carriages and are not permitted to enter the tourist area, foreign visitors are allocated to separate front carriages, which are often soft-sleeper carriages.

Although border inspections are strict, the trains are normally clean.

After crossing the Yalu River into Sinuiju, officials board the train, collect passengers' phones, record device details, and inspect the contents for prohibited materials such as South Korean, Japanese, and American films or images. Luggage is also searched and passports are re-registered before the train proceeds to Pyongyang.

On departure from North Korea, inspections are similarly rigorous. Authorities may remove any unauthorized images from phones, especially those of soldiers.

North Korea seeks to break isolation

Jeong also suggested that geopolitical tensions elsewhere could influence Pyongyang's calculations. China and North Korea may view ongoing global conflicts as evidence of a shifting multipolar order and as an opportunity to weaken the impact of international sanctions on the North, he said.

Chan-il Ahn, head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies, and a former North Korean soldier who defected in 1979, told DW that the rail link provides an important diplomatic and economic channel.

"The train essentially functions as a conduit for communication between the two governments, as well as for transporting trade officials and workers involved in foreign currency-earning activities," Ahn said.

After the 9th Workers' Party Congress in February, North Korea outlined a new five-year development plan that will require Chinese backing.

"Expanding transport links is part of boosting trade to support that agenda," Ahn said.

Drawing Chinese tourists

Ahn also linked the resumption of Air China flights to North Korea's efforts to revive tourism, particularly at the Wonsan coastal resort area and the Samji Lake region near Mount Paektu — located in the country's northeast, both of which Pyongyang has promoted to Chinese visitors.

According to South Korea's Institute for National Security Strategy's data in November 2023, about 300,000 foreign tourists visited North Korea in 2019 — before the pandemic, roughly 90% of them Chinese, generating an estimated $90 million (€78 million) to $150 million (€130 million) in revenue.

Some Chinese travel agencies have begun advertising North Korean tour packages online, with prices starting at around 3,300 yuan (€414, $478). However, neither Beijing nor Pyongyang has officially announced the resumption of tourism.

Chinese travel industry outlet TravelDaily journalist Li Zhanpu cautioned in a recent report that North Korea tours "often attract curiosity, but without an official announcement, the reopening of the railway does not automatically mean tourism has resumed."

Li added in the report that "all tourism to North Korea is tightly controlled by state-run agencies, and Chinese travel companies have limited direct access to them … consumers who purchase such packages without due caution risk bearing the consequences themselves if refunds are refused."

Edited by: Wesley Rahn