Young Pioneer Tours

The Period of the Three Kingdoms

Many feudal powers emerged in the old territory of the ancieny slave-owning kingdoms. Among them the more powerful overcame and assimilated their neighbours. These were the three kingdoms called Koguryo, Paekje, and Silla. So the period extending to the 7th century A.D., when those kingdoms existed is called the three kindoms.

Of the three, Korguryo was the first to be established and was the largest and strongest.

The capital of Korguryo was Cholbon (the region of Huanran) and Kungnaesong (Jian on the banks of the Amnok River). Following a great expansion of territory in the 5th century, the capitalwas moved to Pyongyang. In Jian, there still stands a 6.34metre high stone monument at the Tomb of King Kwanggaeto. The 1,802 characters inscribed on the stone monument speak of the great power of Koguryo.

In Pyongyang there are relics of the Taesongsan Mountain Fort, the Walled City of Pyongyang and the Anhak Palace. These show that the city was the capital of Koguryo as early as over 1,500 years ago.

The period from the later half of the 7th century to the beginning of the 10th century coincides with the reign of the late Silla and Palhae. Then followed Koryo, a powerful centralized, unified state, which existed on the Korean peninsula for about 500 years. That dynasty was known far and wide and its name has been handed down far and wide abroad as “Korea”.

At the close of the 14th century, Koryo was replaced by the dynasty which was called “Li Choson” or “Li Dynasty”, meaning Chosonunder the rule of Li to be distinguished from Kojoson, the first slave-owning state. This was the last feudal state and existed over 500 years.

LATEST NEWS

End of Another Tour :(

Well we just returned from our wonderful first Arirang Tour of the year. 25 people 14 different countries represented, and some really great fun had by all! We did not even let the small matter of floods get in the way of our fun and managed to circumvent them by taking a bus from Dandong to Shenyang, jumping back on a train and even getting home an hour early! Expect some fresh pictures soon. We still have lots of space left on our September tours, so get in touch now!

Mt Kumgang and Hamhung opened to tours

We are happy to announce the oppening of two destinations available to our tours. The first is Mt Kumgang resort, which was previously ran through South Korea. Our June group were lucky enough to be one of the first group of tourists allowed in this area through the Northern side. This is now available as an option for all independent tours. Hamhung on the east coast of Korea is also now open to our tours, with us planning to take our first group there this September. It is also available for all independent tours, although some restrictions still apply to US and Japanese passport holders. For more details please e-mail us.

June Football tour

We have just returned from a very succesful football tour, where we had the chance to play football with kids at Kim Il Sung, and Yanggakdo Stadiums, get interviewed about the World Cup,and watch the Brazil and Portugal games with Koreans in local bars. That being said the Brazil game went down a little better than the Portugal one. Due to the success of the tour we will be running another football based tour in 2011 to coincide with the domestic DPRK football season.

End of year tour to Rason announced.

Get truly of the beaten track with our tour to Rason in North-Eastern Korea bordering China and Russia, truly one of the worlds least visited places.. Click for more details

D.P.R.K Revisited Tour

Due to interest from a number of previous guests we have decided to run a tour aimed at those visiting the country for a second time. We not only pack in a lot of new places with this tour, but also take you back to the "must see" sites such as the DMZ, Mausoleum, and Arirang. All previous guests are entitled to a discount, as are those booking as a group. We already have a lot of people signed up for this tour, so get in quick!

September Arirang Tour Now extended

Due to increased interest we have decided to offer an extended optional extra two days on to our September/October Arirang Tour. We are now offering a 6 night 7 day, plus 2 nights on the train for 1170, with discounts ofr all groups. For those living, or working in China this tour will take place during the October National day holidays, a golden week to get away.

Visa free travel to Rason with YPT

We can now offer tours to the Rason Special Economic Zone in north-east Korea bordering Russia and China. We have a group tour planned for mid October. For prices and information about going please click here.

US Nationals now allowed all year round!

The DPRK has lifted restrictions regarding Americans, and they may now enter the country anytime throughout the year! Although there are still a few restrictions, contact Tours@YoungPioneerTours.com for more details.