We at Young Pioneer Tours are most noted for the varied and frequent tours we run to North Korea, but North Korean tours are not the only thing we do. We offer tours to no small number of destinations around the world besides South Korea and North Korea, from Cuba to China. We even do […]

The March 1st Movement, known in both North and South Korea as the Sam-Il Movement (‘Three-One’ Movement, meaning ‘March 1st’ obvs), is named for the first major protest against the unpopular and tyrannical Japanese colonial rule of the Korean peninsula of 1910-1945. At the end of World War I a great number of new nations […]

Whether you’re a fan of the circus or not, the talented acrobatics you’ll see at a performance at the Pyongyang Circus is enough to impress anyone and leave you wanting to pay another visit!  From magic tricks to terrifying acrobatics, the Koreans in the performance certainly have some skill. The Pyongyang Circus Completed in 1989, […]

We have written before about what a Young Pioneer is; indeed, as might be obvious, indeed our company name was indeed inspired by the Young Pioneer movement. Now whilst the Cold War might have ended (or is it back?), the International Pioneer Movement still prevails in certain quarters. In places such as North Korea, international […]

There are a few important concepts to learn about when it comes to North Korean state ideologies. The most important is probably Juche (‘self-reliance’), created by Kim Il Sung. Secondary to this is Songun – ‘military first’ – which was created by Kim Jong Il. Songun: ‘military first’ “Although we cannot give sweets to our […]

It has now been 74 years since the Korean peninsula was split through the middle following the end of World Word II in 1945. Since that time the two countries have not only been completely estranged politically and geographically, but also linguistically. Three quarters of a century is a lengthy amount of time and it is […]

Five years ago, our team at Young Pioneer Tours ran our first borderlands research tour. The trip had us driving along the North Korean and Chinese border, much of which used to be part of the historic Koryo nation. We had also had a lot of interest in us running a tour that would see […]

The “Sariwŏn Folklore street” was constructed during Kim-Jong-il’s rule. Built to display an ideal picture of ancient Korea, it includes buildings in the “historical style” and a collection of ancient Korean cannons. Although it is considered an inaccurate romanticized recreation of an ancient Korean street, it is frequently used as a destination for foreigners on […]

In some countries membership of political parties is a big deal. Also, in order to qualify you have to be one of the ‘ruling political parties’, as otherwise there would be multiple country listings. In this article we will go through the Top 7 largest political parties as updated in 2019. Remember all the old […]

Does the tipping system exist in North Korea? Is tipping obligatory in North Korea? If so, how much and to whom? We are very glad that you asked, as these are some of the many questions that we get asked frequently here at Young Pioneer Tours. The short answer is yes, tipping is expected in […]