North Korea marathon resumes 6 years after COVID, but it's not for everyone
North Korea hosted the first Pyongyang International Marathon in six years on Sunday, welcoming international runners to the isolated autocratic nation that closed its borders to all outsiders in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
The 31st Pyongyang International Marathon drew more than 500 participants, including over 200 international runners, who came from nations including North Korea's neighbors and allies China and Russia.
Open to both professionals and amateurs, the event featured a marathon and half-marathon, along with 10-kilometer and 5-kilometer races, according to information provided by the British travel agency Koryo Tours, which is based in China and organizes trips to North Korea for foreign travelers.
The only way for foreign visitors to get into North Korea to take part in the race is to buy a roughly $2,500 ticket to join one of Koryo Tours' package trips to the so-called Hermit Kingdom. Those who took part in this year's race from abroad first had to get to Beijing for the flight to Pyongyang. The six-day tour package offered by Koryo was centered around the marathon.
The race route started at Kim II Sung Stadium in the North Korean capital, where more than 50,000 people were gathered to cheer the runners on. According to the marathon's official website, the circular route took in "many of the iconic buildings, monuments and streets" of Pyongyang before "heading out into the countryside just outside of the urban center" and then looping back.
A North Korean runner was the first to cross the finish line in the main event, according to the country's state-run television.
Runners from the United States, South Korea and Malaysia were reportedly excluded from this year's event registration due to ongoing diplomatic tension between those countries and North Korea.
The Russian Embassy in North Korea said in a social media post that five Russian nationals had participated in the event, with embassy staff and their families coming to cheer them on.
The U.S. and many of its close allies have imposed a wide range of sanctions on North Korea — in addition to multilateral sanctions adopted by the United Nations Security Council — for its repeated weapons and nuclear tests. More recently, the U.S. has also sanctioned Pyongyang for its provision of troops and other support for Russia as it continues its three-year war on neighboring Ukraine.
The U.S. State Department has for years warned Americans against traveling to North Korea, with its highest level of alert — a "Do not travel" advisory — in place "due to the continuing serious risk of arrest and … the critical threat of wrongful detention."
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