North Korea has recognized the importance of tourism since the 2000s. As a result, North Korea has been pushing ahead with the policies to activate tourism industry. With the beginning of the Kim Jong-Un regime, in particular, tourism became the must-have business to earn foreign currency. Along with a wave of promoting tourism industry in North Korea, the recent moves toward reconciliation and peace between the two Koreas have led to high expectations for inter-Korean exchanges including tourism. In the Panmumjom Declaration made right after the April 2018 inter-Korean summit, the two Korean leaders agreed to put efforts into further inter-Korean exchanges in many directions. Needless to say, tourism should be a starting point to facilitate inter-Korean exchanges and will, in turn, play a pivotal role to connect two Koreas. This study was designed to seek the measures to gear up for inter-Korean tourism by inquiring into the tourism products for foreign tourists in North Korea and examining the South Koreans’ perception of North Korean tourism products. To this end, a quantitative method was carried out. A questionnaire was administered to people aged 19 or over, who live in Seoul or Metropolitan areas. This research intends to offer basic data to contribute to restarting inter-Korean tourism and exchanges. The findings of the study are as follows: First, ‘individual tourism’ is most preferred and Mt. Guemgang, Pyongyang, and Mt. Baekdu are chosen as the most attractive travel destinations. Second, when it comes to the most important attributes of North Korea tourism products, ‘safety and trust’is chosen as the most important attribute, followed by ‘facilities and service’ and ‘accessibility.’ In sum, this study is meaningful in that it provides a stepping stone for the development of tourism products linking the two Koreas. It is hoped that the findings of this study contribute to the progress of the inter-Korean tourism.
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