Pyongyang Marathon Returns: Foreigners Get Rare Glimpse Inside

The Pyongyang International Marathon, held on April 6, 2025, marked a significant moment for North Korea as it hosted its first international marathon in six years. This historic event welcomed around 200 runners from across the globe, including participants from countries such as Russia, China, the UK, Singapore, France, Portugal, Germany, Australia, Spain, Slovakia and Poland, making it one of the most diverse editions in the marathon’s history. 

EXPLORING PYONGYANG

Set against the backdrop of Pyongyang’s iconic landmarks, the marathon provided a rare opportunity for foreigners to explore the capital’s streets, cheered on by thousands of locals. Starting and ending at the legendary Kim Il-sung Stadium, the event was a symbol of North Korea's cautious steps towards reopening after years of isolation.

Koryo Tours played a crucial role in organizing the participation of western tourists at this year's marathon, taking on the responsibility as the exclusive partner due to the short notice in preparing for this international event. In addition to western groups, two Chinese travel companies brought runners to the event — the first time since the pandemic that tour groups from China have entered the DPRK. Hong Kong’s tour group, DeWonder, also brought 22 participants to Pyongyang for the occasion. These tours came with a premium price tag.  The fee for the seven-day marathon tour was around $2,750 USD per person, with the cost of participating in the race charged separately (full marathon participation was priced at around $155 USD, the half marathon at around $104 USD and the 5 or 10km races at around $72 USD).

VOICES FROM THE RACE

For North Korean runners like Pak Kum-dong and Jon Su-gyong, who secured victories in the elite men’s and women’s full marathon categories respectively, the event was a proud moment of achievement widely celebrated on state media. Pak described the enthusiastic cheers from his fellow citizens as his greatest motivation to push through the challenges of the race. Meanwhile, Polish runner Wojciech Kopec, who swept all three medals in the men’s amateur marathon, made headlines with his claim for victory in the race despite North Korean state media reporting a local athlete as the winner.

American runner Cameron Mofid, who participated in the 10km event, described the marathon as “the craziest experience” of his life. Mofid, who completed his mission to visit every country in the world with this trip to North Korea, shared the adrenaline rush of entering Kim Il-sung Stadium filled with 50,000 spectators and noted that the atmosphere was unlike anything he had experienced before.

Claus Randrup, a marathon participant from Denmark, said that while he believed there were no actors filling the streets and stores, he thought certain aspects of the trip were choreographed — such as metro passengers moving to the car where foreigners were located, or the last-minute approval for a visit to a shopping center. Randrup felt these elements were staged, “like part of a movie or play,” yet surprisingly, the short notice allowed more blending with locals. He remarked how much they were able to explore the city, even witnessing state-controlled social media where locals used a YouTube-style platform to watch 60-second highlights of Champions League games.

British YouTuber Harry Jaggard also documented his journey, shedding light on the contrasting interactions with North Korean guides. “When we’re off camera, they’re very open and they’ll say what they really think,” Jaggard shared, noting the candid nature of their discussions in informal settings. However, he observed a distinct shift when cameras were involved — guides and staffers appeared to have rehearsed responses, often citing music and books associated with the regime. “It’s like a script that they’ve learned.” Despite this, Jaggard highlighted moments of humor and curiosity, such as a guide jokingly pointing out a beer bottle-shaped pillar at the Taedonggang Brewery, calling it the best beer. 

The marathon was more than just an athletic event — it provided a rare window into the lives of North Koreans in 2025. This opportunity was especially unique given that North Korea briefly reopened tourism to Western visitors last month for the first time in over five years, only to suspend it again after just three weeks. The marathon-linked tours appear to have been a fleeting event, leaving uncertainty about future opportunities to engage with the reclusive nation.

Top NK Headlines - May 2022

COVID-19 RAVAGES NORTH KOREA

• 2.8M have experienced “fever” and sickness and 479,400 people are in treatment. This represents 11 percent of the North Korean population who may have contracted COVID-19

• President Biden, during a visit with newly elected South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol shared in a joint appearance with president Yoon "We've offered vaccines, not only to North Korea but to China as well, and we're prepared to do that immediately… we've got no response." 

• State media has recommended remedies such as herbal tea, gargling salt-water and taking painkillers such as ibuprofen.

BBC.com
38North.org

EXHAUSTED PYONGYANG RESIDENTS FORCED TO ATTEND 17-HOUR “COVID-SUPERSPREADER" MILITARY PARADE

• North Korea hosted an extravagant military parade on April 25, 2022 where it gathered more than 20,000 soldiers to showcase its military equipment, including the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army.  

• Kim Jong-un praised students and young workers who participated in the parade for their “patriotism and high enthusiasm for the revolution and struggle.”  However, participants said the parade did little to improve morale and a resident of Chongjin told Radio Free Asia that “[residents] did not hide their disappointment, saying that no one believed the authorities’ propaganda.”

• A city official said that the event was only publicly announced just before it began, and “[from] the dawn on the 25th, about 100,000 Pyongyang citizens waited at Kim Il Sung Square for 17 hours to make the military parade possible...[they] were all totally exhausted.”

• Sources also revealed that since Pyongyang citizens have been trying to avoid parade duties, the government began to force them to practise watching or marching in parades two months in advance, “[now] the number of participants are assigned to each neighborhood watch unit and they are forcibly mobilized.”  Citizens complained that they were unable to do business during the two-month practice period and were not compensated for their loss.

• To ensure Kim Jong-un's security, authorities blocked all mobile communications in Pyongyang and even instructed participants to dress in black until just before the ceremony started in order to avoid being detected by satellites.

Source:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/parade-04292022195652.html 
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220502000125&np=1&mp=1 
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3177889/coronavirus-superspreader-military-parade-blamed-deadly-north 
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/covid-05132022203718.html 

HUNGRY NORTH KOREAN WORKERS IN CHINA WORK BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AMIDST LOCKDOWN

• A source told Daily NK that North Korean factory workers in the city of Dandong, China have remained in their dormitories under orders to keep working behind closed doors since their plants shut down following regional Covid-19 lockdowns.

• The source added that those managing the workers were supposed to bulk buy food through a Chinese shopping strategy called “group buying” but had failed to do so, which resulted in the challenges of acquiring food with the current implementation of bans on movement.

• Although the managers have now picked up on the “group buying” method, workers were not receiving sufficient food due to the soaring food prices in China. The cost of eggs, for instance, have more than tripled in price since the lockdown began and a head of cabbage which used to cost approx. $0.29 USD is now a shocking $7.37 USD.

• North Koreans workers struggled to send authorities a set quota of “loyalty funds” since the Chinese factories shut down, resulting in a cut in their monthly wages.

• Nonetheless, many workers who used to work 10 to 12 hours a day all month for less than RMB 500 (approx. $73.73 USD) said that they could now rest, despite being frustrated about the lack of support from the North Korean embassy in China.

Source:
https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korean-workers-china-face-challenges-purchasing-enough-food-amid-lockdowns/ 

JUDGE FEARS NORTH KOREA COULD MURDER U.S. MARINE VET

• U.S. Magistrate Judge Jean Rosenbluth issued an unusual decision concerning her order for the extradition of Christopher Ahn, a former U.S. Marine veteran who took part in a raid on North Korea’s Madrid embassy in February 2019, to face trial in Spain.

• Ahn claimed in his case that he was part of an anti-North Korea group called “Free Joseon (Free Korea)” who had entered the embassy to help North Koreans who wanted to defect.

• According to court documents, the group left the building with computer drives, a cell phone, and other electronic information, which they later turned over to the FBI.

• Ahn returned to California after the incident and was arrested in April 2019.  Spain later sought his extradition on 6 criminal charges carrying a potential sentence of over 10 years in prison.

• Judge Rosenbluth wrote in her ruling that “[in] part because of his participation in the embassy incident, North Korea wants to kill Ahn...I must decide whether to certify his extradition to Spain, where North Korea can much more easily murder him. Although I conclude that the law requires me to certify, I do not think it’s the right result, and I hope that a higher court will either tell me I’m wrong or itself block the extradition.”

• During an interview with Fox News last year, Ahn expressed his disappointment that “[the] same Department of Justice that has told me that if I leave the country that I could be assassinated is the same Department of Justice that’s trying to extradite me.”

Source:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/judge-warns-north-korea-murder-us-marine-vet-spain-rcna28154 
https://nypost.com/2022/05/10/us-judge-forced-to-allow-extradition-of-ex-marine-christopher-ahn-to-spain-fears-hell-be-killed/ 
https://www.nknews.org/2022/05/us-judge-approves-extradition-of-american-who-raided-dprk-embassy-in-spain/ 

NORTH KOREA COMPLETES NUCLEAR TEST PREPARATIONS DESPITE COVID-19 OUTBREAK 

• South Korea’s spy agency revealed that there are signs North Korea could launch an intercontinental ballistic missile as part of its seventh nuclear test after completing its preparations amid Covid-19 outbreak.

• Kim Byung-kee of the Democratic Party told reporters that “[it] would not be abnormal for North Korea to launch a missile or conduct a nuclear test at one point, as signs [of such provocations] are detected and Pyongyang has almost completed its preparations.”

• The first deputy chief of South Korea’s presidential National Security Office, Kim Tae-hyo, also said that a nuclear launch appears to be “imminent.”

Source:
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220519006400320?section=nk/nk

Once Upon A Time, North Korea was the Christian Hub of the East - Part 2

Surrender in a village during The Korean War.

PYONGYANG SEMINARY BIRTHED CHURCH LEADERS

When the first seven graduates finished their studies at the Pyongyang Theological Seminary in 1907, the mission boards of the Southern Presbyterian Church (US), the Northern Presbyterian Church (US), the Canadian Presbyterian Church, and the Australian Presbyterian Church, agreed to establish the first presbytery in Korea. This is an important event which solidified Pyongyang’s importance in the history of Korean Christianity as until this time, most missionaries and leaders in Korea were overseen by the denominations and mission boards of the Western missionaries.  

Soon after, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea was established in 1912, where Horace Underwood and Kil Sun-ju were elected as its first moderator and vice-moderator, respectively, during a meeting at the seminary in Pyongyang. Other denominations were subsequently formed to build and support the growing church community in Korea.

WHY DID NORTH KOREAN CHURCHES DISAPPEAR?

The prevailing perspective that has long dominated the South Korean and western view of North Korea is that, since the division of the two the Koreas, North Korean Christianity practically vanished except for a very limited number of “underground” Christians, since most Christians, especially leaders, had to flee to the South for religious freedom following a series of persecutions by the regime.  

Shedding new light on the matter, Japanese historian, Sawa Masahiko, studied two of the multi-volume 1960s collections of Kim Il-sung’s addresses and writings and found that, unlike Marx and Lenin, Kim seldom attacked religion or Christianity per se, but rather focused his criticism on such political allegations that Christianity came to Korea as the forerunner of imperialism, and that some “bad” Christian leaders opposed the nationalist nation-building in North Korea and collaborated with the Americans during the Korean War. Sawa also questioned if the reason why there was no church in North Korea was because of North Korean communism as such, but rather with the nature of Korean Christianity itself, making it unable to exist in a socialist environment.

Alternatively, Korean scholar, Dae Young Ryu, proposed a new perspective to understand the history of North Korean Christianity as a history of North Korean Christians’ constructive efforts to survive, adjust, and change in the midst of a hostile environment. Ryu noted that, during the Japanese occupation, North Korean Christianity mainly became the religion of businessmen, professionals, and landlords. Even though a vast majority of the North Korean population was poor tenant farmers, few of them embraced Christianity. When the nationalist-socialist government came into power after the liberation, established Christians became antagonists of the nationalist-Marxist revolution and fled to the South, while lay people simply accepted socialism as a reality. Further, U.S. air raids that caused immense human suffering to North Koreans during the Korean War planted a burning hatred of Americans within the nation. Thus Christianity, which was seen as an American religion, became an object of contempt and ridicule. As a result, many North Korean Christians lost their faith as they rebuilt the war-stricken nation.

Prayer for North Korean Refugees: Restoration Song

North Korean Refugee Sings a Song She Wrote from Crossing Borders on Vimeo.

This is not a song one would think that a North Korean refugee would write. It is especially unexpected of a woman who has been trafficked and physically abused, a woman who has spent time in a North Korean prison camp. However, after two years in the care of Crossing Borders, having received the gospel and been ministered to by the faithful missionaries on the field, “Ok-seo,” one of the North Korean refugees a part of Restore Life program shared this personally written song with us. Ok-seo has found hope in Christ through the underground church in China.

Ok-seo was well to do in North Korea. She didn’t suffer during the Great North Korean Famine of the 1990s during which an estimated 3 million people starved to death. But when her husband took her 10-year-old son with him to be with another woman, her life took a turn for the worse.

She began selling copper taken from electrical wiring on North Korea’s sputtering electrical grid. This is a grave crime in North Korea and when caught, she was sent to prison. Ok-seo, however, said that she had been lucky. If she had be caught stealing wires going to or from the North Korean capitol of Pyongyang, she would have been executed.

When Ok-seo got out of prison, her friend who was also in the copper trade, told her that she could make $500 a month in China in a tailoring factory. But when she crossed the border she immediately realized that something was very wrong. Ok-seo had been tricked. She had stepped into the waiting hands of a human trafficking ring. Ok-seo begged her captors to sell her to someone without physical defects. Many North Korean refugee women are sold to Chinese men with disabilities. They honored her request and sold Ok-seo to a Chinese farmer who had an immense amount of debt.

Her husband and his family physically and verbally abused Ok-seo to the point where she would get severe migraines. Desperate, she turned to a neighbor, a fellow North Korean refugee who was also trafficked. This woman brought her to church.

Ok-seo said that shortly after she started attending church, her migraines went away.

Outwardly, Ok-seo's situation as a North Korean refugee has not changed. She is still struggling to find the means to survive with her family. However, her outlook on life has transformed. Ok-seo was recently given a journal from our missionaries and wrote the lyrics to the song she she shared after North Korean women in her village were sent back to North Korea. The tune is a of a traditional North Korean song.

In fear, Ok-seo has found hope. Please pray for her and the tens of thousands of North Korean refugees like her - that they would find restoration and strength in God.

*Note: Ok-seo is a part of our Refugee Rescue Fund where you can sponsor women like her in Restore Life and receive regular updates on them.