It may be one of the last countries to let travelers in — and it’s not China

The national anthem of both North Korea and the United States could be heard in the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre.

These hopes have been closed down.

Mark Edward Harris likes the historic concert performed by the New York Philharmonic the most.

Harris said that he hopes to return to North Korea soon.

Japan and Hong Kong have relaxed border restrictions, but North Korea will not.

The New York Philharmonic performs on Feb. 26, 2008, in Pyongyang, North Korea.

The reopening of North Korea is dependent on two countries. Travelers have to go through them to get to it.

Simon Cockerell is the general manager of Koryo Tours, which specializes in North Korean tourism. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is one of the reasons he mentioned.

The border reopening of North Korea depends on how China reopens to foreign travelers, according to a tour manager.

Most of the tourists going to North Korea go through China.

If China doesn't issue tourist visas or allow tourists to transit through it, it won't be possible for people from China to go to North Korea.

Demand to visit never waned even as North Korea retreated into its shell during the Pandemic.

Cockerell said that there has always been good demand.

The majority of Koryo's revenue comes from North Korea tours.

A performance at the Mangyongdae Schoolchildren’s Palace in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Travelers still want to go to North Korea, Beard said.

He said that he gets daily emails from people asking if North Korea is open again. Once it reopens, it will be first-come, first-served.

According to the North Korea analysis database 38 North, North Korea's tourism revenue increased by 400% in the last four years.

The majority of his company's business was done in North Korea. Australians, Brits, Canadians, the Dutch and Germans were some of the tourists he organized trips for.

The demand for travel to North Korea was so high that flight and train tickets were hard to come by.

According to the tour agencies that spoke to CNBC, North Korea may reopen to foreign tourists later in the century.

One of the last countries to allow travelers in is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Travel brochures promoting North Korea, Tibet and China at a stand at the CMT travel trade fair in January 2020.

Cockerell said that the most conservative line would be taken on this. The country has been closed for months due to a number of diseases, including the 2003 and 2015 H1N1 swine flu epidemics.

He expects strict controls to remain in place even when it reopens, and that a European-style relaxed attitude won't come soon.

When the rest of the world will have mostly moved on, Beard thinks that the reopening of North Korea will be a problem.