Do Australia passport holders need a visa to visit KP?

Australian ordinary passport holders need a visa to enter North Korea. There is no visa-free, visa-on-arrival or eVisa channel for tourism. A tourist visa can only be arranged through a state-registered tour operator (which lodges the application with North Korea's Korea International Travel Company), and independent travel is not permitted. As of May 2026, North Korea remains effectively closed to Western tourists, including Australians, so even an approved visa is not practically obtainable for most travelers. The Australian Government advises "Do not travel." North Korea (DPRK) requires all ordinary passport holders, including Australian citizens, to obtain a visa before travel; it is not in the Schengen area and has no ETA, eVisa or visa-on-arrival scheme for tourists. Tourism is exclusively state-controlled: a traveler must book through a tour operator registered with North Korea's State General Bureau of Tourist Guidance, which submits the application to the Korea International Travel Company (KITC). Once approved, the visa is issued as a separate tourist card (not stamped in the passport), usually collected in Beijing or at the point of entry. Independent tourism is prohibited and all visitors are escorted. Critically, since border closures in 2020, North Korea has not resumed general tourism for Western nationalities. Brief limited reopenings (e.g. the Rason zone in early 2025) were suspended in March 2025, after which only Russian tourists have been admitted. As of 30 May 2026, regular tourist visas are not being issued to Australians, and the Australian Government's Smartraveller advice for North Korea is "Do not travel," noting Australia has no embassy in the DPRK and consular help is extremely limited. The verdict is visa-required, with the practical reality that travel is not currently feasible.