Kaesŏng
Kaesong is a special city in the southern part of North Korea, and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty.
Kaesong is a special city in the southern part of North Korea, and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close to the border with South Korea and contains the remains of the Manwoldae palace. Called Songdo while it was the ancient capital of Goryeo, the city prospered as a trade centre that produced Korean ginseng. Kaesong now functions as North Korea's light industry centre.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Nam Gate
Built between 1391 and 1393, at the same time as the inner citadel of the walled city.
- 02Students and Children's Palace
A smaller version of the Children's Palace in Pyongyang.
- 03Sonjuk Bridge
A small stone bridge dating back to 1216.
- 04Tomb of King Kongmin
On a hill 13 km outside Kaesong are the tombs of King Kongmin and his queen; from the tombs there is a nice view of the surrounding scenery.
- 05Tomb of King Wanggon
King Wanggon was the founder of the Goryeo Dynasty and died in 943.
- 06Kaesong Old Town
The old town is one of the best preserved in all of Korea, and traditional Korean-style buildings dating back from the Joseon period can still be seen.
From Wikivoyage: Kaesŏng, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
The Kaesong Folk Hotel also has a restaurant, as do the Foreigner Hotel at Puk Gate by the Pakyon Falls and the Janamsan Hotel near the Sonjuk Bridge.
From Wikivoyage: Kaesŏng, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Kaesŏng
- Airports
- Seoul Gimpo (GMP), 51 km · Incheon (ICN), 57 km · Pyongyang Sunan (FNJ), 159 km
- Pyongyang → Kaesŏng137 km · quickest by road, 2h 27m · $13–18
- Seoul → KaesŏngTrain, bus, flight, ferry and road, side by side
- Cheongju → KaesŏngTrain, bus, flight, ferry and road, side by side
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Kaesŏng
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Kaesŏng. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inMost tours include a day trip to the DMZ from Pyongyang or Kaesong.
From Wikivoyage: Panmunjeom, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-03.
- 0166 km
- 021,308 km
- 031,449 km
- 041,535 km
- 051,662 km
If you know how people move in Kaesŏng – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Kaesŏng
Kaesŏng is 43 km from Goyang-si, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.