Yes! You will need to tip your guides. If you want to get what you’ve paid for and then some, a tip goes a long way in the DPRK, as it does in any tipping culture. We strongly recommend bringing a gift for your North Korean guides and driver also. This is something much appreciated by the local guides and your chance to make a difference to their lives, with 100% of your gifts and tips going directly to your guides, their families & friends. We suggest spending around €10 -€20 on the gift.
The DPRK has very limited access to foreign products, so it is a good idea to bring local specialties from your home country – beauty products (Japanese are preferred but not necessary), carton of cigarettes (Camel, along with Japanese brands such as Seven Stars, are the most popular – the Koreans prefer Western/Japanese cigarettes to Chinese ones).
Practical gift ideas such as medicine including painkillers, vitamins or cold and flu tablets are appreciated. Or, think outside the box: a nice scarf, small bicycle repair kit, razors (for men and women), electric toothbrush, chocolates, etc. Gifts will be shared between guides, the driver and also with their partners/ families, so do not worry about giving ‘male’ or ‘female’ gifts.
In general you are not required to tip service staff, though it has become accepted in Pyongyang but not expected. If you feel service staff have made a special effort you can quietly give them a tip if you wish. Keep in mind, that as in any service industry, the guides rely greatly on their tips, so be as generous as you like.
