There are roller coasters on every continent other than Antarctica with 6,557 operating roller coasters worldwide according to Roller Coaster Database. However, there are some that are tougher to get than others, perhaps nearly impossible if you are American. We’ve written in the past about the indoor suspended coaster in Ukraine which may not be the safest place to visit today, but there are other countries where Americans are banned or advised against visiting like Cuba, Russia and North Korea. Of all the world’s coasters, North Korea’s 7 roller coasters may be the most difficult for outsiders to ride.

North Korea tourism is inconsistent at best. After recently opening to Westerners it abruptly closed after only a couple of weeks with the belief being that North Korea became uncomfortable with the incessant filming and questioning of locals by influencers. When traveling to a place like North Korea, expertise and local connections are vital like those of leading North Korean tour operators Koryo Tours (who also graciously shared some coaster images for this article). Koryo currently has posted notices online as of March 5, 2025 that tours are temporarily closed, but promising to update as more information becomes available. Koryo Tours has a wealth of information about North Korean travel on their website including theme parks like Rungrado Park. This park was the site of “diplomacy” in 2012 when a junior British diplomat was caught on camera on a ride in front of Kim Jong Un. In 2018 as Kim Jong Un made a secret trip to the park to take in some rides the day after a high-stakes meeting with the top U.S. diplomat in 2018 according to state media.

Mangyongdae Funfair, just outside of the capital of Pyongyang, was probably the biggest and grandest park in North Korea. Pyongyang is home to all known operating roller coasters in North Korea across several parks. Funfair was often called North Korean Disneyland . The dismal atmosphere and run-down condition of the park were surprisingly severely criticized by Kim Jong-un, during an inspection in May 2012. Repairs were made, but supposedly again fell into disrepair and is now rumored to be closed (but in North Korea you can never be too sure about things like this).

Here is a quick summary of North Korea’s operating coasters. You have essentially 3 wild mouse coasters with the same name and different builds, a couple simple looping coasters, a long slow “inertia train” steel coaster and a Zamperla flying coaster. The Zamperla flying coaster called “Inertia Airplane Car” is definitely the best looking of the bunch and here’s a rare POV of it.

Kaeson Youth Park
• Inertia Airplane Car (Zamperla Flying)
Mangyongdae Funfair
• Double Loop Coaster (Steel, Extreme)
• Loop Coaster (Steel, Extreme)
• Kwansong Tancha (Wild Mouse)
Rungna People’s Pleasure Ground
• Kwansong Tancha (Wild Mouse)
Taesongsan Funfair
• Kwansong Tancha (Wild Mouse)
• Kwansong Yolcha (Large steel coaster)

If you want to see some great videos of North Korean roller coasters and rides I recommend the YouTube video below. Some rides will look similar to ones you know by companies like Zamperla Volare flying coaster or Zamperla flat rides, but all the other coasters are mostly simple economy models from a lesser known suppliers called Meisho Amusement Machines from Japan.

So the 7 coasters of Korea represent 7 of the rarest and perhaps riskiest credits for enthusiasts in more ways than one. You never know though, the Berlin Wall fell and now we visit great parks in Germany, so I guess anything is possible given time. However, say hello to 7 credits you probably aren’t earning anytime soon.