And what length of trip would you recommend / what are the must see things?

I am going with Juche Travel next year

They have many different itineraries of varied length.

Are any months better than others?

I would imagine winter would be harsh, rather than by months, I would choose it based on when the major celebrations are (mass games, liberation day, etc).

In any case, you are limited to the handful of tour companies, and the exact days they operate their tours.

I'm also going with Juche next year which tour are you on?

Aug.13 7 day tour. Havent booked on yet, will do early in the new year.

Do you know when the weather starts going south? I was looking at koryo tours (although I will look into juche) and they have an individual tour option where you can make your own itinerary. I was considering going to Africa in Sept. or so, then from there heading to PEK to get the Air Koryo flight to FNJ. Would the weather still be ok in Sept/Oct. or brutally cold?

I always use this
http://www.wunderground.com/travelplanner/index.asp

just put in the dates, and it will give you historical data.

But of course things could also be worse or better when you are there. I was just in Asia for a month and things were quite unusual. Rain and cool clouds most of the time in Taiwan and Hong Kong when I was told that this should have been nice, blue skies weather time of year. Likewise Thailand should be in "cool season" but it was brutally hot and humid.

Global climate change? Seasonal variation?

Now I think I will aim for the end of the Mass Games. If all goes according to plan I'll be able to take the SQ EWR-SIN non-stop before it's terminated, get to DPRK, then from there head to Africa via India before returning to the U.S. via S.America. Now for the all consuming planning stage.

Keep in mind that the Mass Games are generally scheduled to conclude in early September, but typically get extended. I was told that this year was one of the few years that they weren't extended into October, only late Sept.

I was born in Far East Russia not far from the North Korean border and I regularly visit Yanbian, the "third Korea" right by the North Korean border in China, so I know a bit about the climate in that region. Much like Northeast China or South Korea, I think the best time to visit is in April or early May. The weather should be very pleasant during that time of year.

Winter is cold in North Korea but it's relatively short. It usually doesn't get properly cold until at least November, but I've lived in Russia, Scotland and Canada so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Can anyone provide a comparison of the tour operators to DPRK? Koryo seems to have the most press but what about Juche or young pioneers? I understand that all the tours have basically the same itineraries and there isn't much difference in hotels so what drives difference in price? We have a group of four and are trying to decide whether to make ourselves a group or go on a group tour. This is one place it would seem the group travelers might be an interesting mix of people.

I went with Koryo Tours last September. Weather was mostly pleasant, except for the day we visited Panmunjom when we experienced the remnants of a typhoon blowing through. If seeing the Mass Games is important, keep in mind that extending the dates was common under Kim Jong Il. It is hard to say how that will go under Kim Jong Un. IIRC, the performances before our arrival were cancelled, only to have them reinstated later, but there were a couple of dark nights at May Day Stadium before the reinstatement.

My only disappointment was not flying the Air Koryo IL-62 between PEK and FNJ. The first flight was operated with a TU-204, the second flight, an hour layer, was operated with the venerable IL-62. Our group was on the first flight out of PEK, but had a 30 min delay taxiing, so the IL-62 pulled up in FNJ while we were waiting for our checked luggage.

We had 15 in our group with about six or seven nationalities. We were well fed (dog meat was optional). No electricity or hot water problems, although if your visit includes any cities off the beaten track, there is no guarantee of either.

As Juche Travel offers aviation enthusiast tours, I'm thinking of going back this year. Their prices seem to be slightly higher, but it would be worth it for a unique experience.

Just came back, it was hot and pretty steamy but still a relief from Beijing.

I have no idea why anyone would pay more to go with Koryo tours over Juche. You see the same things, but the Koryo group we flew with had 100+ people while ours was barely in double digits.

Very interesting experience. Mass games mindblowing