North Korea to reopen to international visitors

After four years of "lockdown" to prevent disease, North Korea will welcome its first international tourists, a group of Russians, in February.

The Russian tourists' four-day tour , departing on February 9, visited Pyongyang and a ski resort.

Kindergarten students pose with their teachers in front of the Grand Mansudae monument in Pyongyang. Photo: Inertia network

A travel agency based in Vladivostok, a city in Russia's far-eastern Primorsky Krai region that borders North Korea, said the region's head visited Pyongyang and held talks on the issue in December 2023.

Simon Cockerell, general manager of Beijing-based Koryo Tours, said his North Korean partners had confirmed the trip and said it was a special one. "North Korea has not had any international visitors for more than four years, so any tour is a positive step forward," Cockerell said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at a summit in eastern Russia in September 2023 and pledged deeper cooperation on economic, political and military fronts.

North Korea is one of the Asian countries with the strictest Covid-19 control measures and has yet to fully reopen to international visitors. According to Seoul-based NK News , North Korea saw a sharp increase in Chinese tourists in 2019, who brought in up to $175 million in revenue.

Anh Minh (According to Reuters )

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