A group from Russia may become the first tourists to be allowed into North Korea after the DPRK border was blocked in early 2020 due to the pandemic. Reuters writes about this, UNN reports.
Details
During the spread of COVID-19, North Korea imposed one of the world's toughest border measures and has not yet fully opened the border to foreigners.
The trip, advertised by an agency based in Vladivostok, was organized when the governor of Russia's Far Eastern region of Primorsky Krai, which borders North Korea, visited Pyongyang for talks.
The four-day tour will begin on February 9 and will include stops in Pyongyang and at a ski resort, according to the online itinerary.
Simon Cockerell, general manager of Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which is not participating in the trip, told Reuters that his partners in North Korea have confirmed that the Russian visit will take place under special circumstances.
This is a good sign, but I would not hesitate to say that it will necessarily lead to wider opening because of the special circumstances of this one trip. But given that there have been no tourists for more than four years, any tourist trip can be seen as a positive step forward
Context
Tourism in the DPRK is almost unaffected by UN Security Council resolutions restricting business with North Korea because of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
According to Seoul's NK News, North Korea saw a surge in Chinese tourists in the year before the pandemic, which may have provided the country with up to $175 million in additional revenue in 2019.