North Korea will reopen one city to foreign tourists in December after nearly five years of border closures due to the Covid pandemic, according to tour operators.
At least two China-based operators announced that tourists will soon be allowed to visit the mountainous northern city of Samjiyon.
Reclusive North Korea sealed itself off at the start of the pandemic in early 2020, and started to scale back restrictions only in the middle of last year.
The border closures also cut off imports of essential goods, leading to food shortages that were made worse by international sanctions because of the country’s nuclear programme.
“So far just Samjiyon has been officially confirmed but we think that Pyongyang and other places will open too!!!” Shenyang’s KTG Tours wrote on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
Beijing’s Koryo Tour said tourists could “potentially” visit other parts of North Korea in December.
“Having waited for over four years to make this announcement, Koryo Tours is very excited for the opening of North Korean tourism once again,” it said Wednesday on its website.
Koryo Tours told the BBC that the North Korean authorities were allowing tourists from any country to join the trips, apart from South Korea. However, the US bans its citizens from travelling to North Korea.
Chad O’Carroll, CEO of US-based analysis firm Korea Risk Group, flagged doubts around the reopening announcement.
“I will believe it when I see it,” he told the BBC. “For now, I am quite sceptical we will see any real movement in December.”
Credit: bbc.com
