North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has closed the nation to tourism after recently reopening it. Photo by the North Korean Central News Agency/EPA-EFE
March 6 (UPI) — North Korean officials have suspended foreign tourism visits to the insular nation about a month after lifting restrictions for Western tourists, but did not say why the change was made.
Several tour companies that organize tourist visits to North Korea announced Wednesday that the North Korean government notified them all tourism is canceled until further notice, the BBC reported.
“Just received news from our Korean partners that Rason is closed to everyone,” China-based tourism company KTG Tours announced on Facebook. “We will keep you posted.”
Other tour organizers advised clients to avoid booking flights until the matter is resolved.
Tour operators began supporting Western tourism to Rason on Feb. 20, but visitors’ movements were more restricted than before the pandemic.
Tourists weren’t as capable of wandering local streets and talking to locals in Rason as they were prior to the pandemic, the BBC reported.
Tourists also lacked access to the Internet and cellular phone services.
The unexpected cessation of North Korean tourism comes a month ahead of the April 6 Pyongyang Marathon.
Before the pandemic, North Korea received about 350,000 foreign tourists — about 90% of whom were from China.
North Korea closed its borders in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and began to lift those restrictions in 2023.
A Russian tourist group was the first welcomed into North Korea in February 2024, but visitors from the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and France weren’t allowed to visit until February, NBC News reported.
The Russian tourist groups were allowed to visit the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, but those from other nations are restricted to Rason, which is a port city on the Sea of Japan in northeastern North Korea and about 500 miles northeast of Pyongyang.
North Korean leaders have declared Rason a special economic zone and allowed tourist groups to visit factories and shops in the city and view statues of former North Korean leaders.