Only months after the first American tourists to visit the country for the first time in five years, North Korea has stopped travellers from traveling.
North Korea sealed itself off at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, and started to scale back restrictions in the middle of 2023.
It was accessible to Russian guests in 2024, but only recently were guests from the far-off, eastern city Rason permitted.
However, some tour companies now claim that travel to the secluded nation has been postponed. The immediate end is not being explained by Pyongyang.
We really learned from our Asian companions that Rason is closed to all, according to the news. We will keep you informed,” the Northeast Korean-focused company KTG Tours, China, said on Wednesday on Facebook.
Different organizations that made the announcement of the expulsion included Young Pioneer Tours and Koryo Tours.
Those organizing tours in April and May may hold off on ordering planes “until we have more info,” according to Young Pioneer Tours in a Twitter post.
The first American visitors to Rason, a city designated as a special economic zone by the North, arrived on February 20 to test new economic policies.
Tour operators claimed that visitors had fewer options to wander the streets and communicate to locals, and that their movements were even more limited than on pre-pandemic trips.
In the monk position, internet access and phone signals were also unavailable.
One tour guide claimed that he believes Rason was chosen because the place is comparatively underdeveloped and under control.
For the first time in five years, Koryo Tours announced earlier this week that it was accepting foreign uses for the Pyongyang Marathon. Although the date for the occasion is scheduled for 6 April, it’s not clear if these will still be processed.
According to media studies, North Korea welcomed 350, 000 international visitors in 2019, of which 90 % were Chinese.