N. Korea 'seeks US tourists'
Source: Agencies |
January 14, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
NORTH Korea said yesterday it would begin to allow in more American tourists after years of heavy restrictions on visits to the country, according a tour operator.
Only about 2,000 tourists from the United States have visited since the country opened to Western tourism in 1987, according to the founder of a Beijing-based tour group that says it has taken most of those visitors into the country.
But the Koryo Group, which specializes in North Korea tourism, said it received an e-mail from state-run Korea International Travel Company yesterday saying the country would accept more US tourists this year.
The message gave no explanation and said more specific information would come later, the agency's founder, Nicholas Bonner, told The Associated Press. "This is a big, big change," he said.
In recent years, Americans have been allowed to visit North Korea only briefly during the country's Mass Games.
Bonner said his agency escorted about 280 American tourists to the country last year, but estimated those numbers could jump to about 1,000 per year if restrictions were eased.
Once a key symbol of reconciliation between the divided two Koreas, tourism from South Korea has been cut off for about two years due to tensions on the peninsula.
South Korea pulled the plug on tours to North Korea's scenic Diamond Mountain resort in July 2008 after a South Korean woman on a tour was shot and killed there.
North Korea ended another South Korean tour program to historic sites in the border city of Kaesong in late 2008 amid rising tensions.
At one time, up to 300 Japanese citizens also visited North Korea each year, while North Koreans living in Japan could take a ferry to visit relatives. Those services have been suspended since 2006.
Only about 2,000 tourists from the United States have visited since the country opened to Western tourism in 1987, according to the founder of a Beijing-based tour group that says it has taken most of those visitors into the country.
But the Koryo Group, which specializes in North Korea tourism, said it received an e-mail from state-run Korea International Travel Company yesterday saying the country would accept more US tourists this year.
The message gave no explanation and said more specific information would come later, the agency's founder, Nicholas Bonner, told The Associated Press. "This is a big, big change," he said.
In recent years, Americans have been allowed to visit North Korea only briefly during the country's Mass Games.
Bonner said his agency escorted about 280 American tourists to the country last year, but estimated those numbers could jump to about 1,000 per year if restrictions were eased.
Once a key symbol of reconciliation between the divided two Koreas, tourism from South Korea has been cut off for about two years due to tensions on the peninsula.
South Korea pulled the plug on tours to North Korea's scenic Diamond Mountain resort in July 2008 after a South Korean woman on a tour was shot and killed there.
North Korea ended another South Korean tour program to historic sites in the border city of Kaesong in late 2008 amid rising tensions.
At one time, up to 300 Japanese citizens also visited North Korea each year, while North Koreans living in Japan could take a ferry to visit relatives. Those services have been suspended since 2006.
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