North Korea may reopen its doors to international tourists in December after shutting itself off for more than four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Beijing-based tour agency said.
Koryo Tours said on its website Wednesday that it has received confirmation from its local partner that tourism to Samjiyon, located at the foot of Mt. Paektu near the North Korean border with China and potentially the rest of the country, will officially resume in December.
Pyongyang shut its borders in early 2020 due to the pandemic but has accepted a small number of Russian tour groups since early this year. Koryo Tours said official itineraries and dates for its North Korean tours will be announced in the coming weeks.
Before the public health crisis, Chinese nationals had made up a large number of foreign tourists visiting North Korea.
In July, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Samjiyon and said the country will build a large ski resort nearby. He said the resort will make "even foreign friends feel peculiar attraction," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
