North Korea to welcome Russian tourists for first time since harsh Covid restrictions

A batch of Russians are to arrive as first tourists in North Korea for the first time since it implemented some of the harshest COVID-19 border lockdowns in early 2020, reports said on Friday (Jan 12).

Entry to North Korea has been severely restricted ever since the Kim Jong Un government closed borders at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent defector testimony disclosed that North Korea had executed citizens for violatingquarantine rules imposed during the pandemic, as reported by Nknews.

Tourists are returning after North Korea announced last year that it would begin permitting the entry of citizens who had been barred from the country for almost four years due to pandemic border controls.

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Concerns are flagged by Human Rights Watch which stated in its World Report 2024 that the North Korean government continued to exploit the Covid pandemic to enforce “shoot on sight” orders on its northern border, restricting movement, maintaining trade restrictions, and reinforcing ideological control.

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The upcoming four-day tour of the Russian group was advertised by a Vladivostok-based agency.

This reportedly followed discussions between the governor of Russia's far eastern region of Primorsky Krai and officials in Pyongyang in December.

As outlined in an online itinerary, the tourists are scheduled to depart on February9 and will include stops in Pyongyang and a ski resort.

Media reports earlier pointed out that satellite image analysis before and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic along the China and Russia border revealed the extent of the restrictive measures implemented by Kim Jong Un regime.

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About the resumption of tourism, Simon Cockerell, general manager at Beijing-based Koryo Tours, reportedly said,"It is a good sign, but I would hesitate to say it necessarily will lead to a broader opening due to the special circumstances for this one trip."

"But given that no tourists have been for four-plus years, any tourism trip can be viewed as a positive step forward."

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The development also comes after a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September in eastern Russia where they pledged deeper cooperation.

(With inputs from agencies)