Asia-Pacific

DPRK opens up to US tourists

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-13 15:25

SEOUL: The Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) appears ready to welcome visitors from the United States year-round, increasing the trickle of tourists from its sworn enemy who provide the reclusive state with hard cash.

DPRK, which had restricted US tourists to visits that coincided with its mass games that usually run from August to October, will institute the change this year, Koryo Tours, a major group that organises visits to the country said on Wednesday.

DPRK has lost out on tens of millions of dollars a year it used to earn through tourism with South Korea due to political wrangling with its rival over the country's nuclear weapons programme.

DPRK leader Kim Jong-il has appealed to the South's Hyundai Group to resume the tours it once ran to a mountain resort and a border city in the North, but Seoul has not given its approval to restart the visits.

Americans would be allowed to stay in DPRK for up to four nights for highly managed tours as they see monuments to the country's leaders and stay at hotels designated for foreigners.

DPRK has allowed in a few hundred US citizens a year since 2002 for the Arirang Mass Games, which is part dance show that incorporates tens of thousands of performers, according to Koryo Tours.