{"id":15506,"date":"2013-05-23T19:05:02","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T19:05:02","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-15T12:14:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T12:14:44","slug":"n-korea-town-opens-to-western-tourists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=15506","title":{"rendered":"N Korea town opens to Western tourists"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Korea’s authorities have opened the border town of Sinuiju to Western tourists, Chinese-based travel agencies said, despite international tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear test in February.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The move opens up the possibility of foreign tourists being able to make day tours to the secretive state<\/strong>, a considerably cheaper option than the more expensive multi-day trips currently on offer.<\/p>\n

The country is largely sealed off from outsiders, with Western travelers allowed in only on strictly controlled tours.<\/p>\n

After heightening its rhetoric in past weeks in response to international sanctions, Pyongyang has sent mixed messages in recent days<\/strong>, both firing short-range missiles and sending a top envoy to China who pledged to promote peace.<\/p>\n

Simon Cockerell, co-founder of Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which specializes in trips to North Korea, said it had been seeking permission to add Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese city of Dandong, to its itineraries for years.<\/p>\n

Now that it had been granted, his company hopes to begin offering day trips for 1,200 to 2,000 yuan ($200 to $330) from next month.<\/p>\n

It is the main crossing between the two countries, and Sinuiju was previously open to Chinese visitors.<\/p>\n

The North remains a niche tourist destination, with the five main agencies arranging trips to the country sharing 4,000 to 5,000 Western tourists per year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source AP<\/em>
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