Military Space News
NUKEWARS
North Korea halts tours to border city near China: travel agencies
North Korea halts tours to border city near China: travel agencies
by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Mar 5, 2025

North Korea has halted international trips to a city near its border with China, travel agencies said on Wednesday, abruptly reversing Pyongyang's recent decision to reopen its frontier to tourism after five years of isolation.

North Korea shut its borders in early 2020 to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and later bolstered defences along its northern boundary to deter its own nationals from re-entering the country illegally from China.

Several Western tour operators said last month they had sent small numbers of foreign travellers into the northeastern city of Rason after receiving permission from North Korean interlocutors.

But some of the companies said on Wednesday that those trips had been suspended for unclear reasons.

"We have been advised by our partners... that tours to Rason are currently paused," travel agency Young Pioneer Tours said in a notice on its website.

Fellow travel agency Koryo Tours said "Rason is temporarily closed", with Beijing-based general manager Simon Cockerell telling AFP that those already in North Korea would "finish their trips as planned".

Rayco Vega, tours coordinator for Spain-based travel agency KTG, also confirmed the suspension to AFP, adding: "We do not know the reason nor how long this will last".

North Korea has already welcomed some international trade and official delegations, and last year allowed Russian tourists to enter the country for the first time since the pandemic.

Rason, which lies near the borders with China and Russia, became North Korea's first special economic zone in 1991.

It has a separate visa regime and has been a testing ground for new economic policies, boasting the socialist country's first legal marketplace.

The vast majority of foreign visitors to North Korea before the pandemic were Chinese, though some US citizens also ventured there before Washington banned travel following the imprisonment and subsequent death of student Otto Warmbier in 2017.

People from South Korea, with which Pyongyang remains technically at war, are also barred from visiting without official permission.

China is a key ally and source of economic backing for North Korea's diplomatically isolated, UN-sanctioned government.

A Chinese firm that advertised a tour to Rason last month did not respond when asked by AFP to clarify if it had been affected by the suspension.

Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
NUKEWARS
North Korea launches strategic cruise missiles in show of nuclear deterrence
Washington DC (UPI) Feb 28, 2025
North Korea test-fired strategic cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea in a demonstration of Pyongyang's nuclear deterrent capabilities, state-run media said Friday. The missiles were launched from the western area of the country on Wednesday morning, Korean Central News Agency reported, and "precisely hit the targets" after flying for around 130 minutes along a 986-mile oval trajectory. "The purpose of the launching drill was to let the enemies, who are fostering and escalating the confro ... read more

NUKEWARS
Maxar Space Systems Ships First Tranche 1 Tracking Layer Spacecraft to L3Harris

Proliferating Space-Based Missile Tracking to Counter Emerging Threats

Canada willing to join US 'Iron Dome' missile shield: minister

Russia slams Trump plan for 'Star Wars' missile shield

NUKEWARS
Denmark hopes to have air defence system in place from 2026

N. Korea says launched cruise missiles in 'counterattack' drills

Air alert across Ukraine, missiles incoming: authorities

Pregnant teenager among five Ukrainians killed by Russian missile

NUKEWARS
Lockheed Martin Introduces Versatile Counter-UAS Defense System

Elbit Systems Introduces Dominion-X Autonomous Management OS for Unmanned Platforms

MARSS deploys NiDAR-powered defense shield for GCC naval bases

CIA using drones to surveil drug cartels, labs in Mexico

NUKEWARS
ESA advances HydRON project for next-generation space communications

Airbus awarded Oberon satellites contract by UK MOD

Satellogic and Telespazio Brasil to provide low-latency satellite imagery for the Brazilian Air Force

Mobix Labs Secures Defense Funding to Advance SATCOM SoC Innovation

NUKEWARS
US approves sale of $3 bn in munitions, bulldozers to Israel

Denmark and Norway to 'increase cooperation' on defence

Eight soldiers killed in Colombia road accident

Shipment of 'heavy' US bombs arrives in Israel: defence ministry

NUKEWARS
Germany's proposed defence and infrastructure bonanza: how and why?

US Department of Veterans Affairs to cut more than 70,000 jobs

Germany set for massive rearmament as divide with US widens

Few European allies meet 3% defence spending mark

NUKEWARS
Trump orders 'pause' on military aid to Ukraine, White House officials say

Kremlin says Zelensky needs to be forced to make peace

Ports sale offers Panama way out of Trump row: experts

Vance denies criticizing British, French armies

NUKEWARS
Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.