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POLITICS-NKOREA-TOURISM-ANNIVERSARY
N. Korea restricts Chinese tour groups ahead of anniversary: report
SEOUL, Aug 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Pyongyang will suspend Chinese tour group
visits to North Korea ahead of a high profile anniversary next month,
according to news reports Saturday.
The North’s Korea International Youth Travel Agency told a Chinese tourist
agency that hotels in Pyongyang would be closed for renovations for 20 days
starting Saturday, according to South Korean media reports.
Another North Korean travel agency informed their Chinese partner that an
unspecified “state decision” meant they had to stop receiving Chinese tour
group package travellers until September 5, the reports said.
North Korea has in the past restricted entry to foreigner tourists as the
country prepares for significant events, giving a variety of reasons for the
moves, Yonhap reported.
The latest measure comes as the North prepares to mark the 70th anniversary
of the foundation of the government.
In his New Year speech in January, leader Kim Jong Un said North Korean
people would “greet the 70th founding anniversary of their Republic as a
great, auspicious event”.
The North has been preparing for the arrival of foreign delegations and
thousands of North Korean citizens have reportedly been practicing
choreographed movements in Pyongyang for the official celebration of the
anniversary.
In part thanks to a recent diplomatic thaw, the number of Chinese tourists
visiting the North has rapidly increased.
Between 1,000 and 2,000 tourists are currently visiting popular sites such
as the North’s side of the demilitarized zone in a single day, NK News, an
online news provider, said.
The surge in Chinese tourism may have been seen by North Korean authorities
as straining Pyongyang’s limited hotel infrastructure ahead of the
anniversary, it added.
BSS/AFP/SSS/0902 hrs