North Korea will open its borders to Russian tourists for the first time since the pandemic

North Korea will open its borders to Russian tourists for the first time since a lockdown was imposed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The news, broadcast by Russia’s state-run Tass news agency on Wednesday, highlights growing cooperation between Russia and North Korea. Tourist travel is set to begin following the meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a ‘cosmodrome’ in Russia’s Far East in September last year. The Tas report did not specify the timing of the tourists’ visit, but it surprised analysts who had expected North Korea to open its borders to Chinese tourists first after the pandemic.

North Korea’s closest helper and ally is China. According to ‘Tas’ news, tourists will travel to North Korea’s ‘monthly pass’ on the east coast, where the country’s most modern ‘ski resort’ is located. It said the visit was organized under an agreement between Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of Russia’s Primorye region, and North Korean officials. Kozhemyako traveled to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in December for talks on boosting economic ties as part of bilateral exchanges since the Kim-Putin summit. Ahead of the visit, he told Russian media he expected to discuss tourism, agriculture and trade cooperation.

The Kim-Putin summit reinforced the perception that North Korea is supplying conventional weapons to Russia for the war in Ukraine in exchange for high-tech Russian weapons technologies. The US said last week it had evidence that Russia fired additional missiles supplied by North Korea at Ukraine. The US, South Korea, Japan and other countries issued a joint statement condemning the provision of the missiles.

North Korea is easing restrictions imposed during the pandemic and opening its international borders in efforts to revive an economy devastated by lockdowns and persistent US sanctions. Koh Yu-hwan, former chairman of Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification, said, “Tourism is the easiest way for North Korea to earn foreign currency under the international sanctions regime.” He expressed hope that in the coming days North Korea will also allow entry to Chinese tourists.

Disclaimer: IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.

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