North Korea suspends tourism

North Korea has stopped tourists from visiting, just weeks after the first Western tourists entered the country for the first time in five years, the BBC writes.

North Korea sealed itself off at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, and started to scale back restrictions in the middle of 2023.

It opened up to Russian visitors in 2024, but it was only last month that Western tourists were allowed into the remote, eastern city Rason.

However several tour companies now say that trips to the country have been cancelled until further notice. Pyongyang has not given a reason for the sudden halt.