SEOUL, South Korea — A small group of foreign tourists has visited North Korea in the past week, making them the first international travelers to enter the country in five years except for a group of Russian tourists who went to the North last year.

After the pandemic began, North Korea quickly banned tourists, jetted out diplomats and severely curtailed border traffic in one of the world’s most draconian COVID-19 restrictions. But since 2022, North Korea has been slowly easing curbs and reopening its borders.

Besides a number of Russian tourists last year, few sightseers have been allowed into North Korea since the Covid-19 pandemic — until now. View on euronews

The country closed its borders against COVID-19 in January 2020, and apart from a special group of Russian tourists in a carefully organised trip last year, no other sightseers have been allowed in until this month.