To stop Ebola, North Korea relaxes its four-month travel restriction.
Travel agencies report that North Korea would resume allowing tourists to enter the country following the imposition of tight measures to stop the spread of Ebola.
In October, the nation blocked its borders to any non-essential travel.
North Korea is thousands of kilometers from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that has killed more than 9,000 people. Asia has not recorded any cases of Ebola.
An essential source of revenue for the financially challenged nation is tourism.
The individuals who were granted entry were subjected to a 21-day quarantine. Diplomats, NGO employees, and North Korean officials returning from international travel were all subject to these prohibitions.
The national airline, according to Uri Tours, which offers travel into North Korea, declared that the embargo has been lifted.
On its website, Uri Tours stated, “We have been informed by Air Koryo that North Korea’s borders are now open for travel and the four-month-long Ebola travel ban was lifted as of Monday,” local media reported.
Young Pioneer Tours manager Troy Callings, who is headquartered in China, told Reuters, “We’ve had it confirmed officially that the border is now open.”
Travelers from nations afflicted by the Ebola outbreak, however, will still be placed under quarantine, according to Associated Press reports quoting Pyongyang officials.
The anti-Ebola efforts taken by Pyongyang underscore worries that an outbreak may directly endanger the life of the regime, as revealed by South Korea’s spy agency to lawmakers earlier this month.
North Korea’s healthcare system is not prepared to handle an Ebola outbreak, and a large portion of the country’s population lives in abject poverty.
In the past few years, Pyongyang has actively encouraged tourism in an attempt to bring in much needed foreign currency. The nation is dealing with severe poverty and foreign sanctions.
In an attempt to draw visitors, mostly from China, it has developed a posh ski resort and created designated tourism zones across the nation.
