North Korea to welcome Russian tourists in February, the country’s first since the pandemic

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russian tourists going on a ski trip will be the first international travelers to visit North Korea since the country’s borders closed in 2020 amid the global pandemic lockdown. A report on Russia’s state-run Tass news agency said an unspecified number of tourists from the region of Primorye in Russia’s far east will first fly to Pyongyang and visit monuments there before traveling on to the North’s Masik Pass on the east coast, where the country’s most modern ski resort is located. The announcement underscores deepening cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang following the September meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.