North Korea will not be admitting foreign tourists into the country in the near future, according to a British travel agency.
The U.K.-based Lupine Travel, which specializes in budget tours to unusual destinations, including North Korea, Iran, and Chernobyl in Ukraine, tweeted the travel restrictions will remain in place at least through the end of February.
In an e-mail to the VOA Korean service, Dylan Harris of Lupine Travel added, “Our February tour [will] have to be canceled.”
“Previously, we were told by our travel partners [in the North] that the border may be back open by February, so we were quite confident,” he added.
On Wednesday, it was disclosed that Pyongyang has canceled hosting two international Taekwondo events this year because of fears over the spread of the Ebola virus.
Pyongyang began banning foreign tourists last October after the Ebola outbreaks in West Africa. There have been no reported cases of the disease in North Korea.
Jee Abbey Lee contributed to this report, which was produced in collaboration with the VOA Korean service.
