The reclusive country allowing official tourists for the first time in four years

A Russian group of tourists are planning a ski trip, sources say.

North Korea will allow a group of Russian tourists entry, sources told Reuters, marking the first official guests in around four years. Source: AAP / Park Dong-joo/AP

Key Points

• A group of tourists will be admitted to North Korea for the first time since 2020.
• The Russian group plan to stop in Pyongyang and a ski resort.
• North Korea has yet to fully open to foreigners.

A group of tourists will be admitted to North Korea for the first time since 2020, with stops in Pyongyang and a ski resort.

A group from Russia is poised to be the first known tourists allowed into North Korea since anti-pandemic border lockdowns began in early 2020, according to a post from Russian provincial authorities and a Western tour guide.

North Korea imposed some of the strictest border controls in the world during the spread of COVID-19, and has yet to fully reopen to foreigners.

The trip, advertised by a Vladivostok-based agency, was arranged when the governor of Russia's far eastern region of Primorsky Krai, which borders North Korea, visited Pyongyang for talks in December, the regional government said in a post on Telegram this week.

The four-day tour will depart on 9 February and include stops in Pyongyang and a ski resort, according to an online itinerary.

Simon Cockerell, general manager at Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which is not involved in the trip, told Reuters that his partners in North Korea had confirmed the Russian visit is going ahead under special circumstances.

"It is a good sign, but I would hesitate to say it necessarily will lead to a broader opening due to the special circumstances for this one trip," he said.

"But given that no tourists have been for four-plus years, any tourism trip can be viewed as a positive step forward."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for a summit in eastern Russia in September, where they pledged deepening cooperation on economic, political, and military fronts despite international sanctions.

Tourism is largely unaffected by United Nations Security Council resolutions that restrict business with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

The year before the pandemic began, North Korea saw a surge of Chinese tourists who may have provided the cash-strapped country with up to $US175 million ($A263 million) in extra revenue in 2019, according to an estimate by Seoul-based NK News.