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Wednesday, January 22, 2020, 13:13
Tour groups: DPRK bars foreign tourists amid virus concerns
By Bloomberg
Wednesday, January 22, 2020, 13:13 By Bloomberg

Photo taken on Feb 22, 2019 shows the entrance to the Masikryong ski resort, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Nowadays, hundreds of Chinese people cross the Yalu River from northeast China's city of Dandong - by train or by bus - to the DPRK to sightsee. (CHENG DAYU / XINHUA)

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has temporarily closed its borders to foreign tourists, two major operators of tours to the country said, in an effort to prevent a new virus causing global health worries.

The Beijing-based Koryo Tours said Wednesday that it received word from its partners in the DPRK that the country’s borders were closed

The Beijing-based Koryo Tours said Wednesday that it received word from its partners in the DPRK that the country’s borders were closed. Young Pioneer Tours, another group that organizes trips to the DPRK, had earlier said on Twitter that the temporary closures took effect Wednesday.

ALSO READ: Outbreak pushes travelers to cancel plans

The DPRK shares its longest border with China, from which it receives a steady flow of tourists.

Health officials around the world are racing to gauge the danger posed by the new virus that emerged in central China last month and spread rapidly. The World Health Organization will decide Wednesday whether to declare the novel virus an international public health emergency, a designation used for complex epidemics that can cross borders.

READ MORE: China to attend emergency WHO meeting as virus spreads

The DPRK has shut its borders to foreign travelers before due to health scares such as the Ebola crisis, which led it to temporarily block foreign tourists for about six months starting in late 2014. 

The Republic of Korea (ROK) reported Monday its first confirmed case of the coronavirus, saying it came from a 35-year-old Chinese woman who had visited Wuhan. The ROK, which has frozen tourism with the DPRK for several years, also raised its alert level on the infectious disease.

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