N. Korea ends Ebola travel restrictions

BEIJING, March 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has reopened its doors to foreign tourists nearly five months after virtually closing its borders due to fears over the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, tour firms specializing in trips to the North said Tuesday. Although no cases of Ebola have been reported in countries near North Korea, the Pyongyang regime had closed its borders to foreign tourists and imposed a strict 21-day quarantine on all people, including diplomats, entering the country, since last October. North Korea's state-run airline, Air Koryo, told Uri Tours that the North's travel restrictions were lifted as of Monday. "We have been informed by Air Koryo that North Korea's borders are now open for travel and the 4-month-long Ebola travel ban was lifted as of Monday, March 2," the company said in a statement posted on its website. "According to Air Koryo, everything is back to normal," it said. Uri Tours said it is waiting for further confirmation from its partners in Pyongyang as to when its tour programs to North Korea can resume. Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based tour company, also confirmed that, "The Ebola border restriction has been lifted and the country is once again open to tourism." "The travel ban, in place since the 24th of October 2014, prevented all tourism into the DPRK (North Korea). This is no longer the case, and we are taking bookings as normal for all of our 2015 tours," Young Pioneer Tours said in a notice. North Korea's frantic measures against Ebola appear to highlight concerns that it could pose a direct threat to the regime's survival if the virus crossed into the North, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers last month. It is not the first time that North Korea has closed its borders because of a deadly disease. In 2003, the North closed its borders for several months due to the spread of the SARS virus. kdh@yna.co.kr (END)