North Korean health ministry official speaks out on coronavirus action on January 21, 2020. - Yonhap News / Newscom / SIPA

North Korea will close its borders to tourists to protect itself from the coronavirus that has appeared in neighboring China, a travel agency said on Wednesday. Several countries have tightened controls at airports because of this epidemic spotted in December in the Chinese city of Wuhan and which has spread elsewhere in Asia and as far as the United States.

The vast majority of foreign tourists to North Korea arrive from China, where authorities have already reported nine dead, and their number has increased over the past year due to a warming of relations between the two neighbors. An influx of visitors which is a precious source of foreign exchange for the North.

But as of Wednesday, North Korea "will temporarily close its border to all foreign tourists as a precaution against the coronavirus," said a travel agency based in China, Young Pioneer Tours, which is specializing in stays in North Korea. She added that she did not know the details of this measure. Koryo Tours, the number one trip to the North for western tourists, said it was "informed that measures are being considered," adding that it expected further information on Wednesday.

Quarantine and ban on returning to the country

It would not be the first time that Pyongyang has closed its border to tourists due to an epidemic. In October 2014, she did the same to protect herself from the Ebola virus, even though no case had been detected in Asia. It had also decided on a quarantine period of 21 days for all foreigners entering its territory, including diplomats and businessmen.

The North Korean official newspaper Rodong Sinmun did not however report on Wednesday any specific measures of the authorities vis-à-vis the Chinese virus. But he does mention the epidemic in China, saying it has "spread quickly" and that the Chinese authorities have taken "corresponding measures". The North Korean health system is underdeveloped, and the country suffers from chronic drug shortages.

When the epidemic of coronavirus Mers (Middle East respiratory syndrome) had declared in 2015 in South Korea, the North had announced "draconian" measures to keep the epidemic at bay. Media reports said that Pyongyang had banned its diplomats and expatriate workers from returning to the country for months. Pyongyang also suspended foreign tour packages during the SARS epidemic.

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