North Korea 'bans Britons From Visiting Country'
UK ambassador seeks explanatory meeting after reports that Pyongyang has stopped issuing visas
The British ambassador in Pyongyang has requested an urgent meeting with the North Korean foreign ministry after reports that the reclusive state has ceased issuing visas for UK nationals.
Koryo Tours, the British-owned company that takes almost half of the western tourists who travel to North Korea, is likely to be worst affected by the move.
With just 300 UK visitors per year, Pyongyang's move is unlikely to shake the global tourist industry, but it cuts off one North Korea's few avenues of engagement with the outside world.
Koryo was notified of the change today by North Korean officials.
"In connection with the recent measures taken by UK government not to allow DPRK citizens to enter the UK we also will not receive any UK citizens as tourists to DPRK for the time being," said the Korea International Travel Company, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Nick Bonner, head of Koryo Tours and producer of three documentaries about North Korea, said this was the first time the government had taken such action since he started making monthly visits there, in 1993.
He blamed tough new sanctions that the United Nations was planning to impose in response to North Korea's second nuclear test last month.
"We already call it a closed country. To close it even more is pathetic," he said. "People don't realize the importance of interacting. To see all that stopped is really frustrating."
Among those who could be affected are the Middlesbrough women's football team, who were scheduled to visit next year to mark the 10th anniversary of the reciprocal opening of embassies. Middlesbrough's links to the country date back to the 1966 World Cup, when it hosted the North Korean team.
No other nation appears to have been targeted, but the UK ambassador denied there were any grounds for a tit-for-tat gesture.
"As far as I'm aware, the UK has not refused visas for any DPRK citizens so this decision is hard to understand," said Peter Hughes. "I've asked for an urgent meeting for clarification."
Koryo Tours, the British-owned company that takes almost half of the western tourists who travel to North Korea, is likely to be worst affected by the move.
With just 300 UK visitors per year, Pyongyang's move is unlikely to shake the global tourist industry, but it cuts off one North Korea's few avenues of engagement with the outside world.
Koryo was notified of the change today by North Korean officials.
"In connection with the recent measures taken by UK government not to allow DPRK citizens to enter the UK we also will not receive any UK citizens as tourists to DPRK for the time being," said the Korea International Travel Company, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Nick Bonner, head of Koryo Tours and producer of three documentaries about North Korea, said this was the first time the government had taken such action since he started making monthly visits there, in 1993.
He blamed tough new sanctions that the United Nations was planning to impose in response to North Korea's second nuclear test last month.
"We already call it a closed country. To close it even more is pathetic," he said. "People don't realize the importance of interacting. To see all that stopped is really frustrating."
Among those who could be affected are the Middlesbrough women's football team, who were scheduled to visit next year to mark the 10th anniversary of the reciprocal opening of embassies. Middlesbrough's links to the country date back to the 1966 World Cup, when it hosted the North Korean team.
No other nation appears to have been targeted, but the UK ambassador denied there were any grounds for a tit-for-tat gesture.
"As far as I'm aware, the UK has not refused visas for any DPRK citizens so this decision is hard to understand," said Peter Hughes. "I've asked for an urgent meeting for clarification."
Use the feedback form below to submit your comments.
Use the form below to email this article to your friends.
- US Reporter Held Captive in North Korea Calls Sister
- North Korea Fires Missiles, Continues to Antagonize the World
- North Korea Likely to Fire Missile Toward Hawaii in Coming Weeks
- North Korea Antagonizing World Powers, Threatens U.S. Ships
- North Korea Ignores World Powers, Conducts Nuclear Weapons Test
- U.S. Calls on North Korea to "Cease Its Provocative Threats"
- North Korea Missile Launch Prompts U.S. Anti-Missile Ships
- North Korea Accuses Obama of Infringing on its Sovereignty
- North Korea Calls Clinton 'a Pensioner Going Shopping'
- North Korea Threatens Nuclear 'fire Shower' If Attacked
- North Korea Threatens to 'weaponise' All of Its Plutonium
- North Korea Sentences Two Us Journalists to 12 Years in Jail
- North Korea 'preparing to Test Most Advanced Missile'
- North Korea's Nuclear Test Puts China in a Tight Spot
- North Korea Withdraws From 1953 Armistice and Escalates Nuclear Tensions
- North Korea Restarts Nuclear Reactor and Threatens to Attack South
- North Korea Fires Two More Missiles After Nuclear Test
- Playing the Waiting Game: How Kim Jong Il Beats the U.S.
- U.S. Bans Sales of iPods, Segways, and Harleys to North Korea
- The Nuclear Issue in North Korea
- The Clash of the Koreans: Naval Skirmish in the Yellow Sea
- Freed Journalists were Forced into North Korea to be Arrested
- Hillary Clinton Not Hopeful that North Korean Relations will Improve