Welcome to the… ruble. Russian tourists, the first known group of foreigners to visit North Korea since the border was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemicarrived today Friday in Pyongyang, according to AFP journalists. A total of 97 Russians are set to take part in the four-day trip.

Photos and videos show Russian tourists arriving at Pyongyang airportto wander around it and smile while taking pictures under the arrivals board.

Moscow and Pyongyang have recently strengthened their relations. Last September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un paid a visit to the Russian Far East to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

South Korea and the US then reported that North Korea had shipped weapons to Russia for use in Ukrainethus violating a series of UN resolutions that targeted Pyongyang over its banned weapons program and Moscow over its war with Kiev.

Natalia Zinina, an executive of the Vostok Intur tourist agency that organized the trip, explained to the specialized website NK News, that based in Seoulthat the group is going to visit North Korea from February 9 to 12.

Russia

The Russian tourists “will initially make a stop in Pyongyang before proceeding to the Masikryong ski resort, near the city of Wonsan on the country’s east coast.”in accordance with NK News.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian travel to Europe and the US has become more complicated. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has also visited Pyongyang, said last year that North Korea could be suggested as a tourist destination, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.

The 97 Russians are the first known group of foreign tourists to visit North Korea since the country reopened its borders last August, after almost four years that he kept them closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Russia