(image: Flickr/ Roman Harak)
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — A Seoul-based tour company is planning to sell North Korea travel packages to foreigners staying in South Korea.
Sunwoo Airlines Travel Agency Co. said Friday that it has secured an exclusive proxy contract with Pyongyang on the sale of North Korea tour packages to foreigners living in South Korea or wanting to visit the North via the South.
The tour operator said it will sell the North Korea tour products to anyone except Koreans, Chinese nationals and Americans, who are now banned by the U.S. government from visiting the North.
M&PG Korea, which recently contacted North Korean officials on behalf of Sunwoo Airlines Travel Agency, said that the Seoul tour company has won the exclusive contract from a Chinese travel agency in Liaoning Province, which in turn won a contract from the North’s Kumgangsan International Travel Company.
M&PG Korea explained that the contract on North Korea tour programs was signed via a Chinese tour agency due to international sanctions on North Korea.
Sunwoo Airlines Travel Agency said it plans to start the sale of North Korea tour programs in October through partnerships with about 10 tour operators in Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and other provincial cities.
Trips will begin at airports in Seoul and Busan and go to North Korea through Shenyang in China, the company said, adding that the length of time spent in the North will range from five to nine days.
“The North Korea tour packages will be offered to foreigners alone due to the sanctions on the North. If the sanctions are lifted in the future, we will push to sell the North Korea tour packages to South Korean nationals, too,” said a company official.
(Yonhap)
