North Korea closes borders to prevent spread of Ebola virus

By Nona Tepper, October 24, 2014

Starting tomorrow, October 24, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will no longer accept international tourists into the country, effectively closing its borders due to the threat of the Ebola virus.

It is presently unknown how long this closure will be in effect. But, Beijing- based tour agency Koryo tours remains, "hopeful that our planned tours in November and December will take place" to the country's North.

At least 4,877 people have died in the world's worst recorded outbreak of Ebola, the World Health Organization estimates, with nearly 10,000 cases recorded by Oct. 19, though the actual toll could be three times as much.

In 2003, North Korea became the only country in the world to fully close its borders due to the threat of SARS.

UPDATE: Nick Bonner, head of the leading DPRK travel agency made the following statement on October 23:

"The information we were provided with today by our travel partners in Pyongyang was that tourists would be prevented from entering the DPRK as of tomorrow — Fri 24 Oct. This was confirmed by multiple sources within Pyongyang, as well as our partners in Beijing, and the Chinese border town of Dandong.

"As far as we know, however, this only applies to tourists, and not to those involved with trade, or other wider activities, such as diplomacy, who will be able to travel in and out of the DPRK as per usual.

"As such, we are currently in discussions with our partners in Pyongyang and working hard to have this travel restriction on our tourists lifted at the earliest opportunity. Having worked in the country since 1993, we were faced with a similar issue during the SARS crisis, and are currently in the process of providing our partners in the DPRK with reassurances and paperwork to show that the remaining tourists booked to travel with us throughout 2014 are not travelling from Ebola-affected areas, and should be cleared for entry into Pyongyang.

"The situation is moving quickly, and we hope to still be able to take in our next group of tourists, who are scheduled to depart from Beijing to Pyongyang this Saturday. We will keep you updated.