Visitors walk across the Yalu River Broken Bridge, (right), next to the Friendship Bridge connecting China and North Korea in Dandong in Liaoning Province. Photo: VCG

A number of group tour products to North Korea are now open for sale in China, according to Yonhap News Agency, but travel agencies confirmed that it is only in preparation for starting North Korea tour once the country resumes tourism.

A travel agency called Young Pioneer Tours recently rolled out six travel routes in July including visits to Sinuiju and Pyongyang, as well as seven tour products for August, according to the official website of the travel agency.

Rowan Beard, tours manager of Young Pioneer Tours, told the Global Times his travel agency has listed tours on their website in advance so when the North Korean borders reopen, they can resume business as quickly as they can.

The Global Times found tour products to North Korea are marketed by many travel agencies in Dandong, a city in Northeast China's Liaoning Province that borders North Korea. However, travelers still cannot book as the border has yet to open.

A notice issued by a travel agency called Hongxiang reads that "Since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019, all ports between China and North Korea have not resumed tourism, and the cross-border tourism business in North Korea cannot be carried out normally, and it is expected to resume in the second half of the year, though the specific time is to be determined."

Reports claiming that North Korea resumed entry of tourist groups have been frequently seen this year, but the resumption of tourism doesn't appear likely in the near future, Lü Chao, an expert on the Korean Peninsula issue at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Given the situation, it is more likely to resume international trade first and prioritize the entry of business personnel, Lü noted, adding that there is a strong desire among his North Korean friends to resume personnel exchanges for the purpose of business.

After the suspension in August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, China-North Korea trans-border freight train services resumed on January 16, 2022, but were then suspended for a further five months for pandemic reasons, before resuming again in September 2022.