SARS Fears Halt N. Korea Tour
North Korea suspended a joint tourism project with South Korea today, citing fears of severe acute respiratory syndrome, a South Korean government official said.
The two nations had been offering tours to Diamond Mountain in the north since 1998.
“The North Korean side told us that it has suspended the Diamond Mountain tourism project.
“It gave SARS as the reason, but we are trying to figure out its real intentions,” said a spokesman at Seoul’s Unification Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Earlier this week, North Korea said it was tightening inspections at its seaports, airports and border checkpoints to guard against the disease.
There have been no confirmed cases of the illness either in South Korea or North Korea.
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