Cash-strapped North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is keen on more Western tourists visiting his country, a Chinese-based tour operator has reportedly told Reuters.

According to the news agency, officials in the impoverished pariah state are looking at drumming up sorely needed cash from the country’s foundering tourism sector.

Isolated North Korea used to rake in tens of millions of dollars by allowing its southern neighbour to operate heavily supervised trips to selected rural and urban parts of the country.

But following a deterioration of political ties in the Korean peninsula, the South cancelled its foreign tours in December 2008.

Reuters reports that Kim Jong-il himself has personally issued a plea to the South’s Hyundai Group that it resume inbound tourist trips to a mountain resort and a border city in the North.

The trips had been popular with adventure-seeking American tourists, and despite hostile political ties between the US and North Korea Mr Jong-il reportedly wants the Westerners to return.

If the agreement was resurrected, visitors would be allowed to stay in the military state for up to four nights, being accommodated in hotels exclusively reserved for foreign diplomats.

The Hyundai trips previously cost between £600 and £1,200 per person – offering a major source of revenue for a country where the average salary is just £50 per month.

Even without the South Korean arrangement, about 1,500 Western tourists visit North Korea each year.

© Cheapflights Ltd

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