Chinese tourism to North Korea “increased dramatically” since the beginning of June, tourism industry insiders told NK News on Friday, with train and plane capacity both expanded significantly to accommodate the expanded demand.

The rise in interest is notable because it comes following two partial Chinese bans on tours to the North, one from November last year – after repeated DPRK missiles tests – and one after a catastrophic bus accident killed 32 Chinese nationals visiting the country in April.

“Within the last three weeks Chinese tourism to North Korea has increased dramatically,” said Rowan Beard of the