A travel company in Vietnam is reportedly eyeing its first tour to North Korea early next year, in a sign that tourists from smaller non-Western countries could soon return to the DPRK for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19.

The Russian state media outlet Sputnik reported that Hanoi-based Flamingo Redtours seeks to be among the first to organize tours to North Korea, after two Western tour agencies announced last month that the country will allow foreign visitors to travel to the remote border area of Samjiyon from December.

Flamingo Redtours CEO Nguyen Cong Hoan called the reopening to