North Korea has banned foreign tourists since Jan. 23 due to the spread of Wuhan pneumonia, according to travel agencies.

North Korea "closes the border with all foreign visitors to guard against corona virus", Chinese-based travel company Young Pioneer Tours today said in a statement but did not specify a ban on maintenance. in how long.

Cha Yeong-hyeong, head of INDPRK-based travel company based in China, said they also received the same notice from their Korean counterpart.

The majority of foreign visitors to North Korea are Chinese and the number of visitors increased significantly last year as relations between Beijing and Pyongyang warmed up.

Pyongyang has had similar moves in the past. They banned foreign tourists for four months from October 2014 to prevent Ebola virus, although no cases of infection have been detected in Asia.

Nine people died from pneumonia outbreaks in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China. The disease, caused by an entirely new strain of the virus of the corona family (nCoV), has spread to many populous cities in China and to the United States, Thailand, South Korea and Japan. Beijing on January 20 confirmed that the virus could be transmitted from person to person.