BEIJING (AP) - North Korea said Wednesday it will begin to allow in more
American tourists after years of heavy restrictions on visits to the
isolate country, according a tour operator.

The United States has never had diplomatic relations with North Korea
since the Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. More
recently, tensions have remained high over the North's nuclear program.

Only about 2,000 tourists from the U.S. have visited since the country
opened to Western tourism in 1987, according to the founder of a
China-based tour group that says it has taken most of those visitors
into the isolated country.

But the Koryo Group, which specializes in North Korea tourism, said it
received an e-mail from the state-run Korea International Travel Company
on Wednesday afternoon saying the country will accept more American
tourists this year.

The message gave no explanation for the move and said more specific
information would come later, the agency's founder, Nicholas Bonner,
told The Associated Press.

"This is a big, big change," he said.
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Where others have hearts, right-wingers carry tumors of rotten principles.