Panmunjom tours resume after monthslong suspension due to coronavirus

SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- Tours to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom resumed Tuesday after a monthslong hiatus attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

The tour program to the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, which was suspended in July, resumed after South Korea shifted to a "living with COVID-19" scheme earlier in the month.

The tour program will be held once a day at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and capped at 20 people per visit.

Visitors are required to be fully vaccinated or submit negative PCR test results taken within three days before their tour.

The unification ministry earlier said it will consider expanding visits to the truce village if the virus situation improves. But authorities recently decided to halt further easing distancing rules as the country grapples with a rise in new infections amid concerns over the global spread of a new virus variant, omicron.

"For now we will proceed with the tour program as planned and decide whether to impose additional anti-virus measures depending on the following situation," a ministry official said.

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