Air China restarted direct flights between Beijing and Pyongyang on Monday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, although for now North Korea is only allowing in travelers with official or other special purposes.

This report looks at tourism in one of the world¡¯s most isolated countries, alongside the shifting relations between Pyongyang and its main economic and diplomatic backers?¡ª China and Russia.

Before both countries closed their borders due to COVID-19, there were an estimated 300,000 foreign visitors in 2019, 90% of them Chinese, according to South Korea¡¯s Institute for International Economic Policy.