North Korea to Halt Tours to Historic City

A South Korean tourist, right, poses with North Korean woman, left, for a photo during a tour to...

A South Korean tourist, right, poses with North Korean woman, left, for a photo during a tour to North Korea city Kaesong, North Korea, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008. State-run North Korean media say its military has informed the South it will follow through with a plan to restrict overland passage through their heavily armed border starting Dec. 1. The report says the border shutdown will mean a total suspension of tourism to the North Korean city of Kaesong. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man)

(AP)

For months, tours of this historic city — famed for its Buddhist temples, royal tombs and ancient relics — have given South Koreans a glimpse of life in the hidden communist North.

But North Korea officials announced Monday that these visits were being suspended starting Dec. 1 because of tensions with Seoul — not that they were that truly welcoming anyway: On a weekend visit, cell phones, laptops and cameras with telephoto lenses were locked away even before the tour bus left South Korean territory.

Travelers were warned not to speak to ordinary North Koreans, not to criticize the government or to ask about the health of Kim Jong Il. And no souvenirs depicting the Dear Leader, a South Korean guide warned.

"Don't bring back red items or any of that North Korean propaganda — I know foreigners love to buy propaganda," she said.

Related

N. Korea Nukes: Deal or Provocation Time?

WATCH: North Korea to Restart Nuclear Reactor

WATCH: Bush, Beef & Protests

The moment the bus passed from South to North on Saturday, South Korean tourists broke out in applause. At immigration, North Korea's de facto theme song for reconciliation — "Nice to Meet You" — played over and over on a loudspeaker as travelers endured yet another security check.

As the bus ambled into Kaesong with two new North Korean guides aboard, soldiers stood guard at intervals along the route, a lone figure in a brown field or on an empty dirt road, red flag at the ready to wave at an errant tourist snapping a photo from the bus window with a small camera.

If the flag had been raised, the entire convoy would have stopped and the illicit photo ordered deleted from the camera.

For many on board, it was their first trip to reclusive North Korea, a country that is run with absolute authority by the autocratic Kim.

And for many, it was their first meeting with North Koreans. The guide, a Kaesong native, was witty and warm as he told tourists about the history of the capital known as Songdo, "the City of Pine Trees," at one point serenading them with Korea's most famous folk song, "Arirang" and teasing them with jokes — a scene perhaps unthinkable a decade ago.