A small group of foreign tourists has visited North Korea in the past week, making them the first international travelers to enter the country in five years except for a group of Russian tourists who went to the North last year.

SEOUL, South Korea — A small group of foreign tourists has visited North Korea in the past week, making them the first international travelers to enter the country in five years except for a group of Russian tourists who went to the North last year.

After the pandemic began, North Korea quickly banned tourists, jetted out diplomats and severely curtailed border traffic in one of the world’s most draconian COVID-19 restrictions. But since 2022, North Korea has been slowly easing curbs and reopening its borders.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday that North Korea was responsible for the theft of approximately $1.5 billion in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange ByBit.

Cryptocurrency buyers should be prepared for more and bigger threats after North Korea’s recent robbery of close to $1.5 billion of cryptocurrency from crypto exchange Bybit. That’s just one of the implications of a study appearing in the February 2025 issue of the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

State-backed North Korean hackers have stolen $1.5bn (£1.2bn) of cryptocurrency in the largest heist in history.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for building a strong, modern army to cope with any war during a visit to a military academy, state media KCNA said on Wednesday. Kim's trip to the Kang Kon Military Academy comes after North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a junior officer training institution in Pyongyang on Tuesday, emphasizing the need to educate soldiers on "the actual experiences of modern warfare," state media reported Wednesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a military academy in Pyongyang, emphasizing the need to educate soldiers on "the actual experiences of modern warfare" and master rapidly advanced weapons,