Nowhere to run: North Korea, citing Ebola concerns, bars foreigners from Pyongyang marathon

ASSOCIATED PRESS  By ERIC TALMADGE                                                                                   Feb. 23, 2015

TOKYO  — Further restricting travel to the already isolated country, North Korea barred foreigners from one of its most popular tourist events — the annual Pyongyang marathon — because of concerns over the Ebola virus, travel agencies said Monday.

While no cases of Ebola have been reported anywhere near North Korea, the country shut out foreign tourists in October with some of the strictest Ebola regulations in the world. North Korean media have suggested Ebola was created by the U.S. military as a biological weapon.

Nick Bonner, co-founder of Beijing-based Koryo Tours, said he did not think the decision reflected any deeper problems in the North's secretive and often enigmatic government, though the news comes amid reports leader Kim Jong Un has called for increased combat readiness and, at a meeting of senior party and military leaders, described tensions on the peninsula as graver than ever before.

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http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/02/23/north-korea-bars-foreigners-from-pyongyang-marathon