Japan's NHK network reported Monday North Korea will temporarily ban trips to the North by Japanese tourists from Wednesday.

Quoting an industry source, the public broadcaster said in a radio program the North notified Tokyo tourist agencies of the decision late last week.

NHK, however, said Pyongyang has yet to give any reason for the move or specify the length of the suspension period.

The broadcaster said the measure is interpreted as a response to the chilling of bilateral relations from the rupture of normalization talks and strains over the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea.