A tour agency in China that handles tour programs to North Korea says a group of foreign visitors will travel to the North this weekend.

The group will be the first foreign visitors to enter the reclusive state since December tenth, when Pyongyang imposed a ban on foreign travelers.

In previous years, the North barred foreign travelers from entering the country from mid-December, when it halts its customs operations, until sometime after February 16th, the birthday of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

U.S.-based Radio Free Asia quoted a representative of Beijing-based Koryo Tours, Simon Cockerell, as saying that a group of tourists from Britain, Germany, Italy and other European countries will visit North Korea on Saturday after passing through China. He said the group will tour around Pyongyang, Gaeseong and Mount Myohyang.