North Korean media say a group of tourists has begun a ferry tour from North Korea’s Rasun City to Mount Geumgang.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency says a launch ceremony of the trial tour program was held Tuesday in Rasun. It says that over the five-day tour, tourists will board the Mangyongbong ferry at Rasun and travel to Mount Geumgang. They will tour the major sites of the scenic mountain.

Foreign journalists and businesspeople are known to be taking part in the trial tour. They include investment and tourist company officials from the U.S., Russia, Europe, China and Japan. The group also includes a delegation from China's three northeastern provinces and media officials from the Associated Press, Reuters, Russia's Itar-Tass, Japan's Asahi daily, China's CCTV and Hong Kong's Phoenix Television.