South Korea reviewing various options to improve North Korea ties
Koo Byung-sam, a spokesperson for the ministry that handles inter-Korea affairs, refused to comment on a "particular issue".
But, Koo said he understood individual tours were not in violation of international sanctions.
Tourism is one of a narrow range of cash sources for North Korea that are not targeted under United Nations sanctions over its nuclear and weapons programs.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has pledged to improve strained relations with Pyongyang that have reached their worst level in years.
In a bid to ease tensions, Lee suspended anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts along the border and ordered a halt to leaflet campaigns criticising the North's leaders by anti-Pyongyang activists.
The president has said he will discuss further plans with top security officials to resume dialogue with North Korea that is technically at war with the South.
North Korea recently opened a beach resort in the city of Wonsan, a flagship project driven by leader Kim Jong Un to promote tourism.
But, the tourist area is temporarily not accepting foreign visitors, according to a July 16 note by DPR Korea Tour, a website operated by North Korea's National Tourism Administration.
North Korea first needs to open the area to the outside world, the Unification Ministry spokesperson said, asked if South Koreans could travel to Wonsan.
South Korea once ran tours to North Korea's Mount Kumgang area, but suspended them in 2008, when a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.
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After initially gaining attention with its anti-vaccine and anti-masking views during the Covid pandemic – a former leader labelled Covid vaccines a 'lethal weapon' – the party rebranded with a 'Japanese First' platform focused on overtourism, economic stagnation and anti-immigration sentiment. Although the party has toned down its rhetoric since, its leadership has continued to echo what have been called conspiracy theories around public health, according to The Asahi Shimbun. As foreign workers and tourists have risen sharply in number in recent years, Sanseito has leveraged public anxieties around national identity, security, and inflation to gain wider traction, advocating stricter controls on immigration, stronger defence policies, and economic reforms. 'The phrase 'Japanese First' was meant to express rebuilding Japanese people's livelihoods by resisting globalism,' Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya, 47, told local broadcaster Nippon Television after the election. 'We were criticised as being xenophobic and discriminatory. The public came to understand that the media was wrong and Sanseito was right. We are gradually increasing our numbers and living up to people's expectations. By building a solid organisation and securing 50 or 60 seats, I believe our policies will finally become reality,' he said. How do Sanseito's gains impact LDP? Sanseito's rise is damaging the LDP by pulling away many of its core conservative voters. Analysts say some LDP supporters feel the prime minister is too moderate and lacks the strong nationalist views of former leader Shinzo Abe. They cite examples such as recent legislation to promote awareness of LGBT+ rights and issues. 'Prime minister Ishiba is considered not conservative enough by many supporters of the former prime minister Abe,' Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer in Japanese Studies at Kanda University of International Studies, told the BBC. 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Kamiya is the unlikely face of Japan's populist right. As the head of Sanseito, the onetime supermarket manager and English teacher has built a loyal following online, where his videos blend nationalist rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and sharp attacks on the political elite. He was formerly a member of the LDP and received support from Abe in the 2012 election, though he lost. He went on to launch Sanseito in 2020 and became its first and only elected lawmaker in 2022. A former military reservist, Kamiya admires US president Donald Trump and often targets political and financial elites in his speeches. His campaign gained wide traction through social media thanks to coordinated messaging and provocative statements such as calling gender equality policies a mistake and warning that Japan risked becoming a 'colony' under globalist influence. As votes were counted on Sunday, Sanseito leaders, including Kamiya, used their media appearances to defend the party's contentious 'Japanese First' slogan and push back against accusations of xenophobia. Kamiya claimed that the slogan was 'about standing up against globalism and protecting the lives of Japanese citizens'. 'The notion that people who want to discriminate and kick foreigners out are flocking to Sanseito is, I think, a little wrong. We aren't that kind of party,' he said. Kamiya, whose upper house seat is secure until 2028, did not stand in Sunday's election. To soften his image and appeal beyond the party's core base of young men, he fielded several female candidates in the latest election, including the singer Saya, who won a seat in Tokyo. What worked for Sansieto? Kamiya has openly looked to Germany's AfD and Reform UK as models for how a populist party might thrive in Japan. Unlike in the US and Western Europe, populism had struggled to gain a foothold in the East Asian nation – until now. Like other opposition parties, Sanseito campaigned on tax cuts and more generous child benefits, proposals that worried investors already concerned about Japan's massive public debt. Prof Uchiyama notes that Sanseito's platform may appear ideologically inconsistent at first glance, blending right-wing nationalist rhetoric with left-leaning economic promises like greater child support. 'It's certain that Sanseito's platform seems to lack coherence. Actually their slogan 'Japanese First' is that of right-wing populists, while their expansionist fiscal policy is that of left-wing populists. However, Sanseito insists that cash handouts should be limited to those with Japanese citizenship. In this point, there is sort of coherence,' he tells The Independent. What really set Sanseito apart during the campaign was its powerful digital strategy and ability to tap into online discontent. Leveraging its more than 400,000 YouTube subscribers – nearly three times that of the LDP – the party built an influential platform to directly challenge the political establishment. 'It seems that those who supported Abe's right-wing LDP have now turned to Sanseito because the LDP under Fumio Kishida and Ishiba has got close to the centrist position. Besides, Sanseito effectively utilised SNS and YouTube,' Prof Uchiyama says, referring to social networking services. 'Voters who mainly get political information by SNS and YouTube are more likely to support Sanseito than voters who don't.' This strong online presence allowed the party to amplify its message, reach disillusioned conservative voters and spread its rhetoric far more effectively than its rivals. Sanseito's hardline stance on immigration has already nudged the country's political discourse further right, prompting the government to declare a crackdown on crimes by foreigners and pledge 'zero illegal foreigners' just days before the upper house election. The rise of revisionist parties presents a significant threat to Japan's democratic discourse and foreign policy, Uchiyama tells The Independent. 'I am afraid the rise of such parties poses a great risk to Japan's democracy. There are now many people in Japan who believe fake news and conspiracy theories,' he says. 'It will undermine democratic norms that are necessary to keep our polity healthy.'
