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North Korea, a nation whose borders are largely closed to foreign visitors, allowed South Korean tourists to visit a historic city in the south of the country this week.

More than 300 visitors from the south crossed the heavily fortified boundary between the two countries on Wednesday on a trip to Kaesong.

The day trip included a visit to a waterfall, a temple and a museum in the city, which was formerly the capital of Korea's Koryo Dynasty.

Hyundai Asan, the tour operator that organises the trip, said it will take visitors across the border to visit Kaesong on a regular basis from now on.

A spokesperson for the company told the AFP news agency: 'Kaesong is surfacing as a popular tourist attraction among South Koreans as it gives you a rare glimpse into a North Korean city.'

Kaesong is the second destination in North Korea open to visits from people from south of the border, after the Mount Kumgang resort began to host tourists in 1998.

The expanding tourism program is seen as representative of the developing reconciliation between the two countries, which are still strictly at war as no official peace agreement was signed when the Korean War came to an end in 1953.

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