
The tour firm that arranged a trip into North Korea that led to the death of a US student has released images of the country to encourage people to visit.

Otto Warmbier was jailed for a year by Pyongyang for stealing a poster before being sent home in a mysterious coma that proved fatal soon afterwards.

Young Pioneer Tours was responsible for the trip and came in for criticism for failing to protect the 22-year-old. But company bosses insisted they had made 'constant requests' to see Warmbier in jail which were denied and that they had been left 'reeling' after learning of his death.

Now the firm has issued new photos to encourage visits to Kim Jong-un's hermit state - just a month before American citizens face a complete ban from visiting the nation.

Hard at work: A local guide wearing a traditional cholgori or Hanbok is pictured in the middle of a factory. The image was one of many released by Young Pioneer Tours aimed at promoting tourism in the country. The firm has hit the headlines recently for arranging a trip into North Korea that led to the death of US student Otto Warmbier

Young Pioneer Tours has issued new photos to encourage visits to Kim Jong-un's hermit state - just a month before American citizens face a complete ban from visiting the nation. A female traffic officer is pictured in the capital Pyongyang

The photos show a range of different tourism draws in North Korea, from soldiers at work to families at the recently finished Munsu Waterpark in Pyongyang

The photos, which show everything from soldiers at work to families at a recently finished water park, were taken by Irish national Shane Horan, the International tours manager for Young Pioneers Tours.

Recent months have seen tensions between North Korea and the west, particularly America, ratcheted up to a level rarely seen since the days of the Korean War.

But Mr Horan says these developments have not concerned him, and that even his family have stopped worrying now when he takes a trip.

'These tensions are quite normal and seem to flare up at least once a year,' he said. 'I'm not concerned as I feel I've seen it all before and nothing will change.

'At first my family were slightly concerned when I first took the job. But having seen me return from Pyongyang 40 plus times, I don't even think they care anymore.'

The U.S. government last week said it will bar Americans from traveling to North Korea due to the risk of 'long-term detention' in the country.

An army officer is pictured in front of Mount Paektu on the Northern Chinese border. The area is sacred for Koreans and it is said that General Kim Jong Il was born at the base of the mountain

A cyclist on the newly built 'Scientist Street', built for the workers in the nearby university in Pyongyang. The photos were released by Young Pioneer Tours, which organises trips into North Korea

The photos, including this image of students dancing on Liberation Day, have been released just a month before American citizens face a complete ban from visiting the nation

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has authorised a 'Geographical Travel Restriction' on Americans to forbid them from entering North Korea, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

'Once in effect, U.S. passports will be invalid for travel to, through and in North Korea, and individuals will be required to obtain a passport with a special validation in order to travel to or within North Korea,' Nauert said.

The move was due to 'mounting concerns over the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention under North Korea's system of law enforcement,' she said.

Warmbier was sentenced last year to 15 years hard labour in North Korea for trying to steal a propaganda sign while on a tourist visit.

He returned to the United States in a coma on June 13 after being released on humanitarian grounds and died on June 19. The circumstances surrounding his death are not clear, including why he fell into a coma.

North Korea has said through its state media that Warmbier's death was 'a mystery' and dismissed accusations that he had died as a result of torture and beating in captivity.

North Korea is currently holding two Korean-American academics and a missionary, a Canadian pastor and three South Korean nationals who were doing missionary work. Japan says North Korea has also detained at least several dozen of its nationals.

It was not known how many Americans were currently in North Korea and the State Department said it was not its practice to give numbers of U.S. citizens living in or travelling to a particular country.

The 105 storey and still unfinished Ryugyong Hotel dominates Pyongyang's skyline. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has authorised a 'Geographical Travel Restriction' on Americans to forbid them from entering North Korea, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said last week

A worker is illuminated by an oncoming train at Pyongyang's 'Glory' station in one of the world's deepest metro systems

Two metro conductors watch and wait for the doors to close before departing from a station in Pyongyang. The images were released to encourage people to visit North Korea

Fishermen sit and talk about the catch in the Taedong river off Pyongyang's central square and in front of a large cruise boat

U.S. officials say North Korea will become the only country in the world Americans are banned from visiting.

The department said it plans to publish a notice in the Federal Register this week, starting a 30-day clock before the restriction takes effect, Nauert said.

She said Americans who wanted to travel to North Korea 'for certain limited humanitarian or other purposes' could apply for special passports to do so.

North Korea allows foreign tourists to visit but their travel is strictly limited. Hundreds of Americans are among the roughly 4,000 to 5,000 Western tourists who visit North Korea each year, according to U.S. Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina.

North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threat is perhaps the most serious security challenge confronting U.S. President Donald Trump, who has vowed to prevent North Korea from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear warhead.

North Korea this month test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that experts believe has the range to reach Alaska and Hawaii and perhaps the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Mr Horan insisted it remained 'very easy' for tourists to secure a visa to travel to the country - unless they were from the US.

Mr Horan insisted it remained 'very easy' for tourists to secure a visa to travel to the country - unless they were from the US. Locals are pictured at a beach on the West Korean sea at the mouth of the river Taedong and near the port of Namp

Two women stand in front of a newly constructed water park in Pyongyang. The photos were released by Snahe Horan from Young Pioneer Tours

A local tour guide dressed in a pink outfit poses on top of Pyongyang's Arch of Triumph and in front of the city's unfinished Ryugyong Hotel

A young woman walks along one of the traditional streets of Sariwon city in North Korea's North Hwanghae province

A scuba diving fisherman emerges from the ocean on Wonsan beach, on the east coast of North Korea, carrying his catch

'The country is opening slowly but surely to tourists. There are more places than ever that you can visit all over the country and not just in Pyongyang.

'Of course, we have to stick to places we're supposed to, but we can choose what to put on our itineraries.

'You are watched when out and about on the street, but not in your hotel rooms and not so much when visiting the places you're allowed. But I've never been anywhere that's restricted.'

However, Shane says that despite the fact that certain access is restricted, there are still large parts of North Korea where you can go and meet real locals.

'Our tours are geared towards balancing the history and monuments with genuine interactions with locals,' he says.

'I always push for visits to local bars, bowling alleys, parks, waterparks etc where we can roam free and genuinely interact with locals doing casual, leisurely things.'