The World - News from Sept. 4, 1988

The Soviet government will soon allow foreigners into the Pacific coast city of Vladivostok, which serves as home port of the Soviet navy and has been closed, with few exceptions, to foreigners for decades, the government newspaper Izvestia said. The newspaper said the decision “is a result of the new political initiatives of our country.” Izvestia did not say when Vladivostok would become an open city. But later this month, an international symposium on problems of the Asia-Pacific region is to be held in the city, which has a population of 565,000.