Tag: tourism

The only thing surprising about this is that it took the US government so many years to finally implement this travel ban:

The Trump administration will ban American citizens from traveling to North Korea, U.S. officials said Friday, following the death of university student Otto Warmbier who died in June after falling into a coma in a North Korean prison.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had decided to impose “geographical travel restriction” for North Korea, the officials said, which would make it illegal to use U.S. passports to enter the country. They said the restriction would be published in the Federal Register next week and will take effect 30 days after that.

The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the decision before it is announced and spoke on condition of anonymity. Two tour operators that organize group trips to North Korea said they had already been informed of the decision.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link.

I have been saying this for years that US tourism to North Korea should not be allowed and unfortunately the death of Otto Warmbier may be the spark that finally causes an end to Americans being allowed to visit North Korea:

Warmbier’s treatment and death has served as a wake-up call to both those who join and organize tours to North Korea. In an emotional statement, Young Pioneers Tours said: “The way his detention was handled was appalling, and a tragedy like this must never be repeated … Considering these facts and this tragic outcome we will no longer be organizing tours for U.S. citizens to North Korea.” Uri Tours, a U.S.-based tour company also offering trips to North Korea, said it was “reviewing its position on [North Korea] travel for American citizens.”

They may not have a choice. Although the State Department already warns in strong terms against North Korean travel, last month Republican and Democratic U.S. congressmen introduced a bill that would ban American tourists from traveling to North Korea as tourists and require special permission for other visits, citing at least 17 Americans detained by the regime over the last decade. “With increased tensions in North Korea, the danger that Americans will be detained for political reasons is greater than ever,” Democrat Adam Schiff and Republican Joe Wilson said in a statement.  [TIME]

You can read more at the link.

It is already pretty easy for foreigners to get around South Korea and the Seoul government is starting a program to make it even easier:

The Seoul metropolitan government said Sunday it will operate an inter-city bus connecting major tourist attractions in South Korea starting this week to provide visitors a chance to explore the many hidden treasures in the country.

The “K-travel Bus” exclusively serves foreign tourists, residents and students who want to travel outside the capital city, to boost travel to smaller cities and rural areas, a municipal official said. The initial two-day tours will run till the end of the year.

Under the planned service, foreigners can choose one of five destinations from Seoul — the southeastern city of Daegu, Ganghwa Island in Incheon near Seoul, the northeastern province of Gangwon, the southwestern province of South Jeolla and the southeastern province of North Gyeongsang.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest retaliation from the Chinese for the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea:

China’s government ordered travel agencies to stop selling tour packages to Korea starting March 15 in the latest retaliation against the deployment of a U.S.-operated anti-missile system in Korea.

Under the ban, all travel agencies in China will be barred from selling travel packages to Korea, both group and individual, from March 15, a move certain to harm the local tourism industry.

It was reported that the China National Tourist Office summoned executives of travel agencies Thursday to a meeting at which the government instructed them to halt all tour packages to Korea to rebuff Seoul’s decision last July to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) anti-missile system.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

The door of the North Korean tourist center in Kuala Lumpur is locked on Feb. 23, 2017, amid an international disturbance created by the recent assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam in the Southeast Asian nation. (Yonhap)

A photographic trip through North Korea: Defectors explain what tourists are really seeing https://t.co/Rv1CVVAq7G

— Sokeel Park (@Sokeel) December 18, 2016

Here’s why so many Chinese tourists are vacationing in North Korea https://t.co/4ihb7qwhSn by @SurekhaRagavan

— Adam Cathcart (@adamcathcart) December 12, 2016

It looks like this how the ROK government has decided to show its citizens that is doing something about the amount of crime committed by Chinese tourists on Jeju island:

According to the Beijing News and other local Chinese newspapers on Sunday, over 100 Chinese tourists were refused entrance to Jeju Island by Korean immigration authorities over China’s week-long national holiday last week, and the tourists were reportedly detained at the Jeju International Airport for hours, some even days, before returning to China.

“A number of tourists were refused entry for various reasons, and detained [at the airport],” the Beijing News reported on Sunday. “The room contained simple facilities, like electric outlets, and had no bed or blankets.”

The Chinese paper reported that a Chinese citizen surnamed Zhang and his wife were detained at the airport because they could not provide papers for their accommodation reservations at the island.

The paper added that over 100 Chinese tourists were detained at Jeju International Airport during the national holidays, staying at most five days.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

The Joong Ang Ilbo has an article published that shows some of the details of the foreign tourism industry in North Korea.  Like I have always said I encourage people to not travel to North Korea because the money is used to subsidize the Kim regime and not some misguided sense of engagement some may think their travel to North Korea is offering.  I will travel to North Korea one day when the Kim regime is gone and the Korea’s are reunited:

The eyes of the world were upon Pyongyang when the former NBA player, Dennis Rodman, visited the city with the Harlem Globetrotters, an American exhibition basketball team, on Feb. 26, 2013. The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally threw a welcoming party for the American athletes.

Another visit was made by retired Japanese wrestler-cum-lawmaker Kanji Inoki, more widely known by his ring name, Antonio Inoki, who appeared at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport with his fellow wrestlers in August 2014. An international competition was held in Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium, built by the South’s Hyundai Group in an effort to initiate inter-Korean sports events. The event signaled the return of pro-wrestling to North Korea for the first time in 18 years.

Behind both these events was Michael Spavor, the head of Paektu Cultural Exchange, a “non-profit organization that facilitates cultural exchanges and business with North Korea,” according to its website. The Canadian enterpriser maintains a close connection with Kim, hosting not only sports exchanges, but investment briefings for foreigners, as well.

As inter-Korean relations experience a chill, foreign influence is rapidly squeezing through the gap, pervading cultural, political, economic and social domains, helping define the country’s change under Kim Jong-un’s leadership.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

https://twitter.com/freekorea_us/status/713906714861518849