North Korea Tourism

[003]

I am not closing my doors, but I think there's not a reason for me to go there, or I was given the opportunity, I don't think that I'd be able to enjoy my stay. Just from the pictures, which even them are scarce, North Koreas really seems to be a barren land, and a place where people just want to go out, but no they have no choice so they live there unhappily with no opportunities for their own self-improvement and self-growth. I also think the the North Korea aren't really concerned with their citizens. They are only concerned of their pride and of themselves. How could they make their place apt for tourism if they don't really care about the people. They may offer good places and excellent tourist spots, but would the people feel welcome? If their own citizens don't feel like their country is their home, then how could it be home for other countries's citizens?

 

[RobertNick]

Maybe they should focus more on feeding their people instead of attracting tourists that don't even get to see what that place is like and just get served some heavily censored experience.

 

[missbishi]

From what I recall, there is an amusement park on neutral territory between North and South Korea, that is open to both sides. Other than that I can't imagine that there is very much else to explore in North Korea, besides mountains and valleys.

That's right, it's in the DMZ and was in a very poor state of repair. The lil' man has ordered that it be refurbished in an attempt to fool people into thinking that the government works for them...

 

[Kamarsun1]

North Korea launched their tourism site. The site is to appeal to international tourist even though its borders are closed and it's written in Korean. Yeah! Let's go there! Let's hope we don't get put in a work camp! No Bibles allowed!

Well the no bibles allowed may not be a bad thing, but the work camps is something I don't want any part of. I would like to see North Korea open up more to the world around them, but in some ways I can understand what the government is trying to do. The world is very corrupt, and it's not all sweet living in this world of modern technology, but I still like the opportunity of choice that we still have(for now) here in the US.

 

[KimberlyD]

North Korea launched their tourism site. The site is to appeal to international tourist even though its borders are closed and it's written in Korean. Yeah! Let's go there! Let's hope we don't get put in a work camp! No Bibles allowed!

With the sanctions imposed on North Korea, I don't see how they are going to gain anything from the tourism. Besides, who on earth would ever WANT to visit North Korea? I'm half Korean and I definitely have no desire to visit the place. It is not so much the fact they are communist or anything... to each their own... I'm scared I might be there and they might try to launch missiles again and nuke themselves or something. Seriously though, they trapped their own people there (most of which were against their will) what makes anybody else think they are safe.

 

[Peachdejour]

With the sanctions imposed on North Korea, I don't see how they are going to gain anything from the tourism. Besides, who on earth would ever WANT to visit North Korea? I'm half Korean and I definitely have no desire to visit the place. It is not so much the fact they are communist or anything... to each their own... I'm scared I might be there and they might try to launch missiles again and nuke themselves or something. Seriously though, they trapped their own people there (most of which were against their will) what makes anybody else think they are safe.

They get a bunch of tourist in and shut the borders. Yay! New citizens!

 

[fire421]

I won't be going there unless their dictator is killed. I would be afraid of getting shot. I heard you get sent to jail just for taking a picture.

 

[Nur]

Read the original article here. They've built a lavish 1,600 hectare ski resort and have announced plans to increase the number of overseas tourist per annum from 200,000 to 1 million by 2016.

Wait, so there are currently 200,000 overseas tourists visiting North Korea now? That is... higher than I expected.

I originally thought this resort was for North Koreans themselves, since there are elite within the country who probably have the means to afford it and probably would, since it's still a vacation resort that they don't need to get out of the country to go to. It would make jobs within the country and help circulate internal revenue. But if they're aiming for overseas tourists, then.

Uh. I don't really have a theory. I think they're simply overconfident in their capability to contain tourists within the areas they want to and want an addition to the national income. But I haven't read enough to make a theory myself.

 

[vinceasneed]

In all honesty, I would get a total thrill if I had the chance to visit North Korea. When I travel, I truly enjoy being in a place where I feel like I am away from home. Many parts of Europe feel different but there is still that sense of western culture. When I visited parts of Africa, I felt away from home and enjoyed it so much more. North Korea would be the epitome of that. The other reason I would like to go is because I firmly believe that the North Korean people are just like everyone else. Every country I have been to I have realized that people are people no matter where you are. Of course, the government might have issues but the people are just like us. They might be a little brainwashed but at the end of the day, they are human. As an educator I would enjoy bringing these experiences with me to tell my students of what North Korea is truly like.

 

[KimberlyD]

In all honesty, I would get a total thrill if I had the chance to visit North Korea. When I travel, I truly enjoy being in a place where I feel like I am away from home. Many parts of Europe feel different but there is still that sense of western culture. When I visited parts of Africa, I felt away from home and enjoyed it so much more. North Korea would be the epitome of that. The other reason I would like to go is because I firmly believe that the North Korean people are just like everyone else. Every country I have been to I have realized that people are people no matter where you are. Of course, the government might have issues but the people are just like us. They might be a little brainwashed but at the end of the day, they are human. As an educator I would enjoy bringing these experiences with me to tell my students of what North Korea is truly like.

Of course the people are like anyone else, it is not the people we worry about. Heck, I'm half South Korean and I have family members who are stuck in North Korea since the Korean war. It is their government that is the problem. I am not willing to become a political hostage because Kim Jong Un wet his diaper. The guy is as nutty as his father.

 

[HELLOnamesdana]

I definitely wouldn't want to make my first time going over seas to be in a country where I would probably be spending the entire time panicking about whether or not I'm going to be kidnapped or killed. Traveling is supposed to be an enjoyable thing, especially when you're going on vacation. I definitely will not be taking a trip to North Korea any time soon, if probably ever.

 

[rares209]

I remeber seeing a funny post about North Korea a few weeks ago. It said "If you ever fell useless, remember that North Korea has a hotel". It really amused me then, but now, seeing your post I'm thinking that it won't be useless anymore. Anyway, I think they can hire the best advertising agencies to boost their tourism, but I still think that no one will spend their money on a North Korean vacation.

 

[tournique]

It reminds me of communist europe a lot. No advertising, no filled with food supermarkets, gray colors everywhere. Damn, but it looks so peaceful.

 

[KimberlyD]

Does anyone remember when the Berlin wall was up? Did you ever hear the stories of people visiting there that did not have to walk with their their eyes on their own backs the whole time they were there? I agree with everyone else, I would not want to have to be like that while I was visiting another country. I would not mind visiting if I knew that I would be OK while I was there but with North Korea being unstable, no WAY.

 

[dwon30]

I have always been curious about the ways of North Korea, but I heard a long time ago that they have billboards up about nuking the US. They also tell their people that Americans eat babies and are these horrible human beings. I was so surprised when I saw Dennis Rodman was more than welcome there. I wonder what the people say about that.