By Do you have time for a three-hour tour?-* From AP-
China has reopened its land border to tourists traveling to North Korea after a three-year break, with a group of 71 tourists visiting the isolated country, state media reported Thursday.
The Chinese tourists left the city of Dandong in northeastern Liaoning province this week for a one-day tour of Sinuiju, on the other side of the Yalu river that marks the frontier, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
It was the first tour group to cross the border since February 2006, when crossings were suspended following rampant gambling by Chinese tourists, the report said.
It is said the Chinese love to gamble but in Pyongyang? The Casino in Macau I visited in Macau back in 1999 was nice and I even came away slightly ahead for my efforts.
No reason was given for the border being re-opened.
The group that crossed this week were mostly locals from Dandong who paid 690 yuan (about $100) to visit six scenic sites in Sinuiju, including a museum on North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, Xinhua said.
Real big spenders, huh? Then At $100 any time spent in North Korea might be overpriced.
Ji Chengsong, manager of the travel agency that organized the trip, was quoted as saying that the company hoped to offer tours four days a week.
If you had money, and were permitted to travel there, would you make a trip to North Korea? Honestly, I wouldn’t.
*- With apologies to whoever wrote the Gilligan’s Island song.
3:11 pm on April 30th, 2009 1
I personally would not go there as long as the money is being used to fund the Kim regime.
12:45 am on May 1st, 2009 2
I wouldn't go there I know that. It's hard enough to visit South Korea when I have business there and I lived there for eight bloody years.
1:27 am on May 1st, 2009 3
The only time I been to the Korean peninsula was because I was headed for the Philippines in 1989 and a coup attempt took place. Northwest Airlines paid for rooms at the Lotte for me and at least 50 over passengers.
3:21 pm on May 3rd, 2009 4
I would and did, before they shut down the tour to Kaesong. I come from the Andrei Lankov school of thought in that any exposure North Koreans have to the outside world, even tour groups, helps to whittle away the control of the Kim regime. (You can read about his viewpoint in a Daily NK article found here http://dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00300&num=3276)” rel=”nofollow”>:http://dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00300&num=3276)
11:19 pm on May 3rd, 2009 5
I understand what Dr. Lankov is saying and always respect his views however, this issue is something we have debated here before on the ROK Drop:
http://rokdrop.com/2009/04/22/lankov-in-newsweek-…
Not all engagement is good. The Kumgang Tours are a perfect example, all the money going into the project results in very little actual engagement because it is an isolated area where few North Koreans are even allowed to live or work at. As we have seen if someone goes outside the bubble the regime created there, they will shoot you in the back. So it was a huge cash cow for them to keep their regime going with little engagement in return.