Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Let's all go on a trip to North Korea!

Click here for the article!

After reading the posts below on tourism in North Korea, I too am interested in it! And for a good reason- who wouldn't want to go visit a country that is surrounded by mystery. As noted in this article, not only does this South Korean resort offer tourists excellent vacation opportunities, but now it is taking it a step further by giving a glimpse of country life on the way to Diamond Mountain. For me, this is the type of adventure I like in all of the countries I visit- I like to see natrual, beautiful locations by driving through real villages to see the everyday lives of the people. But the fact that this is happening in North Korea makes me a little uneasy. Is it possible that the village life has been choreographed to look better than it actually is, as was suggested in our book? Maybe, but the fact that $1.6 billion in investments were made in North Korea by a South Korean company- once again, North Korea is raking in the investments, without having to do much more than allow a glimpse at the natural beauty of its country. Not a bad trade if I do say so myself! Could this be the start of even more tourism, in other places? One can only hope, I know I am dying to get a look inside the country at some point!

2 comments:

Tom Fales said...

I had planned to criticize the tone of this post, but instead decided to respond with a link to a news story published by the Christian Science Monitor in December of 2004. It chronicles the writer's trek along the same route to the Diamond Mountains mentioned in the initial post, and I think more appropriately reflects the mood of such a journey.

Here it is. It is titled, "Welcome to North Korea. Rule No. 1: Obey all rules." http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1202/p11s01-trgn.html

Respectfully, Tom

Tom Fales said...

"I am dying to get a look inside the country at some point!" I'm sorry, but upon further reflection this comment was just too much for me.

Many North Koreans have risked a very literal death to get the heck out of that country. Its an extremely oppressive totalitarian socialist state, not Disneyland.