Over one long weekend, nearly a hundred Russians arrived where no foreign traveler had set foot since the start of the coronavirus pandemic: North Korea.
They visited Kim Il-sung Square, named after the founder of North Korea, and watched a youth musical performance in which a girl wore traditional Korean clothing, hanbok. After that, the tourists were taken skiing.
Although the Russians expected even greater restrictions during the trip, there was no shortage of rules: they could not leave the hotel alone, without an escort, and they had to pay for all purchases not in Russian rubles, but in Chinese yuan or US dollars.
V. Putin also promises to visit
Unsurprisingly, it was Russian citizens who were the first foreign tourists allowed into the country since Kim Jong-un’s regime locked its borders in early 2020. Since last September, when one dictator traveled by train to visit the other at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, economic and military ties between North Korea and Russia have strengthened.
According to assessments by Washington, Seoul and Kiev, North Korea supplies Russia with ammunition and short-range ballistic missiles, which are used to attack Ukraine.
High-ranking officials from Moscow and Pyongyang meet regularly, and Vladimir Putin plans to visit North Korea in the near future, according to North Korean state media. In addition, the master of the Kremlin promises to help North Korea achieve its goals in the world of space satellite technology.
The first shipment of Russian tourists and the promise that there will be more soon show that both countries want to help each other in various ways.
Gifts for children – a rocket
33-year-old Russian YouTube star Ilja Voskresenski was one of the members of the tour group.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he said the group spent one day in Pyongyang.
For the next two days, tourists visited Masikriong Ski Resort, where they found everything from Swedish snowplows to Swiss gondolas.
The resort was built on the orders of Kim Jong-un himself. He has studied in Switzerland and said the ski resort should provide people with “very civilized and happy living conditions”.
I. Voskresenskis said that he saw few cars on the streets of Pyongyang through the windows of the bus. Local guides took the group of Russian tourists only to places where they did not encounter any ordinary North Koreans.
In a souvenir shop, I. Voskresenskis found postcards with anti-American slogans. He decided to buy North Korea’s version of Lego toys for his children, which he paid for in US dollars. Most of the toys were military-themed, such as tanks. I. Voskresenski chose a rocket.
Watching the performance of small children playing the accordion, the Russian could not help but question their smiles.
“That feeling that everything is unreal, that the whole country is some kind of endless theater performance, did not leave me for a moment,” said I. Voskresenskis.
The Americans are gone
Before the coronavirus pandemic, tourism in North Korea was a very important source of income for the regime, as it brought foreign currency into the country.
Tourism has been one of the few economic sectors not affected by international sanctions.
Since coming to power in late 2011, Kim Jong-un has made tourism a priority, offering package holidays featuring luxury North Korean hotels, beach resorts and marathons.
According to independent sources, in 2019 about 350 thousand visited the country. foreign tourists, of which 90 percent composed by the Chinese.
Until 2017, Americans also traveled to North Korea, but the State Department banned US citizens from going to this country.
The ban came after the death of American college student Otto Warmbier.
He was imprisoned in North Korea for almost 17 months for allegedly desecrating a political poster during a trip. O. Warmbier fell ill in North Korea and died after returning to the United States.
Big museums are cold
Nicholas Bonner, the Beijing-based founder of Koryo Tours, the largest and longest-running North Korea tour operator in the West, said tour guides usually take travelers to the Korean War Museum, Juche Tower and the Masikryong resort on the country’s east coast.
N. Bonner said that it is difficult to heat North Korea’s huge museums in winter, so it is often warmer outside than indoors.
Acquaintances of his in North Korea said the recent Russian trip was organized as a test trip to show Russian travel agents what packages could be put together in the future.
“For everyone who comes, it is such an unusual country, incomparable to anything else. Even for the Russians,” said N. Bonner.
Followed by skating down the hill
In North Korea, all arrivals are usually closely escorted by local guards.
As I.Voskresenskis said, the eyes of the Russians were not taken off from the first day in Pyongyang until the trip to the Masikryong ski resort.
Vacationers were told that they were not allowed to take photos with the Kim monuments of the country’s leaders. In addition, it is forbidden to film ordinary houses or go for a walk alone.
Tourists were always watched by the resort staff. In an almost empty ski resort, I. Voskresenskis noticed that every time he went down the slopes, two North Korean skiers followed him.
Patriotic music thundered in the background.
The group tour, which was first announced in January, cost about 700 euros per person. The amount covered 80-minute round-trip flights between the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok and North Korea’s only international airport in the capital, Pyongyang. A domestic flight to a ski resort on North Korea’s east coast and meals were also included.
Ski pass, souvenirs and other expenses had to be paid extra.
Flowers should have been placed
Guidelines posted on the website of Vostok Intur, the Vladivostok travel agency that organized the trip to North Korea, warn of poor Wi-Fi access and warn against going anywhere without supervision.
Russian tourists have been warned not to bring any books published in the West about Kim Jong-un’s regime.
North Korean propaganda posters could be bought for 40 dollars (36 euros).
One Russian journalist who covered the trip for a Vladivostok-based publication said that upon arrival in Pyongyang, some tourists timidly took out their smartphones and cameras, and the North Koreans surprisingly did not disturb them.
North Korean guides only asked not to share some photos on social networks: it is forbidden to take pictures of workers, farmers and soldiers.
All North Koreans wear badges with former and current leaders Kim.
People are ordered to stand straight with their hands at their sides when taking photos at North Korean monuments, such as the 22-meter-tall statue of former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. The Russians were given flowers to place in front of the monuments.
“There is no hopeless emptiness and despair on people’s faces – they are all genuinely happy and glad that guests have started visiting their country again,” wrote a Russian journalist.
They tried to expand the relations
According to Vostok Intur agency, several groups of tourists went to North Korea for a four-day trip. But it takes hundreds of thousands, not hundreds of tourists, to seriously fatten Pyongyang’s wallet.
“For relations between Russia and North Korea, tourism is symbolically important,” said Artiomas Lukin, a lecturer at the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok.
It is assumed that the connection between these countries will expand more.
Alexander Macegora, Russia’s ambassador to Pyongyang, recently said the two countries are considering connecting their capitals by rail and reviving a ferry route between Vladivostok and the North Korean port city of Rason.
Although some COVID-19 restrictions are still in place and regular flights to Pyongyang have not fully resumed, Macegora expressed hope that these issues will be resolved in the coming months.
“The conditions for skiing there are excellent. I am sure that our tourists will like it,” said the ambassador.
Based on information from the Wall Street Journal
