Russians promote weirdness of North Korea for tourism
Russian youth at Pyongyang’s Sunsan Airport interviewed that they are full of curiosity for North Korea. They are planned to visit Pyongyang and Wonsan Songdowon International Chuldren’s Camp. (Image: Russian Embassy in the DPRK Telegram)
When 200 young Russians arrived at Pyongyang’s Sunan Airport on Monday this week, they were excited to touch down in a strange and exotic place that had been billed as a kind of Holiday in Hell.
The students who came on two Air Koryo planes were from Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East and will stay in the North for 12 days.
Their trip was considered newsworthy enough to have been reported by the media outlet Vesti Primorye under the headline, “Primorye students visit the most mysterious and isolated country in the world.”
“I’m really excited,” one girl said. “What will the most isolated country look like? What will the atmosphere be like? It seems really interesting to experience a completely different world.”
“I can’t contain my excitement. I’m eager to personally see what goes on inside such a closed-off country,” another student said.
The expressions of giddy excitement at being in such a weird place are obviously not what North Korean authorities expected from their warming ties with Russia, following the recent state visit of President Vladimir Putin.
It is apparent that North Korea tourism is being promoted in Russia not for leisure or learning, but as travel into weirdness.
The theme is reminiscent of the Holidays in Hell concept made famous by the American journalist and humorist P.J. O’Rourke whose book of that title detailed his visits in the 1980s conflict zones and unlikely destinations (which, ironically, included South Korea where he reported on anti-government student protests).
The students will stay in Pyongyang for two days to explore the city, and then go to the Wonsan Songdowon International Children’s Camp on the east coast.
Amid the growing political, economic, and military exchanges between North Korea and Russia, the Russian government is promoting tourism to North Korea as part of its economic aid to the country.
Russian travel agencies have been making considerable efforts to attract tourists. But a lack of sufficient facilities in North Korea and, we may presume, the negative image of the country, is not helping the cause.
The travel agency Vostok Intour has introduced a 4-day tour of North Korea and last weekend reported that just 54 tourists visited the city of Rason in the northeast of the country, near the Russian border.
Media in Primorsky Krai seem to be encouraging tourism by billing North Korea as the “world’s most isolated country without the Internet.”
It’s a theme that weighs heavily on North Koreans who have escaped from their country, for it only serves to highlight its horrors.
“It’s sad as someone with North Korean roots to see the suffering of my people being used to boost tourism and entertain Russians,” said Cho, 54, who has been in South Korea since early 2023.
“Given such popular sentiment where even children recognize North Korea as the world’s most isolated country, I think it’s unlikely that the Russia-North Korea relationship will be sustainable,” said Jung, 52, who defected in 2010 and is now pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
“I think we’ll see the appearance of close ties for a while because Russia seems to be getting military support from North Korea and is in turn trying to provide economic assistance. But it won’t go that deep,” she said.
Zane is a defector from North Korea. Before defecting in 2022, he worked at a state-run North Korean company based in Russia. Prior to his assignment in Russia, he had worked at the external affairs department of a company affiliated with the DPRK's Escort Bureau. He graduated from Pyongyang University of Architecture.
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