North Korea wants to woo millions to 'socialist fairyland'

[FLPanhandle]

http://www.startribune.com/holiday-in-socialist-fairyland-north-korea-woos-tourists/305610831/

PYONGYANG, North Korea — If you're still looking for somewhere exotic to go this summer and don't mind a vacation that comes with a heavy dose of socialist propaganda and leader worship, North Korea says it's just the place for you.
The focus on tourism is the blessing of Kim Jong Un himself and, in typical fashion, officials have set lofty goals in their effort to please their leader.

About 100,000 tourists came to North Korea last year, all but a few thousand of them from neighboring China.

Kim Sang Hak, a senior economist at the influential Academy of Social Sciences, told The Associated Press the North hopes that by around 2017, there will be 10 times as many tourists and that the number will hit 2 million by 2020.

Kim said the push, formally endorsed by Kim Jong Un in March 2013, is seen as both a potentially lucrative revenue stream and a means of countering stereotypes of the country as starving, backward and relentlessly bleak.

"Tourism can produce a lot of profit relative to the investment required, so that's why our country is putting priority on it," he said in a recent interview in Pyongyang, adding that along with scenic mountains, secluded beaches and a seemingly endless array of monuments and museums, the North has another ace up its sleeve — the image that it is simply unlike anywhere else on Earth.

Outside of the showcase capital, where funds, electricity and adequate lodging are much scarcer, development has been focused on the area around Mount Kumgang and Wonsan, a port city on the east coast.

A luxury ski resort was recently opened just outside of Wonsan and a number of new restaurants have sprung up along the city's beachfront area, which is popular with tourists and locals alike for swimming, clambakes and outdoor barbeques.

But like everything else, North Korea is approaching tourism "in its own way."

Tourists of any nationality can expect constant monitoring from ever-watchful guides and a lot of visits to model hospitals, schools and farms, along with well-staged events intended to impress and promote Pyongyang's unique brand of authoritarian socialism. Like all other visitors to the North, they have precious few opportunities to interact with average people or observe their daily lifestyle.

Tourists can also expect severe repercussions if they step out of line.




Woohoo! Sounds like a blast!

[LadyHawkAZ]

1. Pass.

I'll admit I'm curious, but no.

[hifiguy]

2. Why would anyone in their right mind

go to North Korea?

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Russia and Poland and the rest of the East Bloc

used to do this. (gad I just dated myself)

[L0oniX]

4. Hey Kimmy boy...

[RobertEarl]

5. N. Korea is not socialist

It is a dictatorship with communist overtones.

Reposting lies like that from your source without rebuttal is not too wise, eh?

[PowerToThePeople]

6. It serves a specific purpose

The defamation of everything socialist serves the desires of this nation's fascist power structure.

You are correct that north Korea is not socialist, fascist propaganda is never truthful.

[RobertEarl]

7. Yeah

It makes me ill to see it on DU. Expect such on fox, but not DU. OP should chime in here with a comment? Or was it a hit and run?

[FLPanhandle]

11. See below

It's what North Korea calls itself. We all know what it really is

[NaturalHigh]

9. I think everyone here is smart enough to know that.

[RobertEarl]

12. Question

Would you post such an OP without a disclaimer announcing that the headline was fox-like propaganda??

[NaturalHigh]

13. I see nothing wrong with the OP.

It's interesting and fun to comment on. Would I post it? If I had seen the story before it was posted here, maybe.

[FLPanhandle]

10. That's what North Korea is calling itself.

I think everyone here is smart enough to know what North Korea actually is without spelling it out.

[brooklynite]

14. Does the State own the means of production?

Socialism is an economic model that says nothing about its political structure.

I find advocates seems to keep pulling out the "no true Scotsman" fallacy whenever a socialist state doesn't live up to their standards.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. North Korea is a totalitarian shithole.

Trying to tie it to Bernie Sanders is pretty lame.

[brooklynite]

18. Not tying it Bernie Sanders at all...

...there've been advocates for socialism here long before Bernie came on the scene.

North Korea is a despotic dictatorship. It's also, as the definition goes, socialist.

"any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods" -- Merriam-Webster

[Warren DeMontague]

20. Yes we all love our labels.

Like when I go to the restuarant, fuck the food... that menu is pretty tasty!

Mmmm, labels.

[NaturalHigh]

8. Well, if the chemical waste dump is closed, I might consider North Korea.

[Warpy]

15. They're looking at those Chinese billionaires

and hoping to woo them away from France and Switzerland. Good luck to 'em.

Some of the things there are stunningly beautiful. The silence is eery, though.

is an hour and eight minutes of secretly taped tourism there. It's well worth the watch.

I kept wondering where all the people were in most of it. It looks like tourists and the population are kept strictly apart to avoid any sort of contamination.

[brooklynite]

19. FWIW - that film is NOT "secretly taped".

The camera is clearly out and held for stability, and the scenes are no different than dozens of other tourist videos online.

[Warpy]

22. Much of it undoubtedly was

since it was shot below waist level, as from a bag. If the camera had been out in the open, the angle would have been much higher.

The camera was out at some of the tourist sites, concealed at other sites.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. Visit North Korea- you may never leave!

I mean, really. You can't leave. sorry.

[dawg]

21. They hate us ...

'cause they ain't us.

(sorry)