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Mount Kumgang tours becoming more frequent
The New York Times newspaper has run a feature article on the subject of the
scenic tours to Mount Kumgang in N. Korea. The N. Korean government relishes
the hard currency the tours are generating, and released a woman who was
arrested on one of the tours, when the S. Korean government threatened to
stop allowing them if she were not released.
The N. Koreans are arranging to keep tourist contact with N. Korean citizens
to a minimum, and there are many forbidden activities which result in fines
to the tourists. These include giving food and drinks to N. Koreans, and
photographing soldiers. There are odd restrictions on the use of public
toilets, but urinating in public causes fines. Some tour guides negotiate
with N. Korean guards and monitors to allow older tourists to relieve
themselves behind busses or to use toilets restricted to military use.
The tours arrive by cruise ships in the N. Korean port of Changjon aboard a
Hyundai cruise ship from the S. Korean port of Tonghae. At the end of the
day, the tourists sleep aboard the ship in luxury, with the local port
village very backward, with no electricity.
The scenic mountain is slightly to the north of the DMZ, rather close to the
eastern coast.
Bill Carmody