This page includes:

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• N.Korea Approves 1st Foreign Investment at Mt. Kumgang
  North Korea has reportedly approved foreign investment in the Mt. Kumgang resort, which was built by South Korea, after passing new laws earlier this year to open the tourist site to overseas investors. Citing a source in Beijing, the Yonhap news agency reported that a company set up with US$1 million in capital from Hong Kong investors and ethnic Koreans in China received the green light to operate at the scenic resort. [Inversion] [FDI]
• Jeju defers payment of phone bills for seven wonders
  By Lee Hyo-sik Jeju Special Self-Governing Province has not paid for hundreds of millions of international phone calls its employees made over the past few years to ensure the country’s southern resort island was selected as one of the New7Wonders of Nature in a worldwide poll.
• Kim Il Sung's 100th Birthday - North Korea's Event of the Century
  April 15th 2012 marks North Korea's biggest celebration in decades - the 100th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, who, despite his death in 1994 is still the country's 'Great Leader' and 'Eternal President'. This historic day will see epic events and the completion of large-scale national programmes, all furthering what North Korean media calls the creation of a 'strong and prosperous country' - however flexible that concept may be. We invite you to come with us to experience this once in a lifetime occasion on the ground in Pyongyang
• American studies taekwondo in North Korea
  Man who has studied taekwondo all his life claims that it has changed his life By Kwon Tae-ho, Washington Correspondent "What else besides taekwondo would make a non-Korean person bow toward the Korean national flag, Taegeukgi. Taekwondo is a great gift that Korea has given to the world," said George Vitale, the first American to receive a doctorate degree in Taekwondo Studies in North Korea. [Media]
• NK seeks to join Paralympic Games for 1st time in 2012
  North Korea is seeking to take part in the Paralympic Games for the first time next year, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper said Saturday. The communist country is making preparations to join the International Paralympic Committee, the event's global governing body, before the London 2012 Paralympic Games, according to the Chosun Sinbo based in Japan. The competition is set for Aug. 29 to Sept. 9. North Korea is a frequent participant in both Summer and Winter Olympic Games. (Yonhap)
• Kiwi expedition captures N. Korean mountains
  Author-mountaineer Roger Shepherd, second from right, poses on Namdae Peak in South Pyeongan Province, North Korea, during a recent trip with representatives of the New Zealand-Korean Friendship Society. At right is Hwang Sung-chol, secretary-general of the friendship society. By Kim Young-jin An author-mountaineer from New Zealand has successfully completed a 2,300-kilometer journey along North Korea’s portion of the Baekdu-Daegan mountain range, documenting the trip for an upcoming book that will offer a rare glimpse of stunning scenery. Roger Shepherd, founder of local company Hike Korea, along with three North Korean companions, hiked 10 mountains in the southern half of the country in late October under an agreement with the New Zealand-Korean Friendship Society. He will return in May for a second expedition further north.

• Inter-Korean table tennis team
  Table tennis players from both Koreas, paired together in doubles teams for an international tournament in Doha, said they are looking forward to the rare opportunity of playing alongside each other. The players will compete in doubles teams at the inaugural Peace and Sport Cup tournament on Tuesday. In men’s doubles, South Korea’s Ryu Seung-min, a former Olympic champion, will pair with the North’s Kim Hyok-bong. On the women’s side, Kim Kyong-ah will represent the South and Kim Hye-song will play for the North. The Koreas last formed a joint team at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba City, Japan, and won the gold medal in the women’s team event. Organized by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and Monaco-based Peace and Sport Foundation, the tournament has brought together players from 10 nations that have historically been at odds with each other to unite in doubles teams. For instance, India and Pakistan are fielding joint doubles teams this week, as are the U.S. and Russia. China, Qatar, France and Japan are also participating in the Doha event. South Korea and North Korea pose for a photo in Doha, Qatar, Nov. 21. Table tennis players from both Koreas, paired together in doubles teams for an international tournament in Doha, said they are looking forward to the rare opportunity of playing alongside each other. The players will compete in doubles teams at the inaugural Peace and Sport Cup tournament on Tuesday. In men’s doubles, South Korea’s Ryu Seung-min, a former Olympic champion, will pair with the North’s Kim Hyok-bong. On the women’s side, Kim Kyong-ah will represent the South and Kim Hye-song will play for the North. The Koreas last formed a joint team at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba City, Japan, and won the gold medal in the women’s team event. Organized by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and Monaco-based Peace and Sport Foundation, the tournament has brought together players from 10 nations that have historically been at odds with each other to unite in doubles teams. For instance, India and Pakistan are fielding joint doubles teams this week, as are the U.S. and Russia. China, Qatar, France and Japan are also participating in the Doha event. [Joint Korean] [Easing]
• Players from Koreas team up in int'l ping pong event
  DOHA (Yonhap) -- Table tennis players from South and North Korea, paired together in doubles teams for an international tournament in Doha, said Sunday they are looking forward to the rare opportunity of playing alongside each other. The players will compete in doubles teams at the inaugural Peace and Sport Cup tournament on Tuesday. In men's doubles, South Korea's Ryu Seung-min, a former Olympic champion, will pair with the North's Kim Hyok-bong. On the women's side, Kim Kyong-ah will represent the South and Kim Hye-song will play for the North. The Koreas last formed a joint team at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba City, Japan, and won the gold medal in the women's team event [Joint Korean]
• Simon Cockerell, General Manager of Koryo Tours, will be representing Koryo Tours in Shanghai
  We are writing this brief newsletter to everyone on our database based in Shanghai. Simon Cockerell, General Manager of Koryo Tours, will be based in Shanghai for the next 4 months and whilst there will be representing Koryo Tours in your city. Simon will be available during this time for talks, film screenings, events, and so on that anyone may know or be interested in arranging or taking part in. Likewise if you or anyone you know who is considering a trip or project in North Korea in co-operation with Koryo tours would like to meet and discuss with Simon please contact him on: Email: simon@koryogroup.com Mobile: (+86) 18610090533 Skype: simon.cockerell
• N.Korea Edges Japan in World Cup Qualifier But Cannot Advance
  North Korea beat Japan 1-0 at home in the third round of qualifying for the 2014 Brazil World Cup on Tuesday, handing coach Alberto Zaccheroni his first loss in 16 games. Pak Nam-chol scored the winning header five minutes into the second half. The North now has six points from two wins and three losses. Japan, which has already secured a berth in the final qualifying round, has 10 points from three wins, one draw and one loss.
• N.Korea and Japan face off in World Cup qualifiers
  The first in 22 years, the game also saw eased diplomatic strain between the two countries By Jeong Nam-ku, Tokyo Correspondent The fifth group C qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil saw Japan and North Korea face off for the first time in years on Tuesday. The match was also notable for its venue of Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang. Endless waves of cheers erupted from the crowd of 50 thousand packing the seats of Kim Il-sung Stadium. The North Korean fans held up pieces of fabric to spell “Win, Choson” in yellow letters against a red background. The cameras barely managed to capture the 150 Ultra Nippon visitors who had flown in from Japan. But the tension and excitement were evident in the voice of the announcer from Japan’s TBS network relaying the match. Held in Pyongyang at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the fifth Group C qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil between North Korea and Japan was a very special encounter between two countries that have been out of contact for many years. The Japanese team’s away game in the North Korean capital comes fully 22 years after a 1989 qualifying match for the World Cup in Italy. It was the first time in history that a Japanese television network gave a live broadcast of a match from Pyongyang
• Japan heads to North Korea for 1st time in 22 years; fans warned to leave drums, flags at home
  By Associated Press, Tuesday, November 15, 6:36 AM PYONGYANG, North Korea — There are no hot dogs, peanuts or plastic cups of beer for sale when the North Korean soccer team takes the field. There are no noisemakers, and no one does the wave. Yet the fans are passionate in their own way, packing the stadium to the rafters, stamping and booing every time the visiting team threatens to score. From schoolchildren in Adidas tracksuits to soldiers in uniform, they jostle for a good view of the team that has become a symbol of national pride. That pride will be at stake Tuesday when the North Korean men play Japan at Kim Il Sung Stadium in a World Cup qualifier that promises to be about far more than just soccer. Four of the North Korean players, including star striker Jong Tae Se, were born into ethnic Korean communities in Japan, and bitterness still runs deep over Japan’s 35-year occupation of Korea, which ended in 1945. More than six decades later, Tokyo and Pyongyang still do not have diplomatic ties. The last time the Japanese men played on North Korean soil was in 1989, when North Korea won 2-0.
• N.Korea Snubs Japanese Request Over Football Match
  The North Korean and Japanese national football squads face off on Tuesday in Pyongyang in a qualifier for the 2014 World Cup. Pyongyang announced last month it would allow only 10 Japanese reporters to cover the match. A total of 51 Japanese journalists including TV crews applied for media passes, but North Korea only issued permits to three wire service, two magazine, four freelance and one newspaper journalist. The Japan Football Association tried in vain to boost the number of authorized reporters. JFA vice chairman Takashi Tajima on Wednesday said the number of journalists will remain at 10. Tajima said he asked FIFA to get North Korea to increase the number but got no response. [Media]
• NK's flag carrier cancels its air route with Kuwait
  North Korea's flag carrier has canceled an air route to Kuwait, Airline Route blog says, in what could be Pyongyang's latest attempt to prevent the news of popular uprisings in the Arab world from reaching the isolated country. The move came less than six months after Air Koryo started a weekly direct flight service between Pyongyang and Kuwait City, Airline Route said Monday on its Web site, citing the carrier's planned winter operation. [Media]
• DPRK Beats Australia 1:0 at Women's Soccer Championship
  Pyongyang, November 8 (KCNA) -- The DPRK team Monday defeated its Australian rival 1:0 at the 2011 Asian U-16 Women's Soccer Championship.
• Chinese Tourists Tour Mt. Kumgang
  Pyongyang, November 7 (KCNA) -- Mt. Kumgang, a world-famous tourist resort, draws many people in autumn season. On Saturday the trial Harbin-Mt. Kumgang tourist group that came by chartered flight did sightseeing in the celebrated mountain. The tourist group's first destination was Kuryong Pond. The tourists admired peaks glowing with autumn tints, fantastic cliffs, deep valleys and crystal-clear water. Kuryong Waterfall, one of the four famous waterfalls in the mountain, presented a spectacular sight with its clear water cascading tens of meters down along a cliff. The tourists were fascinated by the sound and spray of the waterfall, the high torrent and a rainbow. In the afternoon they toured Singye Temple, one of the four famous temples in the mountain, Sea Kumgang and Lagoon Samil. They then enjoyed themselves in Onjong Pavilion. Some of them told KCNA that Mt. Kumgang was really beautiful and that they wanted to come again next year with their family members. [Kumgangsan] [China NK]
• Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan sets world record to win gold at weightlifting worlds
  By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, November 7, 10:53 AM PARIS — Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan set a world record in the clean and jerk to win the gold medal in the women’s 53-kilogram division at the world weightlifting championships on Sunday. Chinshanlo lifted 130 kilos in the clean and jerk to beat the previous mark of 129 set by China’s Li Ping in 2007. The 18-year-old Kazakh also managed 97 kilos in the snatch for a combined 227. Defending champion Kim Un-Guk of North Korea had the lead after lifting 150 in the snatch but could only hoist 170 in the clean and jerk for a combined 320 that was good enough for finish second.

• Mt. Kumgang Tourism Becomes Brisk
  Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- Many tourists have come to Mt. Kumgang from some twenty Asian and European nations, including China and Russia, since it was opened for international tourism in May this year. Ri Kyong Jin, a section chief of the Guidance Bureau of the Special Zone of Mt. Kumgang International Tourism, told KCNA on Friday that Law on the Special Zone of Mt. Kumgang International Tourism was adopted in the country in May. Measures of the DPRK government to activate Mt. Kumgang tourism as international one enjoy full support of all the Korean people and foreign people, he said, adding: Mt. Kumgang is now open not only to Koreans but to all other people. With favorable investment environment and preferential business activities guaranteed by law, foundations for turning the mountain into an international tourist resort have been provided. The Rajin-Mt. Kumgang international tourist route was opened in August so that tourists can go to the mountain by ship. The guidance bureau will fully tap the tourist resources in the special zone to convert the mountain into an international special zone of tourism and a multi-purpose, multi-functional tourist resort. It plans to reconstruct airport, railways and roads to meet convenience of tourists and build hotels, sports, medical treatment and other service facilities in Outer and Inner Kumgang areas. It will steadily improve the tourist form and method to suit the global trend, strengthen cooperation and exchange with international tourist organizations and other countries' tourist agencies and better the legal environment to draw foreign investment. [Kumgangsan] [FDI]
• Chinese Tourists Top Spenders at Duty Free Shops
  The biggest spenders at duty free shops in Korea are no longer Japanese, but Chinese tourists. According to Shilla Duty Free Shop on Thursday, sales from Chinese tourists have steadily risen to account for almost half of its total sales, displacing Japanese from the top spot. In the first quarter of 2009, Japanese visitors made up a whopping 75 percent of the shop's revenues compared to a mere 12.8 percent by Chinese. But that started to reverse in the second half of this year, with Chinese shoppers assuming a commanding 42 percent against 40 percent from the Japanese. In the third quarter, the gap between the two grew wider to 47.7 percent and 40.3 percent.
  The reason behind the sharp rise in sales among Chinese tourists is the sheer volume of luxury goods they purchase, such as watches and jewelry. They also tend to opt for higher-quality merchandize. [China rising]
• Still Ravenous for Designer Brands, Chinese Tourists Proving Savvy Shoppers
  As the numbers of Chinese tourists heading to Korea continue to grow by leaps and bounds, their spending trends are also changing. They have changed to become more selective shoppers, paying careful attention to products' country of origin and carefully cross-checking prices. Industry insiders said the Chinese are increasingly revealing their much-touted characteristics as born merchants as they acclimatize to Korea's shopping culture. As a result, they seem to be getting thriftier and more sensitive to information about sales than Korean customers. [China rising]
• N. Korea commits to playing in int'l table tennis tourney with S. Korea: report
  North Korea has committed to playing in an international table tennis tournament alongside South Korea, a report said Tuesday. Radio Free Asia said Pak Myong-chol, North Korea's minister of physical culture and sports guidance, informed Adham Sharara, head of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), of the North's decision to play in the Peace and Sport Table Tennis Tournament during Sharara's visit to Pyongyang earlier this month. In May, the ITTF and the Monaco-based Peace and Sport Foundation jointly announced that they have invited 10 countries, including the two Koreas, to play in the tournament, slated for Nov. 21-22 in Qatar. The organizations said the tournament was designed to "encourage dialogue and good relations" between countries, and they invited nations that have been historically at odds with each other to form doubles teams.
• Chinese Tourists to N.Korea Dwindling
  The number of Chinese tourists visiting North Korea has fallen considerably, U.S.-based Radio Free Asia reported on Tuesday, citing a diplomatic source in Beijing. According to RFA, a total of 269 Beijing residents joined group tours to the reclusive state from April to September, down 70 percent from the 875 who departed from the same city over the corresponding period last year. RFA added that about 3,000 tourists from the Chinese mainland visited the country in 2010, but the figure is expected to dwindle this year. One Chinese travel agency cited the limited number of packages and restrictions on where foreign tourists can travel as the main reasons for the lack of interest. Only the capital Pyongyang and Mt. Kumgang are available on Chinese itineraries. Despite North Korea’s efforts to lure Chinese tourists and investment in order to earn foreign currency, it has yet to capture the hearts of Chinese travelers, RFA noted. Among other recent overtures to attract foreign holidaymakers to its shores, the country has opened up the Rajin-Sonbong special economic zone, and mobilized the historical Mangyongbong vessel, which was originally used to transport ethnic-Korean Japanese to North Korea.

• Hike Korea founder heads for the hills of North Korea
  2011-09-20 20:50 There are natural features on the Korean Peninsula that are united, even if its people are not. Perhaps the best example of this is the Baekdu-Daegan mountain range, which extends from Mount Baekdu on the China-North Korea border all the way to Mount Jiri, located where the South Korean provinces of North Jeolla, South Jeolla and South Gyeongsang meet. Because of its length, and because it includes some of the tallest peaks on either side of the DMZ, Baekdu-Daegan is often called Korea’s spine. Roger Shepherd of New Zealand started exploring the part of the range lying in South Korea in 2006. In 2007 he then led the expedition exploring the range that would eventually produce the guidebook “Baekdu Daegan Trail: Hiking Korea’s Mountain Spine.”
• Cycling tour in the DPRK
  PRESS RELEASE: 20th September 2011 In September 2011, Koryo Tours arranged the first ever cycling tour in the DPRK. A group of 24 tourists from 10 different countries and their 4 Korean guides embarked on the 10 day tour. The cycling took place in 4 different locations with routes ranging from the 10-lane Youth Hero Highway from Pyongyang to Nampo, to country roads winding through a setting reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands in the stunning Mt Paekdu area. Distances ranged from 10-50 km per day. The bikes, which were flown in from China, were then donated to the only homestay in the DPRK where the group stayed overnight in the east of the country. This year, Koryo Tours have taken in over 1300 tourists and organized the first ever Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in the DPRK. To watch a video of the trip please see: YOUTUBE link [here] or paste this to your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDpHWnoI8yQ Slideshare link [here] (if you cannot access Youtube) or paste this to your browser: http://www.slideshare.net/KoryoTours/cycling-tour-in-dprk-north-korea-2011-koryo-tours
• British Tourists Admire Artistic Performance "Arirang"
  Pyongyang, September 16 (KCNA) -- British tourists were interviewed by KCNA on Wednesday after enjoying the grand gymnastic and artistic performance "Arirang" in Pyongyang. Simon Cockerell, 34, said "Arirang" was a very admirable and excellent work. "I think it keeps improving every year, there are new scenes added, and existing scenes improved. I think the most impressive part of the performance is the part where two Koreas are unified," he said. Ian Guttridge, 47, said: "It's been my second time. Well, the first time I was just struck by the number of the people. And next time I was able to pay attention to more of the detail, and just how practiced and rehearsed the children in the background were, and how that was linked up with the performance on the main field. It's hard to pick out one piece of the performance, because all of it was so good. We've learned a lot about the Juche idea, but I think when the torch was lit, the Juche idea torch was lit right at the beginning and brought the show alive that was good for me."
• Pyongyang willing to hold talks with Seoul over mountain resort: report
  North Korea has expressed its willingness to hold talks with South Korea to resolve a dispute over assets at a scenic mountain resort in the North, a pro-North Korean newspaper said. Kim Kwang-yun, director of the North's Mount Kumgang International Tourism Leadership Bureau, said the talks could be held anytime if the South Korean authorities show an active desire to break the deadlock, the Choson Sinbo reported Friday. [Kumgangsan]
• North Korean Cruise Seeks Tourists, 8 to a Room
  North Korean officials view tourism as playing an increasingly important role in the impoverished country's economy. By EDWARD WONG Published: September 13, 2011 ABOARD THE MANGYONGBONG, off North Korea — It was billed as a cruise ship, but the creaking, nearly-40-year-old vessel that set sail from the remote North Korean town of Rajin had more of the trappings of a tramp steamer. With its cramped cabins, cut-rate cuisine and foul, water-deprived bathrooms, it was not about to compete anytime soon with Cunard or Carnival in the leisure industry. Guests on North Korea's latest venture into the tourism business were taken to watch children perform patriotic numbers in Rajin. Then again, it does not have to. As North Korea’s latest venture into the tourism business, it need not concern itself with rivals. The trick, as its operators conceded, will be to attract enough vacationers. [Media]
• S. Korea to ask foreign countries not to invest in Mt. Geumgang
  Korea will formally ask foreign countries this week not to invest or engage in tourism activities at North Korea's Mount Kumgang resort, officials said Monday. Earlier, Seoul said it will use all diplomatic channels to prevent foreign companies from controlling operations at the resort, which was built and funded by South Korean companies and governmental agencies. [Kumgangsan] [SK NK POLICY] [Sanctions]
• DPRK Inside The World’s Most Isolated State.
  An unprecedented look at life inside the DPRK, led by Dr James Hoare, formerly Charge D'affaires in Pyongyang. The tour starts with briefings and analysis from the region's leading experts in Beijing. Dates: October 15-26 Price: £2350.00 Single room sup. £250
  Tour organised by Political Tours, UK
• A North Korean Resort Seeks to Draw Foreigners
  Carlos Barria/Reuters By EDWARD WONG Published: September 3, 2011 . MOUNT KUMGANG, North Korea — Once praised as an experiment in reconciliation, this verdant tourist park on the mountainous southeast coast has become a symbol of the increased tensions between the two Koreas. The golf course is devoid of caddies; banks and restaurants are chained and padlocked; and empty hotel rooms have grown musty. [Media] [Kumgangsan]
• World Press Gets Taste of N.Korean Cruise
  Once a symbol of cooperation between South and North Korea, the Mt. Kumgang resort is now empty and lifeless, international journalists reported after being taken on a cruise to the scenic resort last week. Pyongyang invited around 130 foreign journalists and tourism officials from China, Russia, France, and Japan to the pilot tour, in an effort to continue the tourism project on its own after the South halted trips. [Kumgangsan] [SK NK policy]
• N.Korea Calls for Talks Over Mt. Kumgang Resort
  North Korea's Taepung International Investment Group, a body in charge of attracting foreign capital to the reclusive state, has proposed talks with South Korea's Hyundai Asan over ways to deal with its assets at the Mt.Kumgang resort. In an interview with Seoul's Yonhap News on Tuesday, the head of the company, Pak Chol-su, said he wants to talk with Asan about resolving the seizure of South Korean properties in the resort by the North Korean regime. South Korea halted package tours to Mt.Kumgang in 2008 after the fatal shooting of a tourist there [Kumgangsan] [SK NK policy] [Overtures]
• North Korea slams South's call for Mount Kumgang resort boycott
  Global Times | September 08, 2011 01:46 By AFP Share E-mail Print Comments(0) North Korea Wednesday denounced South Korea's call for an international boycott of a jointly-developed resort, as Pyongyang tries to lure foreign tourists and investors after kicking out South Korean staff and interests. The North last week invited scores of journalists and potential investors to try to attract new investment to Mount Kumgang, built by a Seoul firm north of the border and visited by millions of South Koreans in the past decade. Seoul's government halted tours by its people in 2008, when a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean tourist who strayed into a military area. Negotiations to restart the program failed amid a deep freeze in overall relations. [Kumgangsan] [Media]
• North wants to deal on resort assets
  Sept 07,2011 The business group in charge of bringing new investments to the troubled Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea is trying to hold talks with South Korea’s Hyundai Asan over its seized assets there. An interview with North Korea’s Daepung International Investment Group by Yonhap News Agency released yesterday said the group wished to negotiate with Hyundai Asan over the assets that the South Korean company holds in Mount Kumgang. Presumably, it wants some kind of settlement of the unilaterally seized assets to assure future contractors. [Kumgangsan] [Overtures]
• US tourists to visit Mt. Geumgang
  By Kim Young-jin A U.S.-based travel agency plans to take tourists to the Mt. Geumgang resort in North Korea next week, the site of a stalled inter-Korean tourism project, after having consulted with a South Korean firm involved there, its president said. Walter Keats, president of Asia Pacific Travel LTD (APTL), said his company would bring its first group of tourists to the scenic resort Monday. He added it was paying a fee to Hyundai Asan, the South Korean operator of the stalled project. [Kumgangsan]

• N.Korea Launches Int'l Tours to Mt. Kumgang
  North Korea is moving closer to attracting tourists from China and the U.S. after it seized South Korean property in the scenic Mt. Kumgang resort. On Tuesday, a passenger ferry left Rajin Port for Mt. Kumgang carrying international tourists. One U.S. travel agency specializing in North Korea launched a tour package using the Kumgangsan Hotel that belongs to South Korean tour operator Hyundai Asan. [Kumgangsan]
• Rason-Mt. Kumgang Tourism Begins
  Pyongyang, August 30 (KCNA) -- Rason-Mt. Kumgang tourism through a sea route has begun in the DPRK on Tuesday. The cargo-passenger ship Mangyongbong will carry foreign tourists from Rason City in the northeastern tip of Korea to Mt. Kumgang, a world-famous mountain. The tourists will enjoy the scenic view of the East Sea of Korea and climb the mountain. It will take 4 nights and 5 days. [Kumgangsan]
• North Korea starts group tours from China to mountain resort formerly operated with South
  ( Ng Han Guan / Associated Press ) - In this photo taken Monday, Aug. 29, 2011. a Chinese tourist pose for photos with North Korean children after a performance at a theater in Rason, North Korea. CAPTIONFULLSCREEN Text Size PrintE-mailReprintsBy Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, August 31, 1:53 PM MOUNT KUMGANG, North Korea — A rusty cargo ship festooned with welcome banners arrived Wednesday at North Korea’s Diamond Mountain resort to mark the launch of new tours from China that snub Seoul and aim to replace suspended South Korean trips. For a decade, the two Koreas jointly operated a golf resort ringed by Mount Kumgang’s seaside vistas and jagged peaks just north of their border, but Seoul halted the reconciliation project in 2008 after a North Korean guard shot and killed a South Korean tourist. With relations at a low point, the two sides have been unable to agree on terms for restarting the project. Instead, the cash-strapped North has turned to China, seizing South Korea’s assets at the site known familiarly abroad as Diamond Mountain and evicting its workers over Seoul’s objections. [Kumgangsan]
• Taskforce to Handle Mt. Kumgang Assets
  The government has set up a special team to handle North Korea's unilateral liquidation of South Korean assets at the Mt. Kumgang resort in North Korea. The team under the Unification Ministry held its first meeting Thursday afternoon in Seoul.
• FIFA bans NKorea from 2015 Women’s World Cup for doping with musk deer gland therapy
  By Associated Press, Published: August 25 ZURICH — FIFA banned North Korea from the 2015 Women’s World Cup after five players tested positive for steroids from traditional musk deer gland therapy at the tournament last month. FIFA on Thursday imposed bans of up to 18 months on all five players, who North Korean officials said were treated with traditional therapy after being struck by lightning at a pre-tournament training camp. Jong Pok Sim, Hong Myong Hui, Ho Un Byol and Ri Un Hyang were suspended from all soccer-related activity for 18 months, while Song Jong Sun was ineligible for 14 months, FIFA said. North Korea’s soccer federation was fined $400,000, and team doctor Nam Jong Ae was banned for six years. The fine “exactly corresponds to the prize money the association would have received for their 13th place in the final ranking of the Women’s World Cup in Germany,” FIFA said. Defenders Song and Jong failed drugs tests before the World Cup game against Colombia. FIFA then tested the entire North Korean team after its final match. FIFA’s disciplinary panel also banned Colombia backup goalkeeper Yineth Varon for two years for doping at the tournament. The doping case was the most serious at a major FIFA tournament in 17 years. In July, FIFA’s chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak said after extensive testing, “we can really say with far-reaching confidence that these steroids were the result of this so-callled Chinese (sic) traditional medicine.” [Double standards]
• Toward resolving the Mt. Kumgang standoff
  Yesterday, North Korea demanded the withdrawal of South Korean personnel from the Mt. Kumgang tourism region, with an announcement that it would be legally divesting all property rights of South Korean companies. After repeatedly mentioning the possibility of canceling Hyundai-Asan’s exclusive rights on Mt. Kumgang tourism, North Korea appears to be ratcheting up the level of its response through actions rather than words. The project, which previously functioned as a symbol of inter-Korean exchange and a stepping-stone toward peace, is now faced with the threat of collapse. [Kumgangsan]
• N.Korea Orders S.Koreans Out of Mt. Kumgang
  North Korea said on Monday that it "believes that the South Korean authorities totally abandoned the protection of property and interests of enterprises" in the Mt. Kumgang resort and will "legally dispose of all the South Korean properties including real estate, equipment and vehicles" there, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency. It added that all South Korean facilities in the resort are sealed off and assets are prohibited from being taken out of the country as of Monday. It also ordered all South Korean staff to leave the country within 72 hours. Earlier the North seized the properties after the South suspended lucrative package tours to Mt. Kumgang in the wake of the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist there in 2008. [Kumgangsan]
• N.Korea Shoots Itself in the Foot Again
  North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency said on Monday that Pyongyang will dispose of South Korean-owned properties at the Mt. Kumgang resort and banned the removal of those assets as of Monday. The North also ordered remaining South Korean staff at Mt. Kumgang to leave within 72 hours. There are 14 South Koreans remaining at Mt. Kumgang, including staff of Hyundai Asan, which operated the package tours to the resort, as well as staff at a golf course there. [Kumgangsan] [Inversion] [Media]
• NK to dispose of S. Korean assets at Mt. Geumgang
  By Kim Young-jin North Korea said Monday it would begin disposing of South Korean assets at the Mt. Geumgang resort in the North, driving the fate of a joint tourism project close to the brink in a move that could have major repercussions for cross-border ties. In a statement by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the Stalinist regime said Seoul was at fault for not responding to proposals on how to handle assets at the scenic resort, the site of a stalled joint tourism project. [Kumgangsan]
• N.Korea picks U.S. firm for Mount Kumgang tour business
  North Korea has signed a deal with a New York-based company for tours to the Mount Kumgang resort, once jointly run with a South Korean conglomerate, a Korean-American businessman said Wednesday. Park Il-woo, also known as Steve Park, who has long conducted business with the communist nation, said his firm recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the Mount Kumgang tourism business. He is the president of Korea Pyongyang Trading U.S.A., which imports a North Korean liquor branded Pyongyang Soju. The MOU stipulates that the company will be in charge of marketing, investor relations and tourist recruitment for what is said to be the most scenic mountain on the peninsula. Under the agreement, the mountain area will be developed into a multi-purpose resort. He said he plans to visit North Korea this weekend or next week to discuss concrete business plans. He expressed confidence that he will be able to attract substantial U.S. investment for the business. The North is also expected to select Japanese and Chinese business partners soon, he added. Meanwhile, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on its Web site on Tuesday that it allocated more than $590,000 for emergency relief aid to help North Korea recover from its deadly floods. South Korea’s Red Cross said in a message to its North Korean counterpart earlier Wednesday that it plans to send medical supplies and other necessities worth 5 billion won ($4.7 million) through the heavily fortified border. [Overture] [NK US policy]
• N.Korea to destroy (sic) S.Korean property at Mt. Kungang
  N.Korea says that S.Korea’s refusal to hold talks led to the decision The matter of the Mt. Kumgang tourism project is gradually moving to ruin with North Korea’s notification of Seoul on Saturday that it would unilaterally dispose (sic) of South Korean property in the mountain resort area. On Saturday morning, the day North Korea selected as the deadline to deal with the property issue, North Korea sent a notice to the South Korean Unification Ministry, saying that with the South Korean authorities refusing even to hold working-level inter-governmental talks together with South Korean private companies, Pyongyang unavoidably needed to make a final decision, and that from Saturday, North Korea would begin practical measures to dispose of South Korean real estate in the Kumgangsan Mountains area in accordance with the Mt. Kumgang International Tourism Special District Law. [Media]
• Int'l bobsleigh body vows support for unified Korean team
  The international governing body of sledding sports on Saturday pledged support for a unified Korean bobsleigh team for the 2018 Winter Olympics here in the South Korean alpine town. On the final day of its general assembly in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (FIBT) said under the so-called "Peace & Sports" program, it would help a unified Korean team train should it ever be formed. [Joint Korea]
• FIFA says 5 North Korean players tested positive for steroids at women’s World Cup
  By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, July 16, 8:28 PM FRANKFURT, Germany — North Korea officials blame traditional medicine using musk deer glands for five of their players testing positive for steroids at the Women’s World Cup in soccer’s biggest doping scandal in nearly two decades. FIFA President Sepp Blatter said Saturday that after two players were caught during the tournament this month, FIFA tested the rest of the North Korean squad and found three more positive results. .“This is a shock,” Blatter said at a news conference. “We are confronted with a very, very bad case of doping and it hurts.” Colombia’s reserve goalkeeper Yineth Varon was provisionally suspended in late June for failing an out-of-competition test before the World Cup. The Colombian Football Federation said she had hormonal treatment that led to a failed drug test, the first doping case in the history of the women’s World Cup. FIFA annually spends some $30 million on 35,000 doping tests. Despite the cases at the women’s World Cup, “doping really is a marginal, fringe phenomenon in football,” Blatter said. The last doping case at a major event came at the men’s 1994 World Cup in the United States, when Diego Maradona was kicked out after testing positive for stimulants. FIFA has already met with a North Korean delegation and heard arguments that the steroids were accidentally taken with traditional Chinese medicines based on musk deer glands to treat players who had been struck by lightning on June 8 during a training camp in North Korea.
• North Koreans Fail Doping Tests; Musk Deer Extract Is Blamed
  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: July 16, 2011 Five North Korean soccer players have tested positive for steroids at the women’s World Cup. The president of FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, said that after two players had been caught during the tournament this month, FIFA tested the rest of the North Korean squad and found three more positive results. “This is a shock,” Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president, said. The last doping case at a major event came at the men’s World Cup in the United States in 1994, when Diego Maradona, the Argentine star, tested positive for the banned stimulant ephedrine. A North Korean delegation told FIFA that the steroids had accidentally been taken with traditional Chinese medicines based on musk deer glands to treat players who were struck by lightning on June 8 during a training camp. Meanwhile, the Colombian reserve goalkeeper Yineth Varon was suspended for failing an out-of-competition test just before the World Cup. It was the first doping case in the history of the women’s World Cup.
• Seoul rebuffs co-hosting of Olympics with NK
  By Kim Young-jin South and North Korea must resolve pending safety issues before discussing the potential of co-hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in PyeongChang, a government official said Wednesday. Seoul has said it is open to related discussions but not actively looking into the matter. Any such move would need the approval of the International Olympic Committee, which observers say is highly unlikely. [Joint Korean] [SK NK policy]
• Report: NKorean IOC member expresses hope for Koreas to jointly host 2018 Winter Olympics
  By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, July 13, 9:36 AM SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean official expressed hope that his country could co-host the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics with South Korea, a news report said Wednesday. North Korean International Olympic Committee member Chang Ung made the comment after arriving in Tokyo for a regional Olympic committee meeting, Yonhap news agency said. However, when Chang was pressed for details later in the day, he said it would be premature to discuss the matter. [Joint Korean]

• Koreas to meet today to discuss Mt. Geumgang
  By Kim Young-jin North and South Korea will hold rare talks today to discuss a dispute involving seized South Korean assets at Mt. Geumgang in North Korea. But with the sides standing poles apart in their fundamental approaches, prospects remain murky at best, analysts say. The meeting comes after a similar one last month fell apart over procedural differences.
• 'Not mentioning NK helped PyeongChang host Games'
  By Chung Min-uck Seoul’s campaign strategy to connect with North Korea four years ago was partly responsible for its failure to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, a Korea expert in the United States said in a recent Internet posting. “I believe this had the unintended consequence of backfiring because it tried to play too much politics with sport, which the IOC rejected,” Victor Cha, Korea chair at the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), wrote on his institution’s website. [MISCOM] [Dilemma]
• DP leader pushing to share Olympics with N. Korea
  By Chung Min-uck Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, chairman of the opposition Democratic Party, said Monday the party would push for “some events at the 2018 Winter Olympics to be staged in North Korea.” He said he would also bring up the issue of forming a unified team with the North in future talks with the ruling Grand National Party and the government.
• AP interview: Medical chief says North Korea case shows FIFA is serious about tackling doping
  By Associated Press, Published: July 9 WOLFSBURG, Germany — The swift decision to submit the entire North Korea squad to anti-doping controls at the women’s World Cup showed soccer’s commitment to the fight against drugs, FIFA’s medical chief said Friday. Michel D’Hooghe told The Associated Press that FIFA anti-doping doctors were called up at short notice from across Germany to submit all North Korean players to tests after two returned positive samples during random controls earlier in the tournament. .“We really lived by the rules and it should improve our reputation,” D’Hooghe said in a telephone interview. [UNUS]
• Sweden defeats inexperienced North Korea 1-0, makes quarterfinals of Women’s World Cup
  By Associated Press, Sunday, July 3, 2:33 AM AUGSBURG, Germany — Sweden reached the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup, defeating North Korea 1-0 on Saturday on a second-half goal by Lisa Dahlkvist. North Korea, which started five teenagers, wilted late in the game and was all but eliminated from the tournament after two losses in two games. .The United States joined the Swedes at the top of Group C — putting both teams among the last eight — by beating Colombia 3-0 in Sinsheim. Sweden scored in the 64th minute when Linda Forsberg crossed into the middle and Therese Sjogran picked out the unmarked Dahlkvist for a simple finish from close range. North Korea nearly tied it in the 73rd minute when Ri Un-hyang’s header from a corner kick was cleared off the line by Sara Thunebro. “Unfortunately, we really didn’t convert the chances that we had,” North Korea coach Kim Kwang-Min said.
• 1st group of Chinese tourists arrives in NK
  A Chinese tourism delegation has arrived in North Korea, Pyongyang's state media said Saturday, amid the North's efforts to revitalize a stalled tour program to a scenic mountain that once served as its key cash cow. The trip comes weeks after the North announced a law designed to develop Mt. Geumgang as a special zone for international tours. It marked the first time Chinese have traveled to North Korea through a newly opened air route between Pyongyang and the Chinese economic powerhouse of Shanghai, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. [China NK]
• N.Korean players remain positive despite inauspicious World Cup bracket
  By Marcus Han, Sprots Columnist The North Korean team will be playing its second Group C match against a strong Swedish team in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany. Facing the so-called “group of death,” North Korea fought hard in its first match against the world number one U.S. team, but lost 0-2. With favorite Sweden winning 1-0 over Colombia, the situation for North Korean so far has not been favorable. A berth in the quarterfinals will only be assured with victories over both Sweden and final group opponent Colombia. Under these circumstances, the team might be expected to be in somewhat low spirits, but the players have been surprisingly positive and light-hearted. Despite their inauspicious start, the North Korean athletes are positive they will make the quarterfinals with victories in their next two matches. Team officials and players have generally had a positive view of them while traveling around the Augsburg Hotel, where the second matches are to be played. This has come as something of a surprise to hotel employees and guests, as well as players and officials for other countries’ teams, owing to the almost uniformly negative depiction of them in the news articles through which the general public has encountered the North Korean team. To go by the reports, the North Korean players are cooped up like soldiers without any freedom or rights, and the expectation is that they will have severe, unsmiling expressions on their faces to match. For the media here, North Korea’s first match against the United States in Dresden on June 29 was second only to the German match in the level of interest accorded to it. Naturally, there was a torrent of story requests and fierce competition to cover the players. As the official in charge of the North Korean team, I had to respectfully decline more than twenty coverage requests a day in accordance with team policy and recommend attending the official interview instead, which placed be in a very awkward position. Upset over the refusal to grant an interview, some of the journalists would write very negative stories. I even saw one incredible article that painted me, a South Korean who grew up in Germany, as coldly rebuffing the request in collusion with the North Koreans. But the North Korean athletes smile more than any country’s players at the hotel and offer friendly greetings.

• NK female footballers played despite lightning strike: coach
  North Korea's women's football coach Kim Kwang-min claimed several players had played in the opening 2-0 World Cup loss to two-time champions United States on Tuesday still suffering from the effects of being struck by lightning at a pre-tournament training camp. "Frankly speaking, when we were having training and test matches before we left for this tournament, five of the players were hit by lightning and were in hospital," AFP quoted Kim, through an interpreter in the post-game press conference, as saying. "We had an accident in Pyongyang before we left for this tournament. Some of the players were left behind. Some were in hospital and came later. Until now they were not fully treated for the match." Kim said the incident occurred on June 8.
• North Korea ratchets up rhetoric over Mt. Geumgang
  By Kang Hyun-kyung North Korea demanded Tuesday that the South Korean authorities and investors be fully prepared to hold a serious meeting to discuss matters related to Mt. Geumgang tourism. If Seoul ignores this chance, it threatened, the South will never have such an opportunity again.
• Women’s World Cup: U.S. women’s soccer takes 2-0 win over North Korea in opener
  By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, June 29, 7:38 PM DRESDEN, Germany — Lauren Cheney and Rachel Buehler scored in the second-half, and the United States opened play at the Women’s World Cup with a 2-0 victory over youthful North Korea on Tuesday. Cheney came through in the 54th minute after putting several shots right into the hands of North Korean goalkeeper Hong Myong Hui. She took a long cross from Abby Wambach right in front of the box and nodded it past Hong to set off a raucous celebration by the two-time World Cup champions. .Buehler scored the second goal of her career in the 76th minute with a thunderous right-footed strike from about 11 yards. Hong dove, but the ball rolled beneath her outstretched hand. This was the fourth time North Korea and the U.S. have met in group play at the Women’s World Cup. This was the third American victory after a 2-2 draw four years ago.
• S.Korea to Close Up Properties on Mt. Kumgang
  Six South Korean government officials and six private businessmen are headed for North Korea's Mt. Kumgang resort to close up South Korean properties there, a spokesman for the Unification Ministry said on Monday. The decision comes after North Korea asked South Korean staffers to visit the mountain area by Thursday to discuss "disposing of" properties there.
• DPRK Taekwon-Do Players Win Popularity in US
  Pyongyang, June 27 (KCNA) -- Some days ago, an exhibition group of the Korean Taekwon-Do Committee visited the United States. It performed in Boston and New York on June 11 and 12 and in Delaware on June 14, winning applause from Americans and U.S.-resident Koreans. In a special program about the performance, VOA said whenever players presented excellent techniques, the spectators gave a big hand to them. The well-performed demonstration reminded the spectators of a movie scene, VOA said. It created a great sensation among U.S. citizens and students. Taekwon-Do, associated with the Korean people's wisdom and courage, drew much interest from American people, it added. According to VOA, CNN and other media of the United States, Japan and south Korea were deeply concerned about the exhibition group's visit to the United States. [Sports diplomacy]
• History not going to be much of a help when US faces mysterious North Korea at World Cup
  By Associated Press, Tuesday, June 28, 6:23 AM DRESDEN, Germany — After meeting in the first round at the last three Women’s World Cups, the United States should know everything it needs to about North Korea. .Then again, nobody knows much about the North Koreans. There’s a definite air of mystery surrounding the Americans’ opponent in their World Cup opener Tuesday night. North Korea plays few games, just five in the last six months, giving opposing coaches little opportunity for scouting. None of the players play overseas professionally. Only two of the North Koreans have previous World Cup experience. North Korea is also the youngest team in the tournament, with 14 players 20 or younger — including two 16-year-olds and two 17-year-olds — and just one who is 30. Only five players have 10 or more appearances with the senior national team. “It’s really difficult when you don’t see much of a team and you’re not familiar with how they play,” defender Ali Krieger said Monday after the U.S. training session at Rudolf-Harbig Stadium. “We might get some nerves because you don’t know what to expect.” Goalkeeper Hope Solo said it’s even hard to see footage of their games. The U.S. is basically keying off two recent North Korean games — against Germany and China — and figuring that’s the lineup they’ll face this time out. “They are technical, they’re comfortable with the ball, they’re reading the game very well and I think they’re one of the best teams in the world between the boxes,” U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said. “But the game and the field’s a little bit bigger. You have to add the two boxes.” The Americans have played North Korea three times, all at the World Cup. The U.S. dominated the first two meetings, winning each game 3-0. But North Korea has made [Cliché]
• An inside look at the N.Korea women’s World Cup team
  N.Korea’s isolated government and media have also made it difficult to report on sporting events » Members of the North Korean women’s U-20 football team celebrate and raise a trophy after winning the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Moscow, Russia, September 2006. (Reuters Yonhap) By Marcus Han, Sprots Columnist The 6th FIFA Women’s World Cup has begun. Typically, the FIFA tournament steering committee appoints an administrator for each country when an international event is held. This person needs to be well-versed in the country’s language and culture. It is a gesture of consideration so that each country’s team is able to compete comfortably in a big event without any major cultural or linguistic difficulties. Since South Korea is not competing in this event, I was assigned administrative duties for the North Korean team. North Korea has something of a strong reputation in women’s football.
• South Korean officials, businessmen to visit stalled North Korean mountain resort for talks
  By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, June 27, 7:44 PM SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean officials and businessmen plan to visit a stalled joint venture at a mountain resort in North Korea for talks on the North’s seizure of South Korean assets there. Joint tours to Diamond Mountain were suspended in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist. North Korea later confiscated or shut down South Korean-owned buildings and other facilities there. .Earlier this month, the North said it would “dispose of” the facilities and requested that South Korea send officials and company representatives to the mountain. Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Monday the delegation will travel to the mountain Wednesday to protect South Korean assets there and try to understand what the North intends to do. [Sanctions] [Inversion]
• NK loses to UAE in Olympic football qualifier
  North Korea fell to United Arab Emirates 1-0 in the first leg of their second round Olympic football qualification action in Pyongyang.
• NK to dispose of assets at Mt. Geumgang
  By Kang Hyun-kyung North Korea said Friday it would begin disposing of South Korean-owned buildings in the jointly run resort at Mt. Geumgang. It asked all South Korean parties with property at Mt. Geumgang to go to the scenic east coast resort by June 30 "to discuss the matter of disposing of the frozen and seized properties."
• Notice to S. Side over Disposition of Real Estates in Mt. Kumgang Resort
  Pyongyang, June 17 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Guidance Bureau of Special Zone for International Tour of Mt. Kumgang on Friday notified the south side's parties concerned of the fact that all assets including real estates in the zone are to be disposed of under the Law on Special Zone for International Tour of Mt. Kumgang. The notice said: As already reported, the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly promulgated a decree on setting up the Special Zone for International Tour of Mt. Kumgang on April 29 and adopted the law on the special zone on May 31. Specified in the law are the concrete matters arising in turning Mt. Kumgang, a famous mountain in the world, into a comprehensive international tourist special zone and further developing tourism.
• N.Korean taekwondo
  North Korean taekwondo athletes demonstrate martial arts in front of 700 spectators at Lowell High School near Boston in the United States, June 11 (local time). They performed basic moves, and also smashed bricks and pine boards. The 17-member North Korean Taekwondo Demonstration Team officially started a week-long tour in United States as a part of a goodwill exchange between taekwondo practitioners in both countries. They are going to perform in New York City on Sunday, June 12 and then in Pennsylvania on June 14 before heading back home on June 16. It is the second U.S. tour of the team, following the first in 2007. Taekwondo is a traditional Korean martial art that has made significant gains in international popularity over the years.[Overtures]
• NK's flagship carrier to schedule weekly flights to Kuwait’
  North Korea's flagship airline appears ready to schedule regular flights to Kuwait, after the recent launch of a weekly flight, a news report said Sunday. According to Voice of America (VOA), North Korea's Air Koryo recently started flying to Kuwait City from Pyongyang at 8:00 p.m. every Tuesday. An estimated 3,500 North Korean workers are stationed in Kuwait. Currently, Air Koryo flies to Kuwait once a month. Air Koryo first announced the move on its Facebook page on Tuesday last week. Air Koryo currently flies to 20 cities around the world, with only nine of the routes scheduled regularly. The airline flies to Beijing five times a week and to Vladivostok, Russia, twice a week, among other destinations. VOA's report added neither Air Koryo nor Kuwait International Airport has made announcements on the schedule. An official at the South Korean Embassy in Kuwait was quoted as saying, "I heard Air Koryo's flights to Kuwait could expand from once a month to once every two weeks, but I don't know anything about once-a-week flights." (Yonhap)
• Outdoor Activities Amid Mungyeong's Stunning Scenery
  A mountain range collectively called Baekdudaegan runs through the Korean Peninsula, connecting Mt. Baekdu and Mt. Kumgang in North Korea and Mt. Seorak and Mt. Jiri in the South. The scenic Mt. Juheul and Mt. Daeya in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, are an ideal destination for sports and leisure pursuits
• N.Korea Announces New Mt. Kumgang Tourism Law
  North Korea has adopted a new law allowing foreign corporations and individuals to invest in the Mt. Kumgang resort and for foreigners to visit the area without a visa, the North's KCNA news agency reported Thursday. The new law paves the way for countries besides South Korea to organize tours to Mt. Kumgang. In April, the North unilaterally cancelled Hyundai Asan's exclusive contract to run the tour program after Seoul stopped tours following the shooting death of a South Korean visitor there.
• N.Korea Opens Mt. Kumgang to foreign investors
  North Korea has taken yet another step backwards in normalizing inter-Korean relations by carrying out its threat to strip the South Korean firm Hyundai Asan of its exclusive rights over tourism at Mount Kumgang (Geumgang). Overseas corporations, individuals and economic organizations can now invest in what it called the “international tourism district.” But it also left the door open to investment from South Korea, while vowing to encourage investment through a preferential duty system.
• Law on Special Zone for International Tour of Mt. Kumgang Promulgated
  Pyongyang, June 2 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Law on Special Zone for International Tour of Mt. Kumgang was promulgated. Decree No. 1673 of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK was promulgated on Tuesday in this regard. It said that the DPRK Law on Tourist Area in Mt. Kumgang which was promulgated according to Decree No. 3413 of the Presidium of the SPA (Nov. 13, 2002) and the rules for its enforcement became invalid.
• Law on Special Zone for International Tour of Mt. Kumgang
  Pyongyang, June 2 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Law on Special Zone for International Tour adopted on May 31 is as follows: Chapter I. Keystone of Law on Special Zone for International Tour of Mt. Kumgang Article 1. Mission of Law on Special Zone for International Tour of Mt. Kumgang The DPRK Law on Special Zone for International Tour of Mt. Kumgang shall contribute to turning Mt. Kumgang into a world-famous special tourist zone by properly setting up a system and order in the development of the Special Zone for International Tour of Mt. Kumgang (hereinafter called Special Zone for International Tour) and its management and operation.
• NK seeks foreign investment in Mt. Geumgang, shuns Seoul
  By Kim Young-jin North Korea unveiled a new raft of measures to attract foreign investment to the Mt. Geumgang resort Thursday after nullifying a South Korean firm’s exclusive rights to operate tours there. The state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said a law had been passed paving the way for South Korean and other foreign investors to build a casino, golf course and night club at the resort near the border.
• North Korea announces law that strips South Korean company of mountain tour monopoly
  By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, June 2, 6:37 PM SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has announced a new law that allows foreign businesses to invest in a now-stalled mountain resort in the communist country. The move strips a South Korean company of its monopoly on conducting tours there. South Korea suspended tours to Diamond Mountain after a South Korean woman was shot to death by a North Korean border guard there in 2008. .Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency said Thursday the new law allows any foreign individuals and firms, including those from South Korea, to invest in the resort.
• Kiwi expedition to capture NK mountains
  Roger Shepherd, founder of Hike Korea, walks along Mt. Sobaek near Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in this file photo. The author and mountaineer has his sights set on a new challenge: photographing the mountains of North Korea. / Courtesy of Hike Korea By Kim Young-jin When author and mountaineer Roger Shepherd mentioned to a publisher friend over dinner earlier this year his idea to publish a pictorial-essay book on South Korea’s mountains, the response was underwhelming. The friend told the Kiwi known for his love of the local mountains that publishers wouldn’t touch such a book ? shelves were already lined with them. A moment later, however, he offered an idea that Shepherd would make a personal mission. “He said that if I was able to get access into North Korea and take photos of mountains there, then that would be a different story,” Shepherd, founder of local company Hike Korea, said in an email. The concept appears to have come to fruition: On a trip to the North earlier this month, Shepherd reached an agreement with representatives of the New Zealand-Korean Friendship Society to photograph the northern portion of the Baekdu-Daegan mountain range.

• Roger Shepherd of Hike Korea going to North Korea for Baekdu Daegan Expedition
  SEOUL, - May 26, 2011: On May 21st, 2011, Roger Shepherd of Hike Korea returned to Seoul from having spent one week in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Roger was invited by the New Zealand - Korea Friendship Society to discuss the logistics of conducting a photographic expedition of sections of the Baekdu-daegan Mountain System in North Korea. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT A REQUEST HAS BEEN MADE TO THE NORTH KOREANS FOR AN EXPEDITION OF THE BAEKDU DAEGAN. The North Koreans received this idea with great enthusiasm and have agreed to assist to their fullest ability to make this new venture happen.
• NK wrestlers could visit Seoul next year: official
  05-12-2011 09:36 North Korean wrestlers could come to South Korea early next year for a continental competition, an official here said Thursday. "South Korea will host the Asian Wrestling Championships from Feb. 16 to 19 next year, and there's a high possibility that North Korea will enter the event," an official with the Seoul-based Korea Wrestling Federation said.
• Tournament in Doha puts pingpong diplomacy back on the table 40 years after historic matches
  By Associated Press, Wednesday, May 11, 3:23 AM THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Forty years after a week of table tennis exhibition matches helped restore relations between the United States and China, pingpong diplomacy is making a comeback. An international organization that seeks to foster peace through sports says it is organizing a two-day, 10-nation table tennis tournament in Qatar intended to “encourage dialogue and good relations between nations.” .Organizers say the Nov. 21-22 event will feature players from the United States, China, Iran, North Korea, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Russia, Japan and Qatar.
• Will NK's tourism push succeed?
  Dressed in traditional costumes, North Korean women dance at a park in Pyongyang to celebrate the 99th anniversary of the birth of the nation’s founder Kim Il-sung, which fell on April 15, during an event open to foreign tourists. A growing number of travelers, including those from Western countries, visit the North each year, travel agencies say. / Courtesy of Uri Tours By Kim Young-jin The case of Eddie Young-su Jun, an American jailed in North Korea for reported missionary work, hammered the point home again ? don’t venture into the isolated country if you plan to do so on your own terms. Jun’s arrest followed the North’s detention, and eventual release, of four Americans over the past two years for trespassing. Beyond such headlines, however, lies another story ? a growing number of tourists, including some 2,000 Westerners, visit the North legally each year. And with Pyongyang pushing for bigger numbers, travel agencies abroad say it is eyeing tourism as a way to promote better relations with the outside
• Amateur golfers from 7 countries with taste for exotic golf converge on North Korea
  By Associated Press, Published: April 30 PYONGYANG, North Korea — Adventurous (sic) amateur golfers from seven countries have converged on North Korea, looking to add an exotic new location to their destination lists. Participants from Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, South Africa and the United Kingdom teed off Friday at an 18-hole course near the capital, Pyongyang, that usually caters to diplomats from foreign embassies. .Tournament organizer Dylan Harris told Associated Press Television that the tournament appeals to golfers who like to play on exclusive courses and travel the world. The 15 players say they want to push back the frontiers of international golf and be able to claim that they’ve played in North Korea. [Media]
• N.Korea to open Mt. Kumgang to international investors
  North Korea’s parliament said that it will set up a special zone for international tours of Mount Kumgang, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday. According to the report, North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly said in a decree that the country “will encourage free investment in the development of the special zone by corporate bodies, individuals and other economic bodies and will protect by law the invested capital and properties and income and other profits to be gained through business.” The decree, an apparent move to bring in foreign investment to the country’s troubled mountain resort, came weeks after North Korea threatened to revoke exclusive contract with Hyundai Asan on Mt. Kumgang tours citing skepticism over the resumption of the joint venture.
• North Korea pushes Seoul on mountain tours
  2011-04-11 10:27 North Korea’s threat to strip a South Korean firm of exclusive rights in conducting tours to its scenic resort appears to be aimed at getting the Seoul government to resume doing it financial favors, officials and analysts here said Sunday. The communist North, suffering from deepening food shortages and international isolation, has said it may terminate an exclusive contract with Seoul’s Hyundai Asan to arrange tours to its Mount Geumgang resort, calling the South “fully responsible” for such outcome. [SK NK policy] [Sanctions]

• Chinese Tourists Visit Russia, N.Korea Visa-Free
  Chinese tourists will start visiting Russian and North Korean cities without visas on Wednesday under a formal agreement between Beijing and the two countries. The tour course starts in the Chinese border city of Hunchun in the lower reaches of the Duman (Tumen) River and goes on to eastern Russia and the Rajin-Sonbong special economic zone in North Korea. A group of 21 tourists left Changchun, the capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, on Tuesday for the Hunchun. Travelers will then visit Slavyanka, Vladivostok and Khasan, the official Xinhua news agency said. They then go to North Korea by train and tour the cities of the Duman River and the Rajin-Sonbong area. The four-day tour starts every Wednesday and costs 2,300 yuan (approximately W390,000). Only Chinese travelers are eligible for the visa-free arrangement.
• 21 foreign golfers to tee off in N. Korea
  The North Korea's inaugural golf tournament has drawn 21 amateur golfers from 10 countries with a rare chance to visit the isolated country and play golf within its borders, a U.S. broadcaster said Saturday. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Amateur Golf Open is scheduled to tee off on April 29 at a 18-hole golf course in Pyongyang, sponsored by British travel agency Lupine Travel, in Pyongyang's apparent bid to earn hard currency. The DPRK is the official name of North Korea. Radio Free Asia (RFA) said that a group of 26 people from Britain, France, Germany and Sweden will visit North Korea on a golf tour package arranged by the British travel agency, but five of them will not play, citing the firm's president Dylan Harris. Most of the foreign travelers, two females and 24 males, are in their 30s to 50s, said the RFA. Lupine Travel has offered a five-day tour to North Korea with an entry fee of 999 euros ($1,441), which includes travel by train into the country from China, meals and accommodations, as well as a three-day tour of the country, according to the tournament's Web site. (Yonhap)
• N.Korea Ends Mt. Kumgang Agreement with Hyundai Asan
  North Korea has unilaterally ended a long-standing agreement that gave South Korea's Hyundai Asan the sole rights to operate package tours to Mt. Kumgang. The tours have long been suspended, but Hyundai Asan has put a significant amount of money into accommodation and other infrastructure in the scenic resort.
  Chinese Tourists It is unlikely that the North can plug the gap with revenues from Chinese tourists. Hyundai Asan says about 1.96 million tourists visited Mt. Kumgang over the past 10-odd years, but a mere 12,000 came from countries other than South Korea. It remains to be seen whether the North will use the Hyundai-owned facilities to accommodate Chinese visitors. [China NK]
• [Editorial] Mt. Kumkang and prudent inter-Korean dialogue
  North Korean pressure to resume the Mt. Kumkang tourism venture has finally culminated in its unilateral removal of some of the project monopoly rights enjoyed by thee Hyundai Group. In a spokesman’s statement Friday, North Korea’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee declared that it was “revoking the validity of provisions regarding monopoly rights given to Hyundai in the agreement established with Hyundai regarding Mt. Kumkang tourism.” The tourism venture, once a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation and interchange, is now faced with the serious threat of permanently running aground. This extreme move by North
• Conservatives, liberals differ over Mt. Geumgang tourism project
  By Kang Hyun-kyung Liberals and conservatives have long differed over the assessment of the role of Mt. Geumgang tours, which ran for 10 years from November 1998, with different outcomes for both groups.
• Koryo Tours and Bend it Like Beckham in Pyongyang
  Posted in February 24, 2011   > The first screening of a European feature film in North Korea – what an end to the year In 2004 Koryo Tours together with Ealing Studios and the British Embassy screened the film Bend it Like Beckham at the Pyongyang International Film Festival, it was seen by over 12,000 Pyongyang citizens and was the film they raved about…during the festival we were inudndated with requests for tickets from the Yanggakdo hotel staff. During the film the coach tells the heroine of the film to make a decision about her life…and this was translated as her following the Juche way!
• Taiwan's travel industry will be hit hard by Japan quake
  2011/03/16 21:19:58 Taipei, March 16 (CNA) Taiwan's travel industry is bracing itself for a severe shakedown in the aftermath of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan, with an anticipated revenue loss of NT$8 billion (US$270.7 million). Peng Hung-hsiang, head of the committee on travel dispute conciliation at the Taipei-based Travel Quality Assurance Association, said Wednesday that Japan had been one of the most popular tourist destinations for Taiwanese tourists, and that many had planned to visit during the
• Pyongyang Hosts Large-sized Magic Show
  Monday April 18 to May 8th performances twice a week. Pyongyang Circus will present a 'large sized' magic show in the May Day Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea. The May Day Stadium is the location of the Mass Games that take place August to September, it is reputedly the highest capacity stadium in the world seating an audience of 150,000.

• Koryo Tours February Newsletter
  
• N.Korea's 1st Amateur Golf Tournament Draws Crowds
  The organizer of North Korea's first ever amateur golf tournament for foreign visitors claim to be deluged with applications, according to a Japanese weekly. The magazine quoted a spokesman for London-based Lupine Travel as expressing regret that it cannot admit all of over 200 applicants from Japan, Germany, the U.S. and elsewhere as only 30 places are available. The magazine interviewed a Korean who has already golfed at the Pyongyang Golf Complex, the only course in the country for North Koreans, although it was not clear whether he is South Korean or Korean Japanese. He said there are about 30 female caddies at the complex in their 20s or 30s, many of them graduates of the prestigious Kim Il-sung University. "Caddies were beautiful and considerate," he said. "After I finished playing golf, I came out of the shower at the club house, and there was a woman dressed in traditional Korean costume holding a towel. I instantly wondered whether there was another service waiting for me, but there was no 19th hole."
• NK wins first winter Asiad medal in 8 years
  North Korea has recorded its first Asian Winter Games medal in eight years, as its figure skaters took bronze in the pair skating event Saturday at the winter Asiad now under way in Kazakhstan, officials said Sunday. North Korea's Yi Ji-hyang and Tae Won-hyuk finished last in the Asian Winter Games' pair skating but were awarded a bronze as only three teams competed in the event, said the officials. The bronze marked the North's first medal of any color in the two consecutive winter Asiads. The reclusive communist state, which finished the previous Asian Winter Games in Changchun, China, in 2007 without any medal, had failed to send any of its athletes to the medal podium in the first five days of Kazakhstan's winter Asiad. The no-medal performance in 2007 was a shock to North Korea, which sent 66 athletes there. In the 2003 Asian Winter Games in Aomori, Japan, the North's squad of 51 athletes won one silver and one bronze. The country dispatched 32 athletes to Kazakhstan this year. North Korea has been on the slide since taking one gold, two silver and five bronze medals at the first Asian Winter Games in Japan's Sapporo. Meanwhile, South Korea ranked second in the medal standings of the Kazakhstan Asiad as of Saturday, with 12 golds, 11 silvers and 12 bronzes.(Yonhap)

• N.Korea to Host Amateur Golf Tournament
  North Korea will host its first ever amateur golf tournament for foreign visitors. London-based Lupine Travel on Thursday announced that together with China Youth Travel Service of Dandong, it is organizing the North Korean Amateur Open for golfers from around the world in Pyongyang from April 26 to 30. Lupine Travel, which specializes in tour packages to unique destinations, is currently offering a five-day tour to the North through the website www.northkoreanopen.com.
• N.Korea Takes Chinese Diplomats on Mt. Kumgang Tour
  North Korea apparently offered a tour to the Mt. Kumgang resort to some 20 Chinese embassy staff last month but did not tell South Korea's Hyundai Asan, which built the facilities there and has the exclusive right to run the tours. A Unification Ministry official said this was "a clear violation" of Hyundai's operating rights.
• N. Korea and UAE draw 0-0
  The United Arab Emirates restored some pride to the Gulf teams Tuesday by holding North Korea to a 0-0 draw in its opening Group D match of the Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar. North Korea, which qualified for last year's World Cup, should have taken the lead in the sixth minute but captain Hong Yong Jo hit the bar with a penalty after Hamdan Al Kamali pushed Jong Tae-Se inside the box.
• North Korean translator is gatekeeper at Asian Cup
  FILE - In this June 15, 2010 file photo, North Korea supporters wave the national flag as the teams enter the pitch before the World Cup group G soccer match between Brazil and North Korea at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. There was a time when reclusive North Korea would be the big unknown coming into the Asian Cup due to lack of international exposure. Not any longer. Even though its only playing in its third Asian Cup in Qatar this month, the team's defensive-minded tactics were on full display at the World Cup in South Africa. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) (Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP) Network NewsX Profile The Associated Press Monday, January 10, 2011; 2:41 PM DOHA, Qatar -- North Korea's national team is refusing to talk about its country or regime while at the Asian Cup. The team's translator batted away questions Monday on conditions in the country with a curt "come, visit North Korea" and refused to allow the team's coach Jo Tong Sop to answer. Other off-limits areas included a question about reports of players being sent to a labor camp after its 2010 World Cup failures. Even Jo responded to a question about possibly facing South Korea in the knockout stage with a gruff insistence that he would only discuss its next opponent, the United Arab Emirates. Jo dismissed suggestions that the country was closed off, saying he watched occasional Premier League and Bundesliga matches. [media]
• WikiLeaks Reveals Hyundai Chairwoman's Gripes
  Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun complained to the U.S. Ambassador in August of 2009 that she encountered more obstacles in South Korea than in North Korea, according to a diplomatic cable revealed by WikiLeaks. The cable dated Aug. 28, 2009 describes a meeting with Ambassador Kathleen Stephens just after Hyun returned from a North Korea trip. Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun poses with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during her visit to Pyongyang in August 2009 (file photo). /[North] Korean Central News Agency The two met for breakfast on Aug. 25 and Hyun explained that her trip to Pyongyang aimed to "seek a speedy revival of her North Korean tourism business, which was nearly bankrupt." Hyun "complained that she faced more obstacles in South Korea than in the North [and] lamented that without government-to-government discussions, it would be impossible to implement her five-point agreement with Pyongyang," the cable said. [SK NK policy]
• Koryo Tours and Bend it Like Beckham in Pyongyang
  > The first screening of a European feature film in North Korea - what an end to the year In 2004 Koryo Tours together with Ealing Studios and the British Embassy screened the film Bend it Like Beckham at the Pyongyang International Film Festival, it was seen by over 12,000 Pyongyang citizens and was the film they raved about...during the festival we were inudndated with requests for tickets from the Yanggakdo hotel staff. During the film the coach tells the heroine of the film to make a decision about her life...and this was translated as her following the Juche way! In 2009 Koryo Tours was asked by the British Embassy in Pyongyang to assist with ideas for marking 10 years of diplomatic relations- and football was what we came up with. In October 2010 we took Middlesbrough Women's football team to play two local Korean sides (to a total of 14,000 fans and nationwide tv broadcast) and on Boxing Day the film Bend It Like Beckham was broadcast in Pyongyang- and that is a massive 'first' with everyone in Pyongyang talking about it! Our colleague Hannah Barraclough is working on bringing over the April 25th women's team in 2012 to play in Europe. If you want any details or have any ideas on how to help with this project please let us know

• Taiwan eyes expanded cross-strait tourism exchanges
  •Publication Date:12/22/2010 •Source: Taiwan Today •By Elaine Hou Taiwan will increase its daily quota for mainland Chinese tour groups and gradually move to lift travel restrictions on individual visits as part of efforts to enhance bilateral tourism exchanges, according to the Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation Dec. 21. “We have decided to up the daily maximum of group visitors from 3,000 to 4,000 starting 2011,” said SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung. “Both sides of the strait are also working to allow individual trips by mainland Chinese tourists, and expect the arrangement to be in place by the first half of next year.” [Straits]
• Chernobyl: now open to tourists• Ukraine announces official tours of 1986 nuclear disaster site
  • 2015 completion date of new sarcophagus for leaking reactor Share2026 Peter Walker guardian.co.uk, Monday 13 December 2010 17.31 GMT Article history Workers remove radioactive debris from third reactor's roof at Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. Photograph: Reuters Already been to North Korea? Hiking in Afghanistan a little bit too last year? Fear not. Tourism has a new frontier: the site of the world's biggest civilian nuclear disaster. From next year the heavily contaminated area around the Chernobyl power plant will be officially open to tourists with an interest in post-apocalyptic vistas, late-period Soviet history, or both. [Image]
• NK holds tour info session in China
  North Korea is currently making a rare road show in China’s northeastern province to lure Chinese tourists to the reclusive (sic) country, according to Yonhap News Agency. Citing government officials of the Liaoning Province, Yonhap said a North Korean tourism delegation arrived in the province Monday, touring the cities including Dandong, Dalian and Shenyang, to promote the North’s tourism resources. The rare tourism public relations is headed by Choi Chung-ho, tourism chief of the North Pyongan province of North Korea, it said. North Korea also held a similar promotional event in September in Dalian. North Korea’s rare enthusiastic tourism offense is seen to reflect its drive to secure more foreign currency in the aftermath of the termination of the Mount Geumgang tour program run by the South, a major foreign cash source previously. [Media] [Cliché]
• Yeonpyeong crisis takes toll on tourism
  By Lee Hyo-sik An increasing number of foreign tourists are canceling their trips to South Korea, following last week’s military skirmish between the two Koreas, officials from tour agencies said. Due to safety concerns, groups of Japanese students who had initially planned to come here for a field trip have decided to go somewhere else. According to the domestic travel industry Monday, one high school in Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture recently decided to scrap a field trip planned on Dec. 2-6, following North Korea’s sudden artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island and the continued military confrontation. Other schools have and will likely follow suit. [Dilemma]

• DPRK Sends Notice to S. Korea for Talks of Resuming Tour
  Pyongyang, November 18 (KCNA) -- The General Guidance Bureau for the Development of Scenic Spots of the DPRK Thursday sent a notice to the Ministry of Unification of south Korea, urging it again to hold the working talks between the authorities of the north and the south for discussing the issue of resuming the tour. Expressing great regret at the insincere notice sent by the south side in which it groundlessly took issue with the north side's measures for confiscating and freezing real estates of the south side and raised them as prerequisites for opening the talks, after delaying for nearly 50 days the reply to the notice proposing the talks for resuming the tour sent by the latter to the former three times, talking about "examination" and "sending a notice later," the notice said that this attitude of the south side is, in fact, little short of rejecting the talks as commented by media. It is the stand of the north side to discuss and settle all the matters concerning the measures for confiscating and freezing real estates as required by the south side, the notice held, urging it to stop insisting on its absurd pretexts any longer but come out for the above-said talks as soon as possible. It suggested those authorities concerned to come out and discuss the matters concerning the opening of the above-said talks while the north-south Red Cross talks will be under way after their opening on November 25. [Overtures]
• Telephone Notice to Ministry of Unification of south Korea
  Pyongyang, November 11 (KCNA) -- The General Guidance Bureau for the Development of Scenic Sports Thursday sent a telephone notice to the Ministry of Unification of south Korea urging it to urgently open the north-south authorities working talks on the resumption of tour. The notice expressed regret over the fact that the DPRK side proposed to have talks on the resumption of tour two times on October 2 and 14, but the south side has not sent any reply to it up to this date though tens of days have passed since then, talking about "examination" and "the sending of a notice later". It again proposed to have the above-said talks in Kaesong on November 19 as it is urgently needed for the normalization of the reunion of separated families and relatives. If those talks are opened, it will create an atmosphere favorable for the inter-Korean Red Cross talks, too, slated to take place on Nov. 25. [Overtures]

• NKorea appeals age case ban from gymnastics worlds
  The Associated Press Wednesday, October 13, 2010; 8:50 AM LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- North Korea's gymnastics federation has appealed against a ban on its athletes competing at the world championships which open Saturday, imposed because one team member falsified her age. The International Gymnastics Federation says its appeal tribunal will rule within the required five-day limit after the challenge was filed on Monday. The FIG's 30-day suspension of North Korea and gymnast Hong Su Jong took effect last week after it noted that Hong entered the worlds in Rotterdam using the third different birth date of her career. Hong listed her birth year as 1989, though she competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics using 1985. She won a silver medal on vault at the 2007 worlds using 1986.
• Seoul hesitant on Mt. Geumgang talks
  By Kim Se-jeong South Korea is willing to accept Pyongyang’s request to meet to discuss the resumption of cross-border tours, but it isn’t sure whether the proposed date is appropriate. [SK NK policy]
• S. Korea to face NK in Asian Games football match
  South Korean footballers will compete against North Korean rivals in the 2010 Asian Games, officials here said Thursday. In a lottery held at a hotel in Guangzhou, China, earlier in the day, South Korea was picked to join Group C along with the communist state, Jordan and Palestine.
• NKorea asks South for talks on restarting tours
  By KWANG-TAE KIM The Associated Press Saturday, October 2, 2010; 7:55 AM SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea asked for talks with South Korea on resuming cross-border tourist trips to a resort inside the North, state media said Saturday, a day after the rivals agreed to hold reunions for families separated by the Korean War. The two Koreas started the tours to the North's scenic Diamond Mountain resort more than a decade ago as part of reconciliation efforts. South Korea halted them in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist by a North Korean soldier near the resort. North Korea has since demanded that Seoul resume the tours, which provided a much-needed influx of revenue to the impoverished North. South Korea has refused to restart them until its demands for a joint investigation into the shooting are carried out and its tourists' safety guaranteed. [Overtures] [SK NK policy]
• NKorean gymnast investigated for 3 birth dates
  The Associated Press Saturday, October 2, 2010; 9:41 AM LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- International gymnastics officials are investigating another case of possible age falsification, this time of a North Korean gymnast who listed three different birth dates. North Korea and Hong Su Jong will be given a chance to explain the discrepancies at a hearing and in written statements, the International Gymnastics Federation said Saturday.

• Itinerary - Mass Games Last Chance Tour
  From Koryo Tours, Beijing
  Oct 23 - Oct 26 4 days, 3 nights in the DPRK
• No Resumption of Tours to Mt. Kumgang, Gov't Pledges
  A key South Korean government official on Sunday insisted that fresh reunion of families separated by the Korean War do not mean that South Korea will resume package tours to the North's Mt. Kumgang resort, which were a source of much-needed cash for the North Korean regime. [SK NK policy]
• NK seeking to resume tourism project
  By Kim Se-jeong North Korea appears to be seeking to resume the tours by South Koreans to Mt. Geumgang, which have been suspended since July 2008 following the fatal shooting of a tourist, through the ongoing Red Cross talks, observers here said Friday.
• Seoul Says No to Discussing Resumption of Mt. Kumgang Tours
  Seoul on Thursday declined a proposal from North Korea to discuss a resumption of package tours to Mt. Kumgang on the agenda of Red Cross talks scheduled on Friday in Kaesong. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss fresh reunions of families separated by the Korean War. [Overtures] [SK NK policy]
• DPRK Advances to Semifinals in U-17 Women's World Cup
  Pyongyang, September 17 (KCNA) -- The DPRK women's football team defeated its German rival 1:0 at the quarterfinals of the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, qualifying to advance to semifinals. The DPRK team beat its Chilean rival 3:0 and its Trinidad and Tobago rival 1:0 in the league match of group A, thus placing second to advance to quarterfinals. A long distance ball strongly kicked by Kim Kum Jong at around the 44th minute in the first half was netted to the dismay of the German goal-keeper.
• British soccer team visits North Korea
  Players from Britain's Middlesbrough Ladies football team wait to get on buses after their arrival at Pyongyang airport, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010. The team arrived in North Korea for a five-day visit which will include two friendly matches against North Korean teams. (AP Photo/APTN) (AP) Network NewsX Profile The Associated Press Saturday, September 18, 2010; 10:20 AM PYONGYANG, North Korea -- A British women's soccer team with a historic connection to North Korea landed Saturday in Pyongyang on a groundbreaking trip to the communist nation. Middlesbrough Ladies is the first soccer team from Britain to visit the Asian nation, building on a tie the town has had with North Korea since the 1966 World Cup. North Korean officials welcomed the group of 14 players and three coaches with big smiles at the airport, footage from TV news agency APTN in Pyongyang showed. Dressed in red tracksuits, the players practiced their Korean by saying "kimchi!", a traditional Korean dish, as they posed for photos. Players wore T-shirts showing two jerseys representing their countries with the words "Friendship Football" emblazoned on the front. "Absolutely friendship in football," Middlesbrough Ladies team manager Marrie Wieczorek told APTN. "The link with Middlesbrough and North Korea from the World Cup in '66 is pretty legendary in Middlesbrough."
• 2 Koreas advance to semifinals at U-17 Women's World Cup
  Korea Friday beat Nigeria 6-5 at the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup, lifting the country to the U-17 semifinals for the first time. In the quarterfinal match at Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, Trinidad and Tobago, Korea staged a dramatic come-from-behind victory against Nigeria, according to Yonhap News Agency.
  Defending champion North Korea, meanwhile, edged Germany 1-0 to advance to the semifinals on the other side of the bracket. North Koreans will take on the winner of Ireland-Japan.
• DPRK Middlesbrough Friendship Football Tour
  18-22 September 2010
  In 2000 the UK established diplomatic relations with the DPRK (North Korea). This year, Koryo Tours and CLSA, with the support of the British Embassy in Pyongyang, are marking the 10th anniversary by inviting Middlesbrough FC Ladies on a tour of Pyongyang for the game of their lives, giving the Korean people something magical to remember.
  Middlesbrough and the DPRK (North Korea) In 1966 the DPRK competed in the World Cup in England and caused the greatest shock in World Cup history by eliminating the Italian team. They played most of their games in Middlesbrough and because of their gutsy performance and friendly attitude the locals adopted the team as their ‘home side’ and treated them like heroes - so much so that over 2,000 Middlesbrough fans followed the Koreans to their next match on the opposite side of the country in Liverpool.
• S. Korea to share games with North if chosen to host 2022 World Cup
  Han Sung-joo By Yoon Chul The 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup was deemed a success, enthralling the people and football supporters alike. More than one million people gathered at venues such as Seoul Plaza to watch the global sports gala on huge outdoor screens. World Cup fever became the talk of the town amid the strong passion, and has now prompted people to hope to see the event being held once again in Korea. Gearing up to realize this dream, Seoul is bidding for the 2022 World Cup. Han Sung-joo, chairman of the bidding committee, is now the standard bearer to that end, and explained why Korea should be the last man standing. “We held half of the World Cup in 2002,” Han said in an interview with The Korea Times. “The 2022 Korea World Cup will be devoted to peace in Asia and the rest of the world. To further this end, we hope to hold some games in North Korea,” he said. “We need to get the agreement of FIFA and North Korea, but as the former is expected to support the move and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il favors the World Cup, our plan could be realized,” said Han who had served as foreign minister and Korean ambassador to the United States. He is now teaching at Korea University. [Joint-Korean]
• Middlesbrough soccer team to tour North Korea
  The Associated Press Monday, September 13, 2010; 11:04 AM MIDDLESBROUGH, England -- Middlesbrough Ladies will become the first British soccer team to visit North Korea, strengthening the town's long-standing relationship with the isolated Asian country that dates back 44 years. Fourteen players and three coaches, led by manager Marrie Wieczorek, will fly in to Pyongyang on Saturday for a four-night stay in the North Korean capital. The team will play two matches and hold coaching clinics for children. The origins of the links between North Korea and the town in northeast England date to the World Cup in 1966, when Middlesbrough hosted the country's three group games. The players received a warm welcome from the locals, who adopted North Korea as their second team. Surviving members of the 1966 squad, who returned to Britain to visit Middlesbrough in October 2002, will meet the British women's team during the tour, which was arranged following an invitation by the British Embassy in Pyongyang. "I know North Korea is shrouded in mystery for many people in the U.K., but I get the impression that the Koreans will be wonderful hosts," said Wieczorek, a former England national player. "The trip is very much about friendship and is evidence of football's power to break down cultural barriers." North Korea, a country with little contact with the outside world, played in the World Cup in South Africa, losing all three games in a tough group that also included Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast. It was the country's second appearance on soccer's biggest stage. In 1966, the Koreans caused one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history by beating Italy 1-0 to reach the quarterfinals. The scorer of that winning goal, Pak Do Ik, will be one of the former players receiving Middlesbrough Ladies, who fly out on Thursday to Beijing - via Moscow - before completing the journey to Pyongyang two days later. "Everyone is so excited about the trip," Wieczorek said. "It's such a fantastic opportunity for all of us to visit a country that we could never have imagined getting to see."

• FIFA Says North Korean Players Did Not Face Retribution for World Cup Performance
  By CHOE SANG-HUN SEOUL — FIFA, the governing body of soccer, said on Wednesday that it has dismissed allegations that North Korea’s coach and players were punished for losing all three of their games at this year’s World Cup in South Africa. In a letter, North Korea’s national soccer association “assures FIFA that Mr. Kim Jong-hun, head coach of the national team, and all the other members of the national team are training as usual and that the members of the team will soon take part in the 16th Asian Games,” FIFA said in a statement posted on its Web site. The statement continued: “The association also indicates that there were no sanctions to the coach and that the reports on this matter were baseless. With all of the information at hand, and having checked all of its sources, FIFA has decided to close the matter.” [Disinformation] [Softwar] [Media]
• N.Korean Friendly with India to Reveal Football Coach's Fate
  Kim Jong-hun The North Korean national football team is preparing for its first international friendly since the World Cup in South Africa, where it suffered a humiliating 0-7 defeat at the hands of Portugal. The friendly match against India in Delhi on Sept. 14 is expected to show whether team manager Kim Jong-hun has been given a second chance or was really sent to a labor camp, as rumor said. Some media reports said the coach and players were subjected to a marathon self-criticism session after series of defeats in the tournament and the coach sentenced to hard labor, but others said Kim and the team have resumed training. [Spin] [Media]
• N. KOREA TAKES CHINESE DIPLOMATS ON MT. KUMGANG TOUR
  Chosun Ilbo ( Seoul, 2010/08/05) reported that the DPRK apparently offered a tour to the Mt. Kumgang resort to some 20 PRC embassy staff last month but did not tell Hyundai Asan. An ROK Unification Ministry official said this was "a clear violation" of Hyundai's operating rights. "When our tourism operations ran smoothly, North Korea always informed us when they were bringing guests into Mt. Kumgang," a Hyundai Asan staffer said. "It's objectionable that they offered the tour without notifying us." [China NK] [SK NK policy] [Dilemma]
• Officials paint rosy picture of cross-strait tourism
  2010/08/13 21:35:53 Taipei, Aug. 13 (CNA) A visiting Chinese tourism official said Friday that the annual number of Chinese tourists to Taiwan is expected to hit 3 million soon and urged the two sides to mak [Straits]
• FIFA Opens Investigation Over Reports North Korea Abused Players
  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: August 11, 2010 SINGAPORE — The president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, said Wednesday that soccer’s world governing body had opened an inquiry into allegations that North Korea might have mistreated players and coaches after the team lost all three of its World Cup matches. Blatter said FIFA had sent a letter to the North Korean football federation Tuesday, seeking information about the allegations of mistreatment and the recent election of a new federation president. “It’s a kind of investigation to tell us about the election of a new president, and if it is true, the allegations made by the media that the coach and some players have been condemned or punished,” he said. “The first step is the federation, and we’ll see what the answer will be.” Radio Free Asia reported last month that North Korean officials had summoned the national team to a meeting to criticize it for its losses at the World Cup. The report said players had then been ordered to reprimand coach Kim Jong Hun.
  The head of the Asian Football Confederation, Mohammad bin Hammam, said Wednesday that he had spoken with four players last month, but that they had not reported mistreatment. [Disinformation]

• China, Russia, North Korea tourist route to operate
  15:48, July 06, 2010 A cross-border tourist route between China, Russia and North Korea will be put into operation before China's National Day on Oct. 1, according to the Hunchun Municipal Tourism Bureau. The route has currently taken shape and stretches from Hunchun, Jilin province, Vladivostok and Khasansky in Russia, to Tumangang and Rason in North Korea.
• Ping-Pong Diplomacy For China, Soccer For North Korea?
  July 5, 2010 - 5:24 amShare Ray TsuchiyamaBio | Email Ray Tsuchiyama heads Strategic Sales and Operations, and was the head of the Asia office for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Based on my two Forbes blog posts on China and soccer, I was invited to contribute to a New York Times editor’s forum on this same topic, along with several distinguished experts. Some of the comments raised the intriguing subject of the unexpected World Cup entry by North Korea's soccer team (the squad nickname is Chollima – a mythical winged horse). With a handful of players with international league experience (Cha Jong-Hyok plays for Swiss FC Wil in Europe, and three others are on Japanese J-League and Russian teams), the team fell short in the group stage of the World Cup finals but played some brilliant soccer along the way — and just may have created an opportunity for history. Indeed, soccer is a leading sport in North Korea: The national league’s leading teams include Pyongyang City, Amrokgang, and Sobaeksu; however, without a sports page on the main newspaper Rodong Sinmun and no Internet, North Koreans must discuss rankings at the dinner table or on factory tea-breaks. Six North Korean team members are in FC April 25, the official North Korean Army team. (April 25th is Military Foundation Day, a national holiday marking the day in 1932 on which North Koreans started guerrilla war against the Japanese – a name difficult to explain if they played in a friendly match against a Japanese team). The global media has focused a lot of attention on striker Jong Tae-Se, a fascinating blend of Korean identity, youth, and soccer talent. Jong was born and raised in Nagoya, Japan. His father was a South Korean citizen living in Japan; his mother is pro-North Korea. On Japanese TV I watched this well-mannered, polite and loving son as he sipped tea with his mother, who had him educated in a pro-North Korean school and a North Korea-affiliated university with a Tokyo campus. [Nationalism]
• Jong Tae-se to join German soccer team
  North Korean World Cup soccer team’s star, Jong Tae-se, will join Germany’s Bochum, Yonhap news agency said citing the Japanese media.
• N. Korea's World Cup squad returns home from South Africa: reports
  By Sam Kim SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) -- Crestfallen after three straight losses in their first World Cup appearance in 44 years, North Korea's players have returned home, brightening up at the sight of their families welcoming them with flowers and warm words, news reports said Wednesday. The North's official Korean Central News Agency and a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Tokyo said that the players, including striker Jong Tae-se, arrived in the North Korean capital on Tuesday and were greeted by a group of families and football officials.

• North Korea
  North Korea is the most mysterious of all the teams to compete in the 2010 World Cup. As in soccer, so it is in geopolitics. Before the tournament started, no one outside North Korea knew what to expect of the team. There is little reliable intelligence on what goes on inside the country whether it’s soccer or anything else. The secretive communist state keeps its doors closed tight and maintains total control of news media. Paid actors, not real North Korean fans, have made up the team's audience in South Africa. The one reliable way to gauge the North is to expect the unexpected: last time the DPRK participated in the World Cup -- in 1966 -- it surprised everyone by blasting through to the quarterfinals. The first match in 2010, against Brazil, exemplified North Korea's geopolitical strategy and tactics. Few would have guessed that North Korea was capable of competing with Brazil, the team that has won the most World Cup championships. But for decades the same combination of uncompromising loyalty to the group and the element of surprise have enabled Pyongyang to maintain power despite being surrounded by the likes of greater powers -- the United States, Russia, Japan, China and South Korea. This is not to exaggerate North Korea's strengths -- its economy is a shambles, and despite its military's size, its capabilities are limited. Fear of defeat by foreign competition is why the North rarely ventures abroad, earning the nickname the "Hermit Kingdom." Pyongyang knows that public humiliation could weaken the group morale that is essential for the regime to survive. But as with its array of missile tests, it is at least able to use the team's participation on the global stage as domestic propaganda. [media]
• Let's Hope the N.Korean Team Perform Better in Their Last Match
  North Korea is now said to be in shock from the 7-0 rout of its national football team by Portugal in the World Cup. It is not easy for North Koreans, who have lived in a bubble of propaganda throughout their lives, to accept the reality of the live TV broadcast of the match on Monday. That the North Korean announcer and commentator were speechless when the score surpassed 4-0 indicates how shocking the defeat was.
• North Korea coach expects warm welcome back home
  By MARK WALSH The Associated Press Thursday, June 24, 2010; 12:58 PM NELSPRUIT, South Africa -- Kim Jong Hun's North Korean players have fallen far short of emulating their illustrious countrymen who reached the 1966 World Cup quarterfinals. Still, the coach expects a warm welcome at home. After opening with a gritty 2-1 loss to five-time champion Brazil, the North Koreans gave up six second-half goals in a 7-0 thrashing by Portugal, prompting suggestions the squad would face scorn when it returns to Pyongyang. Ahead of their last match at South Africa 2010 against Ivory Coast on Friday, coach Kim had no such concerns. "We were not able to go on to the next round, so both my staff and my players didn't meet the expectations of my countrymen," Kim said. "However, even though we didn't play too well, our people will welcome us with open arms." Ivory Coast needs to score plenty of goals to have any chance of reaching the second round. But Kim predicts his players will be leaving the tournament with their heads high. "We did concede a lot of goals (against Portugal), but nevertheless we are going to fight hard in our next game, and it's a way to avenge ourselves," Kim said. "We will try to restore our honor and do our best in the game."
• N.Korea Opens Mt. Kumgang to Int'l Tourists
  North Korea has decided to open the Mt. Kumgang resort to tourists from Western countries after South Korea suspended lucrative tours to the resort over the shooting of a tourist there in 2008. The first tour group is expected on June 29. Koryo Tours, a travel agency in Beijing specializing in North Korea, is selling package tours to Mt. Kumgang, it emerged Wednesday. The agency, which is headed by Brit Nicholas Bonner, arranges tours for Western visitors in collaboration with the Korea International Travel Company in the North. According to its website, Koryo sold an eight-day summer holiday package tour to Pyongyang, Wonsan and Mt. Kumgang from June 29 to July 6. Bookings have already closed. How many foreigners are participating in the group tour is not known. Tourists go to the Byolkumgang area on the northeastern outskirts of Mt. Kumgang on July 2, the fourth day, where they stay overnight at a hotel near Lake Sijung. Byolkumgang was not included in South Korean operator Hyundai Asan's package tour to Mt. Kumgang. But Koryo includes the Oekumgang area, which was developed by Hyundai Asan, in an 11-day package tour program from Aug. 7 to 17. An Asan executive said, "Since North Korea is a co-operator of package tours to Mt. Kumgang, you can't call this a violation of the contract." But he added the company is trying to find out what's going on from staff still staying there. Hyundai Asan's properties in the Mt. Kumgang resort area were frozen by the North. Only 14 staff are still there to take care of the facilities. [SK NK policy]
• Kim Jong-il Blamed for N.Korea's Foolish World Cup Tactics
  After the complete rout of North Korea by Portugal on Monday in their second match of the World Cup against Portugal, some observers have seized on the opportunity to blame North Korean leader Kim Jong-il personally. [Media] [Personalisation] [Kim Jong Il]
• Fans cheer on N.Korea at Bongeun Temple
  The World Cup has become an opportunity for fans of both countries to show support for both teams » South Korean football fans cheer on the North Korea national football team with a huge Unification flag under which is written “We are One,” at Bongeun Temple in Seoul’s Samseong neighborhood, June 21. The results of the match were one-sided in the end, but the collective cheering gave fans reason for joy. The area in front of Bongeun Temple in Seoul’s Samseong neighborhood was filled with people cheering on the North Korean national football team by saying, “Oh, Peace Korea!” on Monday night. The cheer was created by South Koreans, since “peace” sounds like pilseung, certain victory. They let cheered the North Korean players’ every move and flew a flag with a picture of a united Korean peninsula printed upon it. “I am so sorry to see North Korea was defeated by Portugal, but North Korea did very well in the first half,” said Kim Min-kyoo, 28, who is in his senior year at Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary. Kim smiled for a moment before saying, “As you can see many, South Koreans are cheering on North Korea, which sends an important message in terms of inter-Korean relations.” Although North Korea ended the match against Portugal with a 0-7 loss, around 1000 people did not leave the temple and stayed to cheer on North Korea. [Joint Korean]
• North Koreans not discouraged about World Cup loss
  The Associated Press Tuesday, June 22, 2010; 10:19 AM PYONGYANG, North Korea -- Soccer players in North Korea have shrugged off their country's 7-0 loss to Portugal at the World Cup. Players with the local Kigwancha team watched the match live on state television Monday night, but didn't seem discouraged by the lopsided loss. The 7-0 rout was the most one-sided World Cup match since Germany beat Saudi Arabia 8-0 at the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan. The loss ended the North Koreans' hopes of advancing to the round of 16. "As a fellow football player I am disappointed and embarrassed at the team having lost so many goals," Kigwancha winger Son Chung Il said Tuesday during training at a local stadium, according to video footage from TV news agency APTN in Pyongyang. Son, however, said he was not discouraged. "We'll concentrate our efforts to develop our skills and, if we have another chance to play Portugal in future, we'll try to beat them," he said. Coach Kim Sang Chol wasn't upset by the loss, either. "The Korean team is in the World Cup for the first time after 44 years away," he said. "In spite of losing the game, our team has made a good impression to football fans at home." This is North Korea's first trip to the World Cup since 1966, when it stunned Italy 1-0 to become the first Asian nation to reach the quarterfinals. North Korea then took a 3-0 lead on Portugal before the Portuguese rallied for a 5-3 victory. North Korean state television aired live coverage of Monday's entire match during prime time, a first for a North Korean football game taking place abroad. North Korea will play its final World Cup game Friday against the Ivory Coast.
• Hermit Country Catches World Cup Fever
  The streets of Pyongyang are empty by 9 p.m. these days because everyone heads home early to watch pirate World Cup broadcasts on state-run broadcaster KCNA. The Choson Sinbo, a North Korean mouthpiece in Japan, said "subways and buses run almost empty" when World Cup matches are broadcast. Jo Chung-song, a manager at a clothing factory in Pyongyang, told the paper, "We recently started wrapping up our production lines at 8 p.m., unlike other times when they run until late, because workers wanted to leave before the World Cup matches are broadcast." The North Korean media started churning out special reports when the team put up an unexpectedly good fight against top-ranked Brazil in the first match. KCNA had a report on Thursday entitled "Rising Expectations" covering nationwide support for the team, and the Choson Sinbo even sent a reporter to South Africa. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is said to have a passion for soccer. Moon Ki-nam, the former North Korean team manager who defected to South Korea in 2003, said, "Kim Jong-il has played football since he was a kid and loves the sport. The national football team was envied by other athletes because it was always well-equipped." Moon is presently an advisor to the Ulsan University soccer team. One South Korean intelligence official said, "Kim Jong-il has been spotted less frequently out in the field since the World Cup started, probably because he watches major World Cup matches until dawn via satellite."
• N.Korea Broadcasts 7-0 Rout by Portugal
  Live North Korea broadcast live the country's devastating rout at the hands of Portugal in the World Cup on Monday. A commentator from [North] Korean Central TV expressed disappointment when Portugal scored its first goal 29 minutes into the first half, saying, "We should have been more aware of the forwards coming from the second line." But he was hopeful of the equalizer that never came, adding, "If we play our own style of game, we will be able to score." It was not to be. Portugal fairly pounded the North Korean goal in the second half to finish 7-0, leaving the North Korean commentator speechless. It was the first time North Korea ever broadcasted a World Cup match live. A South Korean government official said, "It seems that the North decided to make this very unusual decision to broadcast a World Cup game live as many people began taking interest after North Korea's brave performance against the world No. 1 Brazil on June 16."
• World Cup 2010: Why North Korea are in a league of their own
  They are the lowest-ranked team in the World Cup, but the squad are well-drilled – most of them are from the Korean People's army Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 June 2010 21.00 BST Article history Striker Jong Tae-Se cries as the North Korean national anthem is played. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images It was 17 hours after North Korea bravely lost to the mighty Brazil last week before the people back home were allowed to watch the match on the country's only TV channel. While footage showed residents in the capital, Pyongyang, cheering Ji Yun-nam's late goal, North Korea's official news agency offered a predictably strait-laced description of the game: "From the outset of the match the two teams fought a seesaw battle," it reported. "The DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] footballers created good shooting chances, not losing their confidence even after losing two goals." North Korea is the lowest-ranked team to qualify for this year's tournament, and emotions in the stadium were running high even before the match, with the team's best player, Jong Tae-Se, breaking down in tears during the national anthem. This is, apparently, a bit of a habit for Jong who, despite being born in Japan and playing club football there, has demonstrated his devotion to the grandfatherland by spurning far more lucrative opportunities to represent World Cup rivals Japan or South Korea. [Media]
• N.Korea to Earn $10 Million for World Cup
  North Korea will receive at least US$10 million from FIFA for fielding its national team in the World Cup. The figure amounts to three month's wages for the over 43,000 North Koreans working in the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex. FIFA gives the 32 teams playing in the World Cup $1 million each for preparation costs. After playing three matches in the first round, each team is given an additional $8 million no matter if it advances to the next round or not. From this year, every club that has a player in the World Cup receives $1,600 per day, per player. The paid period begins two weeks before the opening of the tournament and ends a day after the final match of each contending team. [Double standards]
• Kim Jong-il 'Instructs Footballers by Invisible Phone'
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il "gives regular tactical advice during matches using mobile phones that are not visible to the naked eye," the team's manager Kim Jong-hun told ESPN Thursday. The coach dutifully told the sports channel that Kim Jong-il developed the James-Bond technology himself. In 2004, the North Korean leader claimed to have invented the hamburger, which would make the invisible cell phone his latest invention, ABC quipped. [Media]
• N.Korean Footballers Charm Fans in S.Africa
  The 23-member North Korean soccer squad is charming South Africans with their humble yet personable demeanor at the World Cup. Breaking stereotypes that North Korean athletes are like robots, the players pose for pictures and mingle with locals. "Behind their serious demeanor in the game, the camera-shy athletes have proved playful and personable at rest, ready with smiles and waves," AP reported Sunday. Unlike other teams, the North Koreans train at a public health club in Pretoria, and exchange greeting with South Africans, take photos with them and sign T-shirts. A member who shook hands with a North Korean player at the club said, "It's great... it's not an opportunity you get every day." On June 12, the North Koreans took time off from their training to visit the Johannesburg Zoo. "They were very excited. They said they don't get to spend a lot of time at the zoo and that they don't have a lot of zoos in their country," said Letta Madlala, spokeswoman for the Johannesburg Zoo. "They're very friendly, very relaxed." But AP reported that the athletes are isolated from the outside once they return to their quarters. Star forward Jong Tae-se and midfielder An Yong-hak, who both grew up in Japan, are the only players who get to use the Internet, while the others are prohibited from contact with the outside world.
• 'Missing' N.Koreans Turn Up at World Cup
  FIFA, the organizer of the World Cup, has denied rumors that four North Korean players defected from their team. FIFA spokesman Nicholas Maingot told reporters Friday that the organization checked with the North Korean liaison officer, who he said denied the rumor completely. North Korea's football team take part in a training session at Makhulong Stadium in Tembisa on June 16, 2010. /AFP The rumor apparently began after the four players -- Pak Sung-hyok, An Chol-hyok, Kim Kyong-il and Kim Myong-won -- were listed as "absent" for North Korea's match against Brazil on Tuesday. North Korea scheduled a news conference Friday, then cancelled it at the last minute. [Media] [Refugee encouragement]
• FIFA Wary of Upsetting N.Korea at World Cup
  Two teams are getting the most media attention in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. One is Argentina, which is managed by Diego Maradonna and features Lionel Messi, the FIFA World Player of the Year, and the other is the secretive North Korean team. The North Korean team is getting a lot of media attention for things other than sporting prowess. Everything about the team is veiled in secrecy, from its closed-door practice sessions and training stadium in a shanty town to its unique weight training program. With the North returning to the World Cup stage for the first time in 44 years, even FIFA officials are at a loss for words whenever the subject of North Korea comes up. The team does give interviews though. FIFA requires teams to hold one open practice session before the World Cup starts and to allow journalist to cover practice sessions and hold press conferences. Only one closed-door practice is allowed ahead of a match. North Korea abides by basic FIFA regulations, but shifts its schedule frequently and changes its mind at the last minute to hold closed-door practice sessions. The North Korean team's press conferences are also quite interesting. One thing journalists must avoid saying during those events is "North Korea." Reporters are told sternly to refer to the communist country as "Chosun" or the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" or just the "People's Republic." When a South Korean journalist accidentally said "North Korea" during a recent press conference, coach Kim Jong-hun pointed out testily, "There's no such country called North Korea. Only the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." FIFA exercises tremendous influence with its financial clout and sports diplomacy, but it has been very accommodating to North Korea, since an unexpected move by the North could throw a spanner into the event. FIFA seems to be very protective of its lucrative broadcasting rights, but it is lenient when it comes to North Korea. The North has aired several taped broadcasts of major games illegally, but it seems FIFA is not taking any action.
• Plucky N.Koreans Impress Football Fans
  The North Korean football attracted worldwide attention after its brave performance against Brazil, when it lost 1-2 on Wednesday in Group G in the World Cup. Despite the loss, it held Brazil scoreless in the first half with a tight defense, and even when down by two goals it made a lasting impression on the world's football fans with a last-minute goal.
• North Korea and Brazil Help Bridge the World's Divides
  By ROB HUGHES Published: June 16, 2010 JOHANNESBURG — In some ways, the World Cup crossed most of its ideological divides at Ellis Park Stadium on Tuesday night. Brazil, the No. 1 soccer nation of the past 50 years, played North Korea, whose team has taken part at this level only twice in that time span. Brazil, whose stars are the best and the wealthiest globetrotters in the sport, was facing soccer nobodies from a secretive land that rarely allows its citizens to travel into the free world. It was the No. 1 team in the rankings of the world governing body, FIFA, against No. 105. What nonsense the Koreans made of this artificial rating. What pride they exhibited. And how they made Brazil sweat to close out a 2-1 victory in a stadium that once represented a divide in South Africa. Ellis Park used to be a stronghold of the white Afrikaans game, rugby union. South Africa has moved on. So should everyone, away from the notion that the isolation of half of the Korean Peninsula makes its citizens and players somehow inferior. Journalists were tersely reminded this week by the team’s coach, Kim Jong -hun, that his country must be called the Democratic Republic of Korea. FIFA lists the team as the People’s Republic. To much of the world, it is simply North Korea.
• N.Korean Footballers Got Special Attention from Heir Apparent
  The North Korean team performed well in its World Cup opener against the world's strongest team Brazil in Group G in South Africa on Wednesday. Brazil struggled to get through North Korea's defense but won 2-1.
• Match between DPRK and Brazil
  Pyongyang, June 16 (KCNA) -- The league match of the 2010 World Cup between the DPRK and Brazil took place at dawn (Pyongyang time) on Wednesday. From the outset of the match the two teams fought a seesaw battle. The DPRK footballers created good shooting chances, not losing their confidence even after losing two goals. At about the 88th minute of the match Jong Tae Se headed the ball before passing it to Ji Yun Nam who powerfully kicked it into the rival's goalmouth, scoring a goal. The DPRK team will meet its Portuguese rival on June 21.
• Brazil Gains Cold Win Against North Korea
  By JERÉ LONGMAN Published: June 15, 2010 JOHANNESBURG — On a frigid night with the temperature just above freezing, Brazil finally melted North Korea’s defense for a 2-1 victory on Tuesday, but the five-time champions never fully thawed out in their World Cup opener. In a scoreless first half, Brazil seemed alternately nervous, indolent and impatient against North Korea’s compact and organized defense that frequently strung five players across the back line. “I believe this first match is always very trying,” Dunga, Brazil’s coach, said. “There is a lot of nervousness, a lot of anxiety. I’m not entirely happy, but this is very common.” Finally, in the 55th minute, right back Maicon scored from an acute angle. Midfielder Elano followed in the 72nd minute to provide a win that was dominant, but more businesslike than inspired. North Korea scored in the 89th minute, gaining some consolation in its first appearance in the World Cup since stunning Italy in 1966 and maintaining hope that it can still advance from a group that also includes Portugal and the Ivory Coast.
• N.Koreans 'Cheer S.Korean Team in World Cup'
  The North Korean-controlled press had unusual praise for South Korean footballers Park Ji-sung and Ki Sung-yueng on Tuesday. The Chosun Sinbo, a Pyongyang mouthpiece published in Japan, said North Korean Central TV on Monday night aired about an hour of footage from the South Korea vs. Greece match. According to the paper, the commentator, Prof. Lee Tong-kyu of the North's Research Institute of Sports Science, spoke highly of Park and Ki. North Korean Central TV has been broadcasting recorded World Cup matches illegally since Saturday night, having failed to acquire the broadcasting rights. North Koreans rejoiced over South Korea's 2-0 win. "The match where compatriots played has drawn great attention," the paper said. "People in Pyongyang, without an exception, cheered for the South Korean team [Joint Korean]
• Brazil Holds Off N.Korea in 'Group of Death' Match
  It took nearly 60 minutes for Brazil to score its first goal, but the five-time World Cup champions defeated North Korea 2-1 in their opening match of Group G stage play. North Korea was supposed to be the weak link in Group G -- deemed the "Group of Death" because of the tough company. But playing in its first World Cup since 1966, "The Chollima" gave the Brazilians all they could handle on Tuesday. Brazil struggled in the first half against the defense of the tournament's lowest-ranked club as the North Koreans forced the heavy favorites to rely on long-range shots. The teams were tied 0-0 at the midpoint of the match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Maicon opened up the scoring in the 55th minute with a stunning shot from a seemingly impossible angle. His shot curled into the net from an acute angle to beat the poorly positioned keeper, Ri Myong-guk, for a spectacular 1-goal advantage. Brazil doubled its lead in the 72nd minute when a streaking Elano received a beautiful through-pass from forward Robinho and deflected it past the North Korean goalkeeper. North Korea later answered by scoring its first World Cup goal in 44 years. Ji Yun-nam netted a shot in the 89th minute from six meters out but his side was not able to earn an equalizer in additional time.
• World Cup 2010: Brazil find finishing touch to edge out North Korea
  Sean Ingle at Ellis Park guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 June 2010 21.55 BST Article history Elano scores Brazil's second goal against North Korea in their World Cup match at Ellis Park. Photograph: Tom Jenkins On a night when the sub-zero chill seeped into every sinew, North Korea's footballers warmed the senses of most neutrals at Ellis Park by refusing to buckle to Brazil's evident superiority and class. They matched them blow for blow in the first half and, having gone two goals down, had the pluck to survive a second-half battering before earning just reward for a valiant display with a late consolation. Even the Brazil manager Dunga, usually the most taciturn and uncompromising of coaches, felt moved to praise, saying: "They passed really well and defended extremely well – it was really hard to play against adversaries that were so tough and defensive." North Korea signalled their intentions by lining up with five at the back, with Ri Jun-il sweeping and An Yong-hak as chief protector in a three-man central midfield. The system, as closed and stifling as the country itself (sic), had led to 10 clean sheets in qualification, but Brazil were expected to provide a much stiffer test of its credentials [Media]
• N.K. Jong Tae-se under spotlight
  2010-06-16 16:06 North Korea's striker Jong Tae-se is drawing international spotlight for his act like Beckham and playing like Rooney. North Korean striker Jong Tae-se shed tears ahead of the match with Brazil. (Yonhap) Ahead of the big match between North Korea and Brazil in the World Cup on Wednesday in South Africa, the AP ran a long story about Jong's life, which it said "is not average North Korean." The wire described him as playing like rooney but behaving more like Beckham. "He loves his cars, his rap music and his clothes, and changes hairstyles more often than you can say ``Kim Jong-il,'' it said. Jong was born and raised in Japan. "The 26-year-old forward has never lived in communist North Korea, and says he has no plans to. He loves to shop, snowboard and dreams of marrying Korea's Posh Spice - none of which would be possible in the impoverished North, one of the most isolated countries in the world, " the AP said. But he wears the North Korean jersey with pride, and is moved to tears when he hears the country's anthem. The boy from Nagoya could become North Korea's biggest international soccer star since Pak Doo-ik scored the goal that knocked Italy out of the World Cup in 1966. [Media]
• Brazil beats N. Korea 2-1 in group G opener
  Brazil beat North Korea 2-1 on Tuesday in their Group G opener at the South African World Cup finals in Johannesburg but not without a tooth-and-nail challenge from the underdog team. Brazil, five-time World Cup champions, struggled in the first half to break down the North Korean defense, but Maicon Sisenando, commonly known as Maicon, pulled through in the second half, netting a tight-angled goal in the 55th minute.
• North Korea set their World Cup target: happiness for the Dear Leader
  The emissaries of the Dear Leader to World Cup 2010 sat grim-faced through a meeting with the capitalist media (193)Tweet this (59)Comments (161) Marina Hyde in Johannesburg guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 June 2010 17.44 BST Article history North Korea's Jong Tae-se proves rather more comfortable addressing the press than his coach or, surprisingly, the team's media officer. Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP There is something about a North Korean World Cup press conference that recalls a possibly apocryphal story featuring the creepy Guinness Book of Records editor Norris McWhirter. According to this tale, Norris was visiting a school in his capacity as leader and co-founder of the Freedom Association, the charmless libertarian pressure group whose policies included mounting legal challenges against peace campaigners and allowing 1980s cricketers "freedom to trade" in apartheid South Africa. After delivering a fairly eye-wateringly right-wing lecture to his young audience, Norris broke the silence that greeted its conclusion by asking if anyone had any questions. "Yeah," drawled one kid. "What's the biggest fish?" And so with the North Koreans, where once you've sat through the footballing platitudes, the temptation is to meet the cursory "any questions?" with the response: "Yes. Be honest, you did sink that ship, didn't you?" [Media] [Bizarre]
• North Korea, the Darlings of 1966
  By JEFF Z. KLEIN Tuesday’s Brazil-North Korea match may shape up as a one-sided affair, the world’s most beloved soccer nation clobbering the soccer nation most shrouded in mystery. But before you make any assumptions about Tuesday’s outcome, consider this: In 1966 North Korea beat Italy, eliminating them from that year’s World Cup tournament. That 1-0 victory for North Korea stands alongside the United States’ 1-0 win over England in 1950 as one of the two biggest upsets in World Cup history. And there is something else about that famous result from 1966, something that runs counter to many commonly held perceptions of North Koreans as a people. The men who won that match were funny, dignified and, above all, just like the sportsmen of any other nation — as we learn from a remarkable 2002 BBC documentary called “The Game of Their Lives.”
• N.Korea Shows Pirate Broadcasts of World Cup
  North Korea's Central TV illegally aired the opener of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa on Saturday evening despite having failed to buy the broadcasting rights. The broadcast showed about an hour and 20 minutes of footage of Friday's opener between South Africa and Mexico. As if mindful of accusations of piracy, the channel erased inscriptions at the top and bottom of the screen showing the source of the program. An announcer and a commentator voiced over the original broadcasters after muting the original noise soundtrack, with the result that stadium noise was almost completely lost.  [North] Korean Central TV airs the opening match of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa on Saturday evening. /[North] Korean Central TV-Yonhap SBS TV in Seoul, which holds the exclusive rights for the Korean Peninsula, says this was an "act of piracy." "The North's broadcast of the World Cup matches was illegal because our negotiations with North Koreans were suspended," an SBS spokesman said. "We'll decide how to respond once we find out where the North got the footage." [SK NK policy]
• N. Korea’s heir promises gifts to football players
  The widely believed heir designate of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited the North Korean World Cup soccer team twice in April and May in an unofficial "site inspection," and allegedly promised to shower them with gifts, in case they play well in the games, a local daily said. With the pledge, Jong-un also coached them how to play. "In both defense and offense, every player should work in an organic fashion," the Open Radio for North Korea Friday cited the heir, Kim Jong-il's third son, Jong-un, as saying, quoting an internal source in North Korea, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
• For North Korean Refugees, Little to Cheer About in the World Cup
  By SAM DOLNICK Published: June 11, 2010 With the World Cup on, little pockets of immigrant New York will be stopping for hours at a time to watch their homelands compete. They will gather in groups large and small, in ethnic restaurants and sports bars, in Little Brazil in Midtown and Little Ghana in the Bronx. But there is one team that will not be cheered by New York revelers, one team without local fans planning raffles or mixing special drinks. The team represents an international pariah, a closed-off dictatorship and the lowest-ranked country in the tournament this year: North Korea.
  In the United States, there are 99 North Korean refugees, the State Department said. [[Media] [Refugee encouragement] [Refugee reception]
• Park Ji-sung says NKorea may shock at World Cup
  By DENNIS PASSA The Associated Press Friday, June 11, 2010; 9:56 AM PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa -- South Korea star midfielder Park Ji-sung thinks North Korea could surprise some teams at the World Cup. North Korea may be one of the longshots, but Manchester United's Park said the team has the advantage of adding a little mystery to the tournament. "Since North Korea has players that are not well known, that could be a difficult factor" for other teams, Park said. "For me personally, it will be interesting to look at the three matches." North Korea has a challenging draw. It opens Tuesday against Brazil in Johannesburg, then plays Ivory Coast and Portugal. North Korea's only previous appearance was 1966 when it made a surprising run to the quarterfinals, even taking a 3-0 lead in that game against Portugal before finally falling. South Korea opens against Greece on Saturday. It is the first time that the two Koreas are playing in the same World Cup, although this is the South's eighth trip to the tournament. "North Korea is in a very difficult group as we know," Park said. "It's been a long time since North Korea managed to join the World Cup, and I am very glad that North and South Korea are here."
• NKorea's An wants revenge for '66 loss to Portugal
  By JEAN H. LEE The Associated Press Thursday, June 10, 2010; 3:53 PM TEMBISA, South Africa -- North Korea's An Yong Hak knows exactly what he wants from his team's upcoming World Cup match with Portugal. "Revenge. We'll try to get revenge for 1966," the lanky midfielder said with a grin, speaking to reporters before a training session Thursday at Makhulong Stadium in the township of Tembisa. "We'll do our best." The North Koreans have been waiting four decades to avenge the loss that ended their fairytale run at the World Cup in England. Back then, North Korea defied expectations by beating defending champions Italy 1-0 to become the first team from Asia to advance to the quarterfinals. There were three quick goals but then the Portuguese, led by Eusebio, regained their bearings and came back to win 5-3. Qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since that loss, North Korea is keen for a different outcome when the two teams meet again on June 21. First, though, there's Brazil to contend with at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on June 15.
• North won’t get World Cup television feed from South
  June 10, 2010 Negotiations over North Korean access to television feeds of the upcoming World Cup have broken down, the South Korean government said yesterday. The North had demanded the South provide the feeds without charge, as the Roh Moo-hyun administration did during the 2006 Germany World Cup. The South had agreed to provide the feed, but only if North Korea paid a fee to SBS. “Negotiations between SBS, which has the exclusive broadcasting rights to the Korean peninsula, and the Korean Central Television [of North Korea] came to no resolution,” a government official said on condition of anonymity. “As the opening [of the World Cup] is imminent, it has become virtually impossible for North Korea to receive the game feeds from us.” Heightened tension between the two Koreas in the wake of the Cheonan’s sinking, an act the South blames on the North, impeded the discussions. The official added that he had no information about how North Korea would respond to the news. North Korea qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 44 years. It also marks the first time the two Koreas are playing together at the World Cup. By Lee Young-jong [joe@joongang.co.kr] [SK NK policy]
• Nigeria defeats N. Korea in World Cup sparring session
  North Korea lost a 3-1 defeat to Nigeria in a World Cup warm-up in South Africa, Sunday, a friendly overshadowed by a stampede which caused injuries to at least 15 people. The Nigerians pulled ahead 15 minutes into the game held at Makhulong Stadium in Tembisa, near Johannesburg, with Everton striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni delivering his team's first goal of the match.
• The 10 best World Cup characters
  Crazed managers, extraordinary players, high-gloss Wags and flirtatious commentators. Tom Lamont chooses the biggest personalities from the World Cup circus (8)Tweet this (11)Comments (9) Tom Lamont The Observer, Sunday 6 June 2010 Jong Tae-Se Following a government edict that World Cup broadcasts in North Korea are to be favourably edited for the home side, (somebody, please, YouTube this) Jong will be one of the few North Koreans who will actually see how the tournament unfolds. He'll do so from the pitch, as national captain and the team's best player – so prolific as a striker at club level that he's become known as "the Asian Wayne Rooney". Anticipate livelier post-match interviews than those from his English counterpart as Jong is required to sprinkle the usual "pleased for the lads" chat with gratuitous praise for a brutal military dictator. [Media] [Cliché]
• N.Korean Footballers Train Out of Sight in S.Africa
  The North Korean national football team, which made it to the World Cup for the first time in 44 years, currently trains in the slum township of Tembisa in the East Rand region of Gauteng province of South Africa, about 30 minutes by car from Johannesburg.
• FIFA: NKorea striker can only be keeper
  By CHRIS LEHOURITES The Associated Press Friday, June 4, 2010; 2:22 AM JOHANNESBURG -- A striker for North Korea's national team can't be used as a field player at the World Cup because he was listed as a goalkeeper on the official 23-man squad, FIFA said Thursday. Kim Myong Won, a forward for club team Amrokgang, was listed as a goalkeeper in the final squad submitted to FIFA by North Korea coach Kim Jong Hun. The deadline for the 23-man rosters was Tuesday.
• China's struggling soccer program won't field a team in the 2010 World Cup
  By Keith B. Richburg Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 3, 2010 BEIJING -- When teams from 32 nations gather for the World Cup in South Africa this month, one country will be most conspicuous by its absence: China. China may be the world's most populous country and its new sporting powerhouse -- winning the most gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. But its prowess at soccer is lamentable. China is ranked 84th in soccer's world standings, just ahead of Mozambique. Chinese are huge soccer fans, and hundreds of millions are expected to tune in to the World Cup, with all the matches broadcast live here on free television. Sports bars will be packed. But the Chinese won't have their own team to root for.
  To add to the insult, even China's neighbor, hermetic North Korea, has earned a trip to the World Cup this year. "We will cheer for North Korea because they are our neighbors," said Wang Qi, whose company is selling tickets for Chinese fans to travel to South Africa. "They can't even feed themselves, but they work harder than Chinese athletes."
• DPRK Women's Football Team Qualified for World Cup
  Pyongyang, May 31 (KCNA) -- The DPRK women's football team finished runner-up in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2010, thus qualifying for the 2011 Women's World Cup to be held in Germany. The May 30 finals between the DPRK and Australian teams ended with a penalty kick following 1-1 draw.
• North Korea Trying for Unexpected in World Cup Again
  By JERÉ LONGMAN Published: June 1, 2010 JOHANNESBURG — North Korea’s soccer team arrived Tuesday at the World Cup, where it will be supported by cheerleaders recruited from China, led by a forward born in Japan and prohibited at home from receiving free television coverage provided by fellow competitor and political rival South Korea.
  As the lowest-ranked of the 32 nations in the field, North Korea faces an imposing challenge to become one of two teams advancing from the so-called Group of Death, which also includes Brazil, a five-time champion; Portugal, a 2006 semifinalist; and the Ivory Coast, an African power led by one of the world’s best forwards, Didier Drogba. Yet no country enters the tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 11, with a bigger reputation for doing the unexpected. North Korea’s last appearance in the World Cup — in 1966 — resulted in one of soccer’s greatest feats, a shocking 1-0 victory over Italy, whose humbled players were reportedly pelted with rotten fruit upon returning home in disgrace.
• Mainland to allow all residents to visit Taiwan
  More mainland Chinese tourists visit Taiwan after the mainland side loosened the restrictions on traveling to the island May 31. (CNA)Publication Date:06/01/2010 Source: Taiwan Today Restrictions prohibiting residents living in certain parts of mainland China from visiting Taiwan will be lifted July 18, according to mainland Chinese tourism officials. The announcement, which should result in more mainland tourists visiting the island, was welcomed by officials from Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications May 31. “We hope the new policy will be implemented as soon as possible,” said Wayne Hsi-lin Liu, chief secretary of the bureau. Liu added that in anticipation of an added influx of tourists, the government is drawing up plans to modify current rules so that in the future a maximum of 1.5 million mainland Chinese visitors will be allowed to visit Taiwan per year.
  Current mainland regulations stipulate that residents in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Tibetan Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are still banned from visiting Taiwan. [Straits] [Separatism]
• ‘Soldier of fortune’ is North’s big gun
  Jong leads hope for World Cup victory May 31, 2010 Jong Tae-se TOKYO - North Korea’s World Cup campaign is reinforced by a soldier of fortune, J-League striker Jong Tae-se, who was born and bred in Japan but could have played for the North’s political foes South Korea. He holds South Korean nationality like his parents, descendants of immigrants from colonial Korea. But he managed to obtain a North Korean passport after growing up at patriotic pro-Pyongyang schools in Japan. “The South Korean people may feel regret,” he told Japanese media about his absence from their team. “At the same time, they have a deep-rooted wish for national reunification. “They seem to compare me to [Manchester United winger] Park Ji-Sung in the South,” added Jong, nicknamed Asia’s Wayne Rooney or “the people’s Rooney” for his combative style. However complicated his background may be, his target in South Africa is clear - to help North Korea shock the big guns again as they did in their only previous World Cup in 1966. In one of the biggest upsets of all time, North Korea shamed Italy 1-0 before going down 5-3 to Portugal in the quarterfinals 44 years ago in England.

• The cup’s changing line-up of mankind
  By Simon Kuper Published: May 28 2010 20:43 | Last updated: May 28 2010 20:43 You wouldn’t have thought many people would have watched Togo vs South Korea at the World Cup of 2006. These were unglamorous teams, meeting in the first round. Nonetheless, the game’s average live global TV audience was 109m viewers. That was more than saw last year’s Super Bowl of American football, or Champions League final, or probably any non-sporting TV programme. And the 109m doesn’t include hordes who watched outside their homes, in bars or on big screens
• Taiwan confident of its competitiveness in China tourist market
  2010/05/27 18:09:46 Taipei, May 27 (CNA) Japan's recent decision to ease travel restrictions for Chinese nationals will not affect Taiwan's progress in the Chinese tourist market, the Tourism Bureau said Thursday, The Chinese market is "big enough to go around," the bureau said, in the wake of Japan's announcement last week that it planned to streamline its visa process for Chinese visitors. To this end, Japan will increase the number of its consulates in China that process visa applications, from three to seven, with effect from July 1. In addition, it will give approval for 290 travel agencies to apply for visas on behalf of Chinese visitors, which will be a huge jump from the 48 agencies currently authorized to do so. Issuing an invitation for Chinese visitors to "come in droves, " Japan Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said the number of China households eligible to apply for tourist visas to Japan will increase 10 fold to 16 million per year. [Straits]
• A tie for the North, clues for the South
  Friendly match was chance to assess Greece’s Cup play May 27, 2010 North Korea’s Jong Tae-se, second from left, celebrates with teammates while Greece’s Alexandros Tziolis looks on during the friendly match between the North and Greece on May 25. [AP/YONHAP] National team manager Huh Jung-moo came away with valuable pointers about Korea’s World Cup Group B opponents yesterday. Huh and national team coach Park Tae-ha attended the friendly match between Greece and North Korea in Altach, Austria. It was the first time Huh has seen the Greeks in person since they won the 2004 Euro Cup, and the scouting trip was all the more valuable because Greece’s opponents have a physique similar to the South Korean players. “The Greek national team members were called in on May 18, they’re still in the preparation stage so it’s hard to give an accurate assessment,” said a cautious Huh. “However, there are certain elements of their game that won’t change even if their conditioning improves. That’s what I came to see.” The game was closer than many expected. Greece, ranked 13th in the world, and North Korea, ranked at 105, tied at two goals apiece
• North Korea holds Greece to 2-2 draw in friendly
  The Associated Press Tuesday, May 25, 2010; 9:32 PM ALTACH, Austria -- Jong Tae Se scored a goal in each half Tuesday as North Korea twice rallied to hold Greece to a 2-2 draw in a World Cup warmup game. Costas Katsouranis gave Greece the lead in the second minute, tapping the ball home after receiving a headed pass from Sotiris Kyrgiakos.
• Japan Seeks ‘Droves’ of Chinese Tourists to Give Economy Boost
  May 18, 2010, 4:37 AM EDT Sachiko Sakamaki May 18 (Bloomberg) -- Japan will relax Chinese visa requirements starting in July to increase tourism and boost the nation’s economy, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said. “Please come in droves,” Okada said today at a press conference in Tokyo. “Once they come to Japan, we hope many of them become Japan fans.” The number of households eligible to visit will increase 10 times to 16 million a year, he said.
  The move may help Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s administration to reach its target of increasing the number of foreign visitors almost four-fold to 25 million by 2020. Hatoyama has declared overseas tourism as one of Japan’s growth engines as its aging population shrinks. [Softpower] [Image] [Ageing society]
• S. Korea asks China to ban Mount Kumgang tours
  SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) -- Seoul has requested that Beijing exclude North Korea's Mount Kumgang resort from its list of group tour destinations allowed for its people while it seeks understanding on a dispute over the North's recent illegal freeze of South Korean assets there, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism here said Tuesday. Late last month, the North froze most South Korean assets at the resort on the east coast, including five South Korean government-run facilities, citing Seoul's refusal to resume cross-border tours.
  On May 11, South Korean Culture Minister Yoo In-chon sent China's national travel agency a letter saying that the North's asset freeze is a violation of an inter-Korean contract, and asked China's help in making the North withdraw the unlawful step, the ministry said. "The letter was designed to seek China's cooperation and prevent group tours by Chinese people to the resort, especially where South Korean assets have been seized," a ministry official said. The Mount Kumgang tour -- hailed as a symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas -- began in late 1998, and nearly 2 million South Koreans visited the zone before the program was suspended. South Koreans have invested an estimated US$374 million in developing the border resort, according to the government. [SK NK policy] [Sanctions] [China NK]
• World Cup 2010 Special: Ten Things To Expect From North Korea In South Africa
  It's a first World Cup for 44 years... By John Duerden May 18, 2010 3:48:00 AM Not much is known about North Korea though that is going to change over the next few weeks in football terms at least. Over the years Asia Editor John Duerden has had the chance to meet some of the players and watch the team in action a number of times and gives the lowdown on what to expect from the World Cup outsiders.
  7. Never-say-die spirit Teamwork is the theme that runs through the North Korean side. The forwards sacrifice their attacking instincts and put the team first. This is a side with no egos and one that has been together for years with a collective spirit that is likely to be unmatched elsewhere.
• Mass Games 2010 Dates Confirmed!
  Koryo Tours has been officially informed by the Korea International Travel Company that Arirang Mass Gymnastics (Mass Games) will be performed from August 2nd throughout to October 10th, 2010. Mass Games can basically be described as a synchronized socialist-realist spectacular, featuring over 100,000 participants in a 90 minute display of gymnastics, dance, acrobatics, and dramatic performance, accompanied by music and other effects, all wrapped in a highly politicized package. Literally no other place on Earth has anything comparable and it has to be seen with your own two eyes to truly appreciate the scale on display
• The Tuman Triangle Tour 2010
  At long last we are proud to bring you news of our brand new tour, on a route that no other company offers and that Koryo Tours has spent great effort pioneering. From June 30th to July 10th this year we are offering a 3 country, 3 cultures, 3 time zone tour in an are you may well have never heard of before - we're calling it the "Tuman Triangle" and if you're interested in learning more then please hit the following links to download our brochure and itinerary for this remarkable journey:
• N.Korean football star says team is ready for 2010 FIFA World Cup
  Jong Tae-se says N.Korea is aiming for a top 2 finish with Brazil in Group G or the “Group of Death” » North Korean national football team striker Jong Tae-se, 26, stretches on the field, April 26. What does the World Cup mean to Jong Tae-se, the 26-year-old striker with Kawasaki Frontale? The words that sprang from his lips without a moment’s hesitation were “stairway to heaven.” It was nearly deflating for a journalist who was expecting an answer with a mixture of words like “home country” and “the people.” To this fashionable young man in his clinging white T-shirt, jeans and short, upswept hair, the World Cup is a festival he wants to enjoy to the fullest.
  Fiery mental strength is another weapon Jong points to with the North Korean team. “What we have to present as a strength is concentration that could be called top class in the world. And our love for our teammates and our teamwork are awesome. With our concentration and teamwork, we won’t lose even to Brazil. Park Du-ik, the one who led us to the quarterfinal miracle at the England World Cup forty-four years ago, always tells us that we have nothing to fear if we arm ourselves with mental strength. Of course, we are rather behind tactically and technically, but...”
  Fiery mental strength is another weapon Jong points to with the North Korean team. “What we have to present as a strength is concentration that could be called top class in the world. And our love for our teammates and our teamwork are awesome. With our concentration and teamwork, we won’t lose even to Brazil. Park Du-ik, the one who led us to the quarterfinal miracle at the England World Cup forty-four years ago, always tells us that we have nothing to fear if we arm ourselves with mental strength. Of course, we are rather behind tactically and technically, but...”
  When asked who he saw reaching the final sixteen from the Group B to which South Korea belongs, Jong selected South Korea and Argentina without a moment’s hesitation. “Whenever we play South Korea, we each give our all to win, but afterwards we shake hands and feel a sense of closeness as members of the same people, and we feel a growing desire for unification. During the 2002 World Cup, I was attending Tokyo’s Korea University, and we would gather in the auditorium to cheer South Korea on.” [Joint Korean]
• Zimbabweans to protest N. Korean soccer team visit
  By CHENGETAI ZVAUYA The Associated Press Thursday, April 29, 2010; 12:07 PM HARARE, Zimbabwe -- A Zimbabwean opposition group said Thursday it will protest against North Korean soccer players when they come to train here ahead of the World Cup because of North Korea's role in the massacres of tens of thousands of Zimbabweans in the 1980s. Up to 40,000 civilians were massacred by an army brigade trained by North Korean instructors in western Zimbabwe's Matabeleland province during a five-year uprising. "We have not forgiven them for that. We are totally opposed to the North Koreans coming to any part of Zimbabwe. We don't want them here. We are going to follow them (to Harare) and demonstrate against them," Methuseli Moyo, spokesman for the Zimbabwe African People's Union party, or ZAPU, told The Associated Press by phone. North Korea's World Cup soccer team initially was to train in Bulawayo, in Matabeleland province. Zimbabwe Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi said the team now plans to train at a stadium in Harare, the capital, next month ahead of the tournament in neighboring South Africa. Mzembi denied the change of venue was politically motivated and said sporting facilities in Bulawayo were not adequate. ZAPU, which is based in western Zimbabwe, said the whole affair has reopened wounds for families of victims massacred by troops loyal to President Robert Mugabe - a longtime ally of North Korea. Troops were trained and commanded by North Koreans to crush the uprising after Zimbabwe won independence from colonial-era rule in 1980

• Korean Is First Woman to Scale 14 Highest Peaks
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: April 27, 2010 SEOUL, South Korea — Climbing on all fours after 13 grueling hours, a diminutive South Korean woman, Oh Eun-sun, reached the summit of one of the Himalayan giants on Tuesday to lay claim to being the first woman to scale the world’s 14 highest mountains. Oh Eun-sun climbed her first Himalayan mountain in 1997. In keeping with her country’s intense pride in its athletes, she pulled out a South Korean flag, raised her arms and shouted: "Hurray! Hurray!" “I would like to share this joy with the South Korean people,” Oh, who is 5 feet 1 inch, said after reaching the summit of Annapurna in central Nepal.
• N.Korea moves to close Mt. Kumgang tourism project
  Experts say the move will restrict S.Korea’s role in the six-party talks North Korea laid an effective death sentence Friday on the Mt. Kumgang tourism project with South Korea. Its decision to seize five pieces of real estate belonging to the South Korean government and Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and to freeze real estate and expel administrative personnel from private companies such as Hyundai Asan, is nothing short of an announcement that the country will no longer engage in the Mt. Kumgang project with South Korea. Now all that remains is for North Korea to take measures to confiscate the real estate of Hyundai Asan and other South Korean private companies. The project, a leading symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation since the first tourist boat was launched on Nov. 18, 1998, now finds itself at the edge of a precipice.?
• DPRK to Freeze S. Korean Assets in Mt. Kumgang
  Pyongyang, April 23 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the General Guidance Bureau for the Development of Scenic Spots of the DPRK issued the following statement Friday: The DPRK recently took such a bold measure of freezing five useless real estates of the south side in the Mt. Kumgang Tourist Zone as the first-phase measure to cope with the grave situation where there was no hope of resuming the tour due to the south Korean authorities' vicious moves to escalate the confrontation with the DPRK and their insincere attitude. This was a quite natural exercise of its sovereignty and an entirely legitimate application of sanctions in full line with not only the inter-Korean relations but international practice and norms. We have so far made every sincere effort for the resumption of tour and shown broad magnanimity till the last moment the tour was put on the verge of collapse.
  The number of new businessmen hoping to deal with the tour of Mt. Kumgang is on the steady increase. It is self-evident that the DPRK, land of famous scenic spots, can not remain idle at this golden tourist season due to the puppet group.
• North Korea Seizes 5 Assets at Mt. Geumgang Resort
  By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff Reporter North Korea threatened to seize five South Korean state assets at the Mt. Geumgang resort, Friday, and freeze private property in addition to expelling all employees there back to the South, beginning next Tuesday. If the North carries out its threat, the inter-Korean tourism project faces the risk of closing, 12 years after it began in 1998.
• Hyundai Chief Urges Resumption of Mt. Kumgang Tours
  The head of the Hyundai Group has pleaded for package tours to North Korea's Mt. Kumgang resort to be resumed, despite North Korea's threats to scrap the project after the South halted tours in the wake of the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist there. "The Mt. Kumgang tourism project is a venture of reconciliation between the South and the North and must be continued," Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun told staff at an event Monday. "If there is progress between the two governments, I'm confident that the blocked road will open and a gateway of greater hope will be unlocked."
• Chinese Tour Groups Set Off for N.Korea
  The first tour groups from across China started off on their way to North Korea on Monday. China has organized group tours of North Korea since 1988, but they were available only to provinces bordering the North such as Liaoning and Jilin. But on Monday, a group of 395 Chinese tourists left for North Korea by air or train from Beijing, Shenyang and Dandong, the China National Tourism Administration said. They will gather in Pyongyang before starting an eight-day tour of tourist spots in the capital like the Kim Il-sung statue and Mansudae, as well as Kaesong, Panmunjeom, Mt. Myohyang and Nampo. Mt. Kumgang is not included in their itinerary, despite threats by the North to find another partner for visits to the scenic resorts. South Korea declined to resume tours there in the wake of the fatal shooting of a tourist in 2008 unless the safety of travelers is guaranteed. [China NK]
• Will China Take Over Mt. Kumgang Tours?
  North Korea looks determined to hand lucrative package tours to the scenic Mt. Kumgang tours to China after an erratic campaign to resume them ended in failure. But South Korea views the prospect as little more than a threat because forecasts say that if the tours were handled from China, they would not generate enough of the cash North Korea desperately needs. [China NK]
• S. Korea Wholly to Blame for Derailing Mt. Kumgang Tour
  Pyongyang, April 11 (KCNA) -- The measure taken on April 8 by the General Guidance Bureau for the Development of Scenic Spots of the DPRK as regards the issue of tour of Mt. Kumgang is the inevitable consequence entailed by the moves of the south Korean authorities to escalate the confrontation with fellow countrymen. Minju Joson Sunday observes this in a signed commentary. The commentary goes on: The south Korean authorities should have reflected and apologized for their criminal acts. But they let the "Ministry of Unification" talk nonsense that "the responsibility for the deplorable situation entirely rests with the north side," terming the just measure of the DPRK's side "violation" of the "contract between businessmen" and "agreement between authorities." This is like a thief crying "Stop the thief!" The commentary cites facts to prove that the conservative group has run the whole gamut of cynical ploys to scuttle the tour of Mt. Kumgang ever since Hyundai Group concluded a contract on the above-said tourism with the DPRK side. The conservative group overturned the agreement reached between the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee and Hyundai Group last summer to resume the suspended tour as early as possible, the commentary notes, and goes on: Great irony is that the conservative group is now raising a hue and cry over the "violation of the agreement between authorities". This group dares charge the other side with "the violation of the agreement between authorities" though it brought the tour to a suspension by perpetrating such act of treachery as totally denying the inter-Korean joint declarations supported even by the UN and other international organizations and blocked its resumption. It is the height of arrogance. It is the ulterior intention of the south Korean puppet group to justify the criminal action taken by it to derail the tour and lay the blame for it at the north side's door by misleading public opinion. If the south Korean authorities persist in the above-said rash acts, they will have to pay a dear price for them.
• Chinese Agencies Sell Tour Programs to NK's Mt Geumgang
  Chinese travel agencies are selling tour programs to North Korea's Mount Kumgang amid Pyongyang's announcement that it will find a new partner in retaliation for Seoul's reluctance to resume cross-border tours, Yonhap News reported in Beijing Sunday. Two Chinese agencies in the city of Tongcheng and the southern province of Guangdong are taking reservations for tour programs that include the scenic mountain and other sights, including Pyongyang, the ancient city of Kaesong and the border with South Korea, Yonhap quoted tourism sources in the Chinese capital saying. [China NK]
• Seoul Rejects NK Demand for Asset Freeze at Mt. Geumgang
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The Ministry of Unification rejected Sunday, North Korea's demand that South Korean officials should visit a South Korea-backed mountain resort in the communist state Tuesday, to discuss its plan to freeze South Korean assets at the resort. Last week, the North announced that it would scrap the Mt. Geumgang resort project with South Korea and seek a new partner unless the South complies with a survey of the assets.
• Chinese Agencies Sell Tour Programs to NK's Mt Geumgang
  Chinese travel agencies are selling tour programs to North Korea's Mount Kumgang amid Pyongyang's announcement that it will find a new partner in retaliation for Seoul's reluctance to resume cross-border tours, Yonhap News reported in Beijing Sunday. Two Chinese agencies in the city of Tongcheng and the southern province of Guangdong are taking reservations for tour programs that include the scenic mountain and other sights, including Pyongyang, the ancient city of Kaesong and the border with South Korea, Yonhap quoted tourism sources in the Chinese capital saying. [China NK]
• Editorial] Lee administration should make a final decision on the Mt. Kumgang tourism project
  North Korea, which has been pressuring South Korea to restart the Mt. Kumgang tourism project, enacted new measures two days ago. Our government is virtually ignoring these measures. It appears that the tourism project, which has been suspended for 21 months, is entering a stage of deterioration. North Korea claimed that there is no longer any room to discuss the issue of tourism in today’s climate, in which ideological conflict has gone beyond the point of danger. This is a stronger statement than they have issued previously. It does not, however, mean that North Korea will immediately liquidate the entire project. North Korea’s measures are also limited to a freeze on some of the South Korean facilities including the family reunion center and restarting tourism under new management. The fact that the measures were taken under the name of the General Guidance Bureau for the Development of Scenic Spots, a working-level group, and not Hyundai’s contract partner in North Korea, the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, shows North Korea’s intention to avoid a collapse of the agreement. Of course, it could in the future lead to North Korea undertaking firm response measures such as a complete reevaluation of the Kaesong Industrial Zone, as it has previously pledged. The project now stands at a crossroads
• South condemns North bid to scrap Mount Kumgang tourism
  April 10, 2010 A dozen years after it began as a symbol of warming inter-Korean relations, the North wants to freeze South Korean tourism at Mount Kumgang. South Korea yesterday condemned the North’s decision late Thursday to suspend South Korean facilities and expel South Korean officials from the resort. The North also said it would seek a new business partner to run the tour programs. [Media][Inversion]
• N.Korea Seizes S.Korean Property in Mt. Kumgang
  North Korea has frozen the property owned by the South Korean government and the Korea Tourism Organization in the Mt. Kumgang resort area as part of a campaign to pressure the South into resuming lucrative package tours to the resort. It also scrapped the contract with tour operator Hyundai Asan and warned it will "reconsider" the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex.
• Mass Games Photos Errata
  Koryo Tours helped photographer Werner Kranwetvogel get unprecedented access to the Mass Games- absolutely sublime images- on his last trip Werner had access to the ground level but on return to Germany found his lens had a fault...and back he came to Pyongyang...but his images are testament to his drive. see pictures here
• Koryo Tours Newsletter - April 2010
  Spring has sprung! And for the season we have 7 WONDERFUL ITEMS FOR YOU! Two new areas of the country we are allowed to visit (they printed tourist postcards of Hamhung in 1980 but no one came) ...our first step to becoming film moguls and ....and what's more, American citizens are allowed in year round...
• Seoul Warns N.Korea Over Mt.Kumgang Property
  Seoul on Wednesday warned North Korea against expropriating real estate held by South Koreans at the Mt. Kumgang resort. In a statement, the Unification Ministry said that no inter-Korean cooperation projects can proceed normally unless the property rights of South Korean businesses there are protected. "All responsibility rests with North Korea," the statement added.
• South Korea to offer North matches in World Cup bid
  By Patrick Johnston Reuters Wednesday, March 31, 2010; 9:53 AM SINGAPORE (Reuters) - If South Korea win the bid to host the 2022 World Cup, they plan to offer North Korea the right to host a few games to help ease tension between the two neighbors, bid chairman Han Sung-joo said on Wednesday. "It (hosting the World Cup) will contribute greatly to not only the football game itself but to the international situation in and around the Korean peninsula," Han told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday.

• Nation’s Pride in a Single Pitch
  By Brad Lefton Published: March 27, 2010 URASOE, Okinawa — A year later, the play lives on in Japan and South Korea, where the World Baseball Classic has taken on a megalife in its fledgling four-year existence that far surpasses the impact the tournament has had in the United States.
• N.Korea Starts 'Survey' of S.Korean Property at Mt.Kumgang
  A delegation of South Korean firms which own property in the Mt. Kumgang area return from their visit to the North through a checkpoint in Goseong-gun, Gwangwon Province on Thursday. The sash reads "We urge the resumption of tours" to the Mt. Kumgang resort. North Korea on Thursday started what it claims is a survey of South Korean property at Mt.Kumgang as part of increasingly frantic attempts to resume lucrative tours to the resort amid international sanctions and the fallout from a botched currency reform. [Inversion]  
• Resume Mt. Kumgang tourism without delay  
     [Editorial]     North Korea summoned officials from North Korean businesses yesterday and notified them of its plan and schedule for investigating real estate South Korea has possessed within the Mt. Kumgang tourism zone. This is part of an effort to apply pressure on South Korea, with the message that if it does not resume tourism efforts, North Korea will void the current contract and bring in a new program operator. The Mt. Kumgang tourism project, which began in 1998 as the first project of inter-Korean economic cooperation since the Korean War, is facing a major crisis.  
•   North threatens ‘extreme’ actions if tours stay shut
  Pyongyang sets April 1 deadline for move on program for Mt. Kumgang March 26, 2010    Some business representatives who could not travel to Mount Kumgang wait on a chartered bus yesterday at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Office in Goseong, Gangwon. Meanwhile, Hyundai Asan officials and some investors who own real estate in the North Korean resort area traveled there in response to the North’s call for investigations into South Korean owners of real estate holdings. The South’s Unification Ministry denied entry to 12 businessmen who do not own property in the Mount Kumgang area. [YONHAP] North Korea said yesterday it would take “extreme measures” unless the stalled Mount Kumgang tour program resumes by April 1. Choi Yo-sik, an official representing interests of South Korean companies at the resort, said Lee Kyong-jin, an official from the North’s Myong-seungji General Development Guidance Bureau, informed the companies of the threatened actions. The bureau handles Mount Kumgang tourism in Pyongyang.  
• UNWTO: China may surpass France as top tourist destination by 2015
  UNWTO secretary general Taleb Rifai / Image via welt.de Mar 23, 2010 China will surpass France as the largest tourist destination by 2015, according to a senior official with the United Nations World Tourism Organization. The number of incoming tourists has been growing fast, and the country has great potential to be the No. 1 tourist destination by then, said Taleb Rifai, secretary general of the UNWTO. China is the world's fourth-most popular tourist destination at present. In the last ten years, the number of foreign tourists has increased from 8 million to 48 million. The number is expected to grow due to the large size of China, Rifai added. France sees 80 million incoming tourists a year, while the U.S. and Spain, which tied for second place, see 60 million a year.
• Accommodating The Muslim Traveler Islam and Halal Cuisine is a growing market
  By Andrew J. Wood | Mar 22, 2010 Islam is the fastest-growing religion with an estimated global Muslim population of two billion. In many European countries, Muslims are poised to become the most significant minority population. And that population isn’t the same as it was 20 or 30 years ago. Today, Muslims are as cosmopolitan as anyone else and traveling in greater and greater numbers (particularly in Asia). [Halal]
• N.Korea Demands Free World Cup Training in Swaziland
  The North Korean national soccer team asked for some W280 million from Swaziland to set up a training camp for its World Cup football team there but has been turned down. The 2010 World Cup is held in neighbouring South Africa. The Swazi Observer on March 17 said Swazi Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Hlobsile Ndlovu decided to decline a request from one of the World Cup finalists that wanted to train there for eight days in late April and early May. Ndlovu did not specify what country, but the daily identified North Korea. The North promised to provide local football players and coaches with a clinic, play a practice match with the Swazi national team, and give an interview to the local press. In return, the North demanded transport, accommodation and meals for its national team. It is not clear whether the 1.9 million lilangeni it demanded was a separate demand for cash.  
• S. Korean Authority Accused of Blocking Resumption of Tour  
    Pyongyang, March 19 (KCNA) -- The General Scenic Spots Development Guidance Bureau of the DPRK issued a detailed report Friday condemning the conservative group of south Korea for having suspended the tour of Mt. Kumgang and the Kaesong area. Accusing the south Korean puppet clique of making outcry, asserting the "incident of a tourist in Mt. Kumgang" which occurred in July 2008 was "an excessive retaliation" and "a bullet was fired at the defenseless tourist," the report says this was as preposterous and brazen-faced sophism as patting a stray dog on the back.
• Medical tourism groups from China to visit next month
  2010/03/20 19:50:24 Taipei, March 20 (CNA) Two high-end medical tourism groups from China will come to Taiwan in April and are expected to bring in substantial revenue, the semi-official Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said Saturday. TAITRA Deputy Secretary-General Walter Yeh said that with the average cost for a physical check-up ranging from NT$50,000 (US$1,577) to NT$150,000 (US$4,730), the 64 people from those groups are expected to spend a lot of money during their five- to seven-day visits. [medical tourism] [Straits]
• N.Korea Ramps Up Threats Over Mt.Kumgang Tours
  North Korea on Thursday threatened to confiscate South Korean property in the Mt. Kumgang area in an increasingly frantic campaign to bully and cajole the South into resuming lucrative package tours to the resort.   [Media]
• Hyundai Asan CEO Resigns Over N.Korea Package Tours
  Hyundai Asan president Cho Kun-shik on Thursday tendered his resignation for failing to restart package tours to North Korea. In an e-mail to Asan executives and staff, Cho said, "I worked very hard for the resumption of package tours and to normalize business, but I failed. I think it's important for me, as the company's CEO, to take clear responsibility for the sake of the company." "About 70 percent of staff have had to leave the company due to the suspension of the tours," he added. "I wanted to bring them all back to the company and feel deep regret that I cannot do that but have to leave myself." A former vice unification minister, Cho took up the post with Hyundai Asan in August 2008, a month after the package tours to Mt. Kumgang were suspended. Since then, he held talks with both South and North Korean governments to get the tours restarted, but to no avail. Asan is expected to hold a shareholders' meeting next Wednesday to approve Cho's resignation and choose his successor. [SK NK policy]  
• NK Issues Ultimatum on Tour Program  
  By Lee Tae-hoon Staff Reporter North Korea has issued an ultimatum to South Korea, threatening to terminate its contracts on joint tour programs with a South Korean firm, a pro-Pyongyang journal said. The ultimatum came out Sunday after the North threatened on March 4 to nullify its contracts with Hyundai Asan in the South for tours to Mt. Geumgang and Gaeseong, both in the North, unless the South’s Lee Myungbak administration quickly resumes the tourism programs suspended two years ago after the shooting death of a South Korean tourist. “It was the last opportunity and warning against the South Korean government,” Unification News, a weekly journal, reported in its March 13 issue, posted Sunday on the Web site “Uriminzokkiri.”  
• WTTC forecasts subdued growth for 2010  
  By eTN Staff Writer | Mar 11, 2010 Travel and tourism is one of the world’s most important sectors and has been one of the leading growth sectors since the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) first started measuring travel and tourism’s economic impact 20 years ago. “But, as was the case with other sectors, it was hit hard by the credit and housing market collapses last year that triggered the deepest recession since the Great Depression,” said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, WTTC’s president and CEO, launching the council’s annual research results at ITB Berlin today. World GDP fell by 2.1 percent in real terms with developed economies – a major source of demand for travel and tourism – the most severely affected.
• Chinese tour groups prepare to visit N. Korea
  10:45, March 10, 2010 Chinese travel enthusiasts can now plan a trip to North Korea, which is opening as a tourism destination for Chinese nationals from April 12. Several Beijing-based travel agencies have already planned travel routes to take tourists there. Zhao Hui, who is responsible for tours to South and North Korea at China Comfort Travel Agency, said that the first tour group organized by tourism bureaus of the two countries, and composed of 400 tourists, will depart on April 12 and 13.

• Taipei, Beijing to open reciprocal tourism offices
  •Publication Date:02/11/2010 •Source: China Times Taipei and Beijing are expected to establish tourism offices in each other’s territory around March or April, according to sources familiar with the matter. During talks between Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation and the mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait in Beijing June 2008, the two sides agreed to exchange representative offices. If realized, the move is seen as a first step toward establishing permanent offices across the strait. [Straits]
• North Korea’s Wayne Rooney
  By Andrew Keh Jong Tae-Se is a promising striker for one of the top clubs in Japan, the country where he was born and has lived his entire life. He is known to possess a soft spot for South Korean television shows, and in a karaoke bar, he can recite lyrics to South Korean pop songs by heart. And when he publishes the minutiae of his personal life online — as people his age are wont to do — he does so on a personal blog whose title, translated into English, reads, “I am North Korea’s Striker.”
• No joint march for Koreas in Olympic ceremony
  The Associated Press Thursday, February 11, 2010; 12:33 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Athletes from North and South Korea will not be marching together in the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics. The International Olympic Committee confirmed Wednesday that the two sides failed to reach agreement on a unified march. [SK NK relations]
• Inter-Korean Talks Ends Fruitless
  By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter South and North Korea held working-level talks on the resumption of inter-Korean tour programs Monday, but failed to reach any agreement. South Korea urged the North to accommodate three preconditions for restarting the tours, including guaranteeing the safety of South Korean tourists travelling there. On the other hand, North Korea claimed that it had already met the requirements and therefore, the joint tour programs should be resumed as soon as possible
• 4,000 Buddhists to Visit NK in March
  By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter Amid discussions over the possible resumption of cross-border trips to North Korea's Mt. Geumgang, thousands of South Korean Buddhists are expected to visit a temple located in the scenic park next month, an organizer of the planned trip said. [Religion]
• Meeting on Mt. Kumgang tourism set
  February 04, 2010 The two Koreas will meet next Monday to discuss resumption of suspended tourism to the Mount Kumgang resort north of the border. It’s not clear, however, just who will represent each side. The Unification Ministry in Seoul announced yesterday the North sent a dispatch agreeing to the South’s earlier proposal to hold talks on Mount Kumgang on Feb. 8. On Jan. 14, the North first suggested that the two sides meet for the discussions on Jan. 26 at Mount Kumgang.
• Travel boss issues warning on need for sustainable tourism practices
  Nepal is set to witness a fivefold growth in adventure tourism over the next three years, according to UK-based Peter Burrell (picture left), MD of Exodus Travel. He told delegates attending the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference in Kathmandu that more consumers now choosing adventure, ethical and environmental holidays. But this increased demand will place additional pressures on destinations to adopt sustainable tourism practices. [Green]
• Hospital Accreditation Seeks to Globalize Korea’s Medical Industry
  Rep. Shim Jae-chul By Lee Tae-hoon Staff Reporter Shim Jae-chul, an English teacher-turned legislator, has proposed a bill that calls for setting up a single international accreditation system for Korean hospitals. "Korea needs an accreditation system that patients at home and abroad can trust, which can be used to find the most suitable hospital for their illness," Shim told The Korea Times Thursday, the same day he submitted the bill to the National Assembly. [Medical tourism]
• Taiwan’s tourism industry set for boom year
  The Tourism Bureau is expecting at least 25 percent more mainland tourists to visit Taiwan this year. (CNA)Publication Date:02/01/2010 Source: Commercial Times More tourists are expected to visit Taiwan in 2010, according to the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Thanks to a warming economy and the successful promotion campaign of “Tour Taiwan Years 2008-2009,” the bureau has approved investment plans of 37 hotels of various sizes that will offer more than 10,000 rooms, with construction set to begin this year. These investment projects reflect the sector’s expectation that a growing number of visitors will set foot on the island. According to official statistics, more than 4.4 million tourists visited Taiwan in 2009. The bureau has set a goal of 4.5 million arrivals for 2010, with the hope of bringing that number further up to 4.8 million. Hong Kong, Macau and countries in Southeast Asia will be the primary sources of tourists, bureau officials said. While 7 percent fewer Japanese travelled to Taiwan in 2009, the number of Japanese tourists declined by only 1.7 percent last year. There is still ample room for development in this regard, and the bureau is hoping to attract some 1.1 million Japanese tourists in 2010, officials said. Mainland China is another emerging market that the bureau is steadily cultivating, with more than 600,000 arrivals recorded last year, officials pointed out. The Tourism Bureau expects to see between 750,000 and 800,000 mainlanders visit Taiwan this year. [Straits]

• After banner year for tourism in 2009, Taiwan hopes for more
  2010.01.29 19:49:56 Taipei, Jan. 29 (CNA) Taiwan was one of the few countries in the Asia-Pacific region to experience growth in its tourism market in 2009, fueling hopes for an even better 2010, a senior tourism official said Friday. Coming off a year in which Taiwan had nearly 4.4 million visitor arrivals, the Tourism Bureau is hoping to attract 4.8 million visitors who will spend an estimated NT$240 billion in Taiwan in 2010, Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Hsieh Wei-chun said at a news conference. The Asia-Pacific region's tourism market contracted 2 percent last year, with only Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and Sri Lanka bucking the trend, Hsieh said. Taiwan's visitor arrivals rose 14.3 percent in 2009 to 4.395 million. The growth rate, which was the highest in the region, mainly resulted from a dramatic 195.3 percent rise in visits by Chinese nationals, according to Hsieh. [Straits] [Politics]
• South offers timetable for North tourism talks
  January 26, 2010 South Korea’s unification minister sent a message yesterday to his North Korean counterpart proposing a new date and venue for negotiations on resuming stalled tourism programs that allowed locals to visit the reclusive communist country, an apparent attempt to gain more control over the tenuous relations between the two nations.
• Asia in Massive Renovation Projects to Draw More Tourists
  The number of tourists visiting Asia has been increasing rapidly, from 44 million in 1990 to 120 million in 2001 and 200 million in 2008. While the world's top tourist destination France saw its number of tourists rise by just 5.7 percent between 2003 and 2008, countries in Asia reported massive increases during the same period, including Macau (129 percent), Hong Kong (89 percent), and Singapore (65 percent).
• Safety First, Says Seoul Ahead of Talks on N.Korea Tours
  Seoul will insist that North Korea abides by global standards for the safety of South Koreans working in or visiting the North, a senior government official said Thursday. He said South Korea will take the demand into cross-border talks about resuming package tours to Mt. Kumgang and Kaesong in the North.
• N.Korea Pushes for Tourism Talks
  North Korea on Thursday proposed inter-Korean talks at Mt. Kumgang on Jan. 26-27 to resume package tours to the mountain resort and the city of Kaesong. The proposal came in a message to the Unification Ministry through the truce village of Panmunjom. North Korea's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which handles the tours, said in the message, "It is regrettable that Mt. Kumgang and Kaesong tours have been suspended for a year and six months." [Overtures]
• Cash-short North Korea opens up to U.S. tourists
  Reuters Wednesday, January 13, 2010; 1:51 AM SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea appears ready to welcome visitors from the United States year-round, increasing the trickle of tourists from its sworn enemy who provide the reclusive state with hard cash. North Korea, which had restricted U.S. tourists to visits that coincided with its mass games that usually run from August to October, will institute the change this year, Koryo Tours, a major group based in China that organizes visits to the isolated country said on Wednesday. Destitute North Korea has lost out on tens of millions of dollars a year it used to earn through tourism with South Korea due to political wrangling with its rival over the North's military threats to the region and nuclear weapons program. [Bizarre] [Overtures] [Inversion]
• North Korea Wins Qatar Football Tourney
  By Kang Seung-woo Staff Reporter North Korea started 2010 on a positive note as it won the International Friendship Tournament in Doha, Qatar, Sunday morning (KST). The North Koreans saw their two-game winning streak end in a 1-0 loss to Iran after conceding a winner to Mehrzad Madanchi in the first half, but thanks to a scoreless draw between Qatar and Mali earlier in the day, they were crowned champions. North Korea finished the four-team tournament with six points from two wins, as FC Rostov striker Hong Yong-jo scored a lone goal in each of the two matches with Mali and Qatar. Mali and Qatar had four points with identical 1-1-1 records, while Iran, headed by Afshin Ghotbi, finished at the bottom of the pile with three points. Ghotbi worked as a video analyst for the South Korean team in the past two World Cups. Winning the title, North Korea, which has qualified for the 2010 World Cup finals, earned $250,000.
• Seoul Eyes 8.5 Mil. Foreign Tourists
  By Do Je-hae Staff Reporter Korea is seeking to attract 8.5 million foreign tourists this year, the start of a three-year "Visit Korea" campaign. Culture Minister Yu In-chon said the promotion will generate global interest in Korea and motivate more visitors to come back again. A record high of over 7 million overseas tourists, mostly Chinese and Japanese nationals, travelled to Korea last year, despite the global economic downturn and flu scare.

• Korea, China, Japan to Issue Joint Tourism Pass
  Korea, China and Japan will develop a joint travel pass that can be used in all three countries. Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon said the travel pass will strengthen cooperation among the countries in boosting tourism. "The pass will serve multiple purposes, such as paying transportation fares, admission fees for tourist attractions, and hotel costs," Yu said. The minister said the governments of the three countries have agreed the idea so it will be introduced as soon as technical problems are worked out. "We can sharpen our competitiveness by forming a single unified tourism zone," Yu added.
• Presidential pardon for former Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee raises ire
  Critics say exchange for support in attempt to win bid for the Winter Olympic Games is insufficient in covering damage done to Lee administration’s principles of legalism A special presidential pardon has been announced for former Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee. The Justice Ministry announced on Tuesday that it will be instating a special pardon for Lee Kun-hee, an International Olympic Committee member, on Jan 31. This is the first time under the constitutional order that a presidential pardon has been issued to a businessman as a single individual, and the first time a pardon has been issued at the end of the year, rather than on a national holiday or Memorial Day. Lee Kun-hee is set to receive his pardon just four months after being sentenced to three years in prison, five years of probation and a 110 billion Won fine for malpractice and tax evasion. This is the second time Lee has been pardoned. In October of 1997, he was pardoned after being sentenced to two years in prison and three years of probation for involvement in the Roh Tae-woo slush fund scandal. Announcing President Lee Myung-bak’s decision to grant a presidential pardon to the former Samsung Chairman, Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam said the move was intended to improve chances for South Korea’s bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang City. [Corruption] [Olympics]
• Government pardons former Samsung chairman
  December 29, 2009 In a move to help bring Korea its first ever Winter Olympics in 2018, the Lee Myung-bak administration granted yesterday a special pardon to former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, accepting the business and sports communities’ request to reinstate the tycoon whose membership at the International Olympic Committee has been suspended.
  Noting that sports diplomacy is crucial in Pyeongchang’s bidding for the Winter Games, the Blue House said yesterday that Lee was granted the special pardon. Pyeongchang, Gangwon province, has already lost to Canada's Vancouver and Russia's Sochi in two previous attempts. It is now bidding once again to host the Winter Olympics in 2018. [Corruption] [Olympics]
• Taiwan's mainland visitor numbers soar
  Publication Date?11/26/2009 Source? China Times Chinese mainland visitors numbered over 760,000 in the first ten months of the year, ranking them second among tourists to Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications Nov. 25. This ranking is up two notches from last year and represents an increase of 497.6 percent. More than 820,000 Japanese tourists visited Taiwan during the same period, making Japan the number one source of Taiwan’s foreign visitors, even though the number constitutes an 8 percent drop compared to last year. Tourists from Macau and Hong Kong, totaling 597,000, were number three. The United States garnered fourth with 298,000 visitors, followed by Korea with 139,000. [Straits]
• World Cup Draw Sets the Stage for Drama  
  By ROB HUGHES Published: December 4, 2009 The soccer World Cup of 2010, the first ever to be held in Africa, will kick off on June 11 in Johannesburg between South Africa and Mexico.
  And then there is North Korea, the team from perhaps the most mysterious, secretive country on Earth. It may be inexperienced, but its dogmatically (Sic) defensive squad should not be underestimated by its opponents. [Media] [Spin]

• NZ Prime Minister slams UK 'tax on travel'
  New Zealand PM and Tourism Minister John Key supports PATA's view that the UK government's Air Passenger Duty is a blatant and unwarranted tax on travel and is ill conceived, untimely and unwelcome. [Green]
• Mt. Kumgang and Inter-Korean Relations
  Background In the late 1980s, with the end of Cold War, South Korean President Roh Tae Woo began seeking diplomatic ties with China, the USSR, and East European communist countries -- North Korea’s allies. Although these new bilateral relationships had the potential to further isolate North Korea, Roh’s “Nordpolitik” policy, initiated in 1988, also included a thaw in inter-Korean affairs: promoting economic relations with the North. One year later, Chung Ju Yung, founder of giant Hyundai Group and a refugee himself from the North, was granted permission to visit Pyongyang to discuss economic cooperation, including Mt. Kumgang tourism.[1] With over 12,000 sparkling peaks, Mt. Kumgang or ‘Diamond Mountain’ is considered the most beautiful mountain on the Korean Peninsula.[2] North of the 38th Parallel, Mt. Kumkang became inaccessible to South Koreans after the peninsula was divided into two nations. Chung anticipated a pent-up desire in the South to visit Mt. Kumgang. [Kumgangsan]
• Mt. Kumgang Tourism Timeline: Significant Events and Meetings
  All meetings and talks place at Mt. Kumgang, unless otherwise noted. 1989 January 13 Chung Ju-young, founder of Hyundai , travels to North Korea via China and signs the Agreement on Kumgang Mountain Tourism [Kumgangsan]
• Koryo Tours fundraising update
  Clients often ask how they can make a donation to benefit people in DPRK and we are pleased to announce our association with a western charity who work with two North Korean social organisations, one in the education sector and one serving people with disabilities, both areas that would benefit greatly from financial and material assistance. With your help and donations, in 2009 we managed to complete 2 selected projects (details below). This is absolutely incredible and with some donations still coming in (and more always welcome) we will be able to embark on even more worthwhile projects next year to help even more people in the DPRK. Keep checking back for more details. [Aid]
• NK Awards Football Team for Reaching World Cup
  North Korea has awarded prizes to its national football players and coaches for reaching next year's World Cup finals, their first entry in more than four decades. Yang Hyong-sop, vice president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, awarded merit citations and medals in a ceremony Monday, according to the Korean Central Broadcasting Station, the communist country's official radio channel.
• All Eyes on Koreas at 2010 World Cup
  By Dave Durbach Korea Times Correspondent JOHANNESBURG ? Streets will fall silent, sick-days will be called, classrooms will be empty, excuses will be made. For two months next year, the hearts and minds of the world will be preoccupied with one thing - the beautiful game. For the first time in history, the most watched sporting event in the world will be held on African soil. And what's more, it will also be a first for the Korean peninsula, with both North and South Korea taking part.

• President makes unprecedented appearance at opening of travel fair
  2009.10.30 18:04:36 Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou on Friday became Taiwan's first head of state to appear at the opening of the Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF) in the show's 23-year history, voicing optimism over the prospects of the country's tourism industry. Ma said that despite the swine flu outbreak, Typhoon Morakot, and the economic slump, total international visitor arrivals in the first nine months of 2009 were up 11 percent and international tourist arrivals were up 28 percent from the same period a year earlier. The president attributed the growth to the relaxation of restrictions on visits to Taiwan by Chinese nationals in July 2008, citing the 885,000 visits made by Chinese citizens to Taiwan between July 2008 and the end of September this year. [Straits]
• Syria's crusade for tourism
  Our Middle East editor reports on an ambitious campaign to double visitor numbers to the country by 2012 It is more than 900 years since the Crusaders captured Krak des Chevaliers overlooking the valleys of central Syria – lugging blocks of limestone up the steep hillside to build a fortress that still looks pretty impregnable – so lunch under the Gothic arches of its great hall is a treat that packs a powerful historical and culinary punch.
• Taiwan could set up tourism office on mainland
  Publication Date:10/22/2009 Source: Economic Daily News Taipei and Beijing could set up tourism offices in each other’s capitals by as soon as February 2010, according to Lai Seh-jen, director-general of the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Lai made her remarks at a press conference Oct. 21 to mark the opening of the 2009 Taipei International Travel Fair, noting that opening up the offices would mark a big step forward in cross-strait tourism exchange. [Straits]
• Humanitarian appeal from Koryo Tours
  Clients often ask how they can make a donation to benefit people in DPRK and we are pleased to announce our association with a western charity who work with two North Korean social organisations, one in the education sector and one serving people with disabilities, both areas that would benefit greatly from financial and material assistance. We have selected two projects that we feel are both worthwhile and achievable and intend to raise the funds for total completion of these projects by the end of this year 2009.
  The projects will be facilitated by Koryo Tours with the assistance of Maranatha Trust, an Australian entity with foreign representatives in DPRK, in coordination with two local organisations. The local organisations have a solid track record and are well known to international donors.
• Korea to Host 2011 UN Tourism Assembly
  By Do Je-hae Staff Reporter Korea will host the 2011 general meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Wednesday. The decision was unanimously made at a meeting of 154 members of the UNWTO in Astana, Kazakhstan. A UNTWO assembly is attended by culture ministers of the member nations and is held every other year. The world’s largest event on tourism will raise some 15 billion-won ($13 million) worth of economic benefits. “We consider this as a chance for Korea to prove itself as a country with top tourism policies,” said Vice Culture Minister Shin Jae-min in a statement. Officials see the assembly as a good opportunity to promote the 2010~2012 Visit Korea campaign.
• Airline's claim that flying to Asia via Helsinki is green vanishes into Finnair
  Finland's national carrier blitzes Europe with plain stupid marketing strategy that amounts to eco-vandalism The national airline of Finland has a new marketing strategy. Finnair wants us to fly to Asia via Helsinki. It's a sensible business plan, I guess. There aren't so many Finns wanting to fly to Asia, so they encourage others to fly to Finland and join them on the long haul. The company is currently blitzing Europe cities such as London with posters claiming that flying Finnair to Asia is both quicker and "eco-smart". So is this greenwash? [Green] [IM]
• S.Korean government attempts to blocks commercial money to North Korea regarding Mt. Kumgang tourism
  As S. Korean government considers giving grain or sugar instead of money, experts call attention to likelihood of change in payment being perceived as increased pressure Under the justification of preventing suspicions that the costs of the Mt. Kumgang tourism project are being used by North Korea for nuclear development, the South Korean government is reportedly pushing a plan to transform the current method of payment in which North Korea spends the money it receives from the tourism at its own discretion, into one in which there is more transparency about how the money has been used. In particular, the South Korean government does not plan to allow tourism to resume prior to establishing transparency over how the payments are used. [Sanctions] [SK NK policy]
• Taipei, Beijing to open reciprocal tourism offices
  Tourism Bureau Director-General Lai Seh-jen toasts Department of Tourism Promotion and International Liaison Deputy-Director Fan Guishan during a function in Taipei last June. (CNA)Publication Date:10/09/2009 Source: Commercial Times The first step toward establishing permanent offices across the Taiwan Strait will be taken after Taiwan and mainland China establish tourism offices in each other’s capitals, according to sources familiar with the matter. [Straits]
• Big guns in Tokyo promote Korea 2010-2012
  Hallyu star Bae Yong-joon joined Korea Tourism Organization president Lee Charm in declaring "2010-2012 Visit Korea Year" at Tokyo Dome yesterday in a rare overseas promotion for the Korean tourism industry. The event, organized by Visit Korea Committee, drew an estimated 45,000 Japanese, many of whom had come to get a glimpse of Bae or "Yonsama," as he is popularly known in Japan. The promotion also got a boost from the participation of Miyuki Hatoyama, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. [Hallyu]
• N.Korea Package Tours 'Nothing to Do' with Nuclear Issue
  Seoul regards the North Korean nuclear issue and the resumption of package tours to the North's scenic Mt. Kumgang resort as separate issues, Vice Unification Minister Hong Yang-ho said Tuesday. He was speaking to a pool of reporters covering the reunions of separated families at the resort. "Mt. Kumgang tours are a routine affair between the two Koreas. If even this matter was linked to the nuclear issue, then there would be nothing at all the two sides can do." He said North Korea needs to satisfy three conditions before the package tours can resume -- Pyongyang must apologize for the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist in 2008, provide a safety guarantee for tourists, and promise that such an incident would not recur.

• China Starts Work on Massive Resort at Mt. Baekdu
  China has embarked on a project to construct a major resort complex on Mt. Baekdu, which is revered by Koreans as the site where their nation was born. A total of 200 million yuan (around W3.7 trillion) is being invested in the resort complex, the highest amount ever for a tourism site in China. The Liaoning Daily on Thursday said ground would be broken on Friday to develop a 30 sq. km area in Baishan, Fusong County near the mountain into a tourism and leisure zone. The project will involve four private businesses -- Wanda Group of Dalian, Asia Standard International Group, the Inner Mongolia Yili Energy Company and Yifeng Group of Liaoning. China has been working to register Mt. Baekdu on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2006 as part of its Northeast Asia Project, which many in Korea believe seeks to coopt early Korean history, and has been pursuing development of a major tourism site there. In August last year, Changbaishan Airport, using the Chinese name for the mountain, opened for business.
• Paying off U.S. politicians - have travel companies thrown in the towel?
  By Christopher Elliott | Sep 16, 2009 Don’t look now, but the lobbyists appear to be giving up on Washington — at least when it comes to travel. Airlines have spent only $11 million lobbying Congress in 2009. Barring a miraculous year-end recovery, they won’t match the record $31 million for 2008. [Corruption]
• Mass Games min break
  15-17 October
• Inha Hospital Launches Foreigner-Only Services
  Inha University Hospital on Tuesday opened a center exclusively for foreign patients, with coordinators speaking foreign languages such as English, Japanese, Chinese and Russian. Once the Incheon Bridge is completed, it will take only 25 minutes to reach the center from Incheon International Airport. [Medical tourism]
• EU warns on proposed US travel fees
  By DESMOND BUTLER The Associated Press Friday, September 4, 2009; 6:31 PM WASHINGTON -- The European Union is strongly criticizing a congressional proposal to charge a $10 fee to some visitors to the United States and suggesting it may carry a price for U.S. travelers. If it passes, the EU says, some U.S. travelers to Europe could face retaliation. The fee now under consideration in Congress would finance a new U.S. program to promote travel, a burden that the EU believes Americans should bear. "Only in `Alice in Wonderland' could a penalty be seen as promoting the activity on which it is imposed," the European Commission's Ambassador to Washington, John Bruton, said in a statement Friday.
  Early, this year, however, the United States began requiring people traveling to the United States under the visa waiver program to register online at least 72 hours before travel and renew their registration every two years. If the new proposal is passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, it would require all visitors to pay the fee when they register.
  Bruton said the EU will have to reconsider whether the U.S. registration system with the new fee would amount to a visa. The EU might then have to consider visas for U.S. travelers. [IM]
• Korea awarded for tourism marketing
  The Korea Tourism Organization's global marketing campaign in 2008 has received an award by the Pacific Asia Travel Association. PATA is a tourism cooperation body created by private groups and governments, the largest of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region. Korea received a Gold Award, given to the top achievers in 24 different fields, including training and education, tourism marketing and advertisements. Winners are picked from 1,000 member organizations in 78 countries. Korea was awarded for its campaign using a television advertisement and 14 different print advertisements to promote its tourism worldwide. It also began an interactive campaign linking on and offline promotion events, as well as promoting the closeness of Korea to China, which hosted the Beijing Olympics, with a catchphrase "90 Minutes Away From Beijing." The award ceremony will be Sept. 25 during the PATA council meeting and Travel Mart period in Hangzhou, China.
• Mass games mini-break take 2
  the most unforgettable trip you will ever take - guaranteed!
  Following on from the success of our first ever mini-break, we are pleased to be able to offer you a re-run of the most affordable trip we have ever run to North Korea. This is an amazing opportunity to experience the Arirang Mass Games as well as the highlights of the capital city of Pyongyang, see what all the fuss is about this August on a journey we guarantee you will never forget. Koryo Tours has been running trips to North Korea for over 16 years now and is the only expert in the field.

• Cuba is the Caribbean's forbidden fruit
  Aug 21, 2009 U.S. Legislation is pending in Congress that would lift the ban on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba. Travel industry officials estimate that as many as 1 million Americans might visit the island each year. The question is whether Cuba is ready for a huge jump in foreign visitors. The island nation has much to offer. The lack of development under communist rule has left parts of the country resembling a land from a time warp to the 1950s — a welcome change of pace for many foreign tourists. [Sanctions] [Inversion] [Agency]
• North to open borders for tourism
  Seoul seeks government-level talks to realize agreements with Hyundai August 18, 2009 Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun smiles upon her arrival at the CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine) office, just south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju after she crossed the border. [YONHAP] North Korea yesterday agreed to resume suspended tourism programs with Hyundai Asan, lift travel restrictions to a vital industrial park, and provide for the reunion of separated Korean families. The North Korean statement came hours after a Sunday luncheon meeting between Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang.
• Korea Expected to Attract 50,000 Foreign Patients This Year
  A growing number of foreigners are visiting Korea to receive various medical treatments. According to the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs some 20,000 foreigners were in the country for medical procedures last year with the figure expected to reach nearly 50,000 this year. In the January-to-April period the figure reached 9,000, a 32 percent increase from 2008. Reasons behind the rise in foreign patients include Korea's affordable medical costs, advanced medical services, and the recent revision in related laws allowing hospitals and clinics to target foreigners in promotion campaigns. [Medical tourism]
• Why Air France deserves its loss
  R.O.A.R.: Ryanair to charge for toilet use? By David Tarsh | Aug 14, 2009 It’s often small things that reveal the most about someone’s character and in business character is crucial. The point is beautifully made by an ancient Chinese proverb, which says, “Man without smiling face should not open shop.” A bad experience I just had on Air France, while relatively small in itself, speaks volumes about the airline.
• Japan Wants To Build Medical Tourism Market
  Posted by: Kenji Hall on July 27 Japan’s government has come up with a not-so-new idea for creating jobs in its healthcare sector: competing for medical tourists against Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and India. For months, a panel of experts has been meeting at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) behind closed doors to discuss the merits of luring wealthy patients from Asia and Russia to Japan for top-notch medical treatment. When I first heard of the proposal a couple of months ago, the ministry official who told me about it asked that I not write about it yet.
• Tourism and fishing industries suffering from cross-border tensions
  (China Daily) Updated: 2009-08-05 08:27 The nuclear test carried out in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in May set the world on edge, so it is little wonder the tourism industries in China's border cities have been one of the worst affected by the following tension. The mysterious nature of the DPRK has lured an increasing number of Chinese sightseers but its grand folk dancing and music shows have done little to ease potential visitors' fears this year. "The revenues from four-day tours and business trips to the DPRK have plunged at least 50 percent compared to last year," said Li Peng, general manager of the Dandong branch of the State-owned China International Travel Service (CITS). He said about 30,000 tourists have traveled with his company to the DPRK from Dandong in the past two years, with a four-day visit costing around 2,400 yuan ($350) per person. [NK China] [Sanctions]
• Gov't Announces Measures to Revitalize Tourism
  Tourists visiting Korea may soon be able to ride in double-decker buses and fly on small planes to visit the country's many remote islands. This is all part of the tourism ministry's new initiative to revitalize Korea's tourism industry. The government says it plans to loosen some of the current regulations for private investors to simplify the start-up process and improve public transportation for the benefit of tourists. Other measures include creating more hostels and camping sites across the country so that backpackers can travel on a budget. Along with these moves, individuals who hold permanent residency status in the G10 nations will soon be able to enter Korea without visas.

• Tourism chief heads for China for talks on upgrading service
  2009.07.17 12:29:33 Taipei, July 17 (CNA) Tourism Bureau Director-General Janice Lai left for Beijing Friday for meetings with Chinese officials to discuss problems arising from the opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourists and how to upgrade the quality of cross-Taiwan Strait travel. [Straits]
• Direct flights planned between Pyongyang and Shanghai
  By Michael Rank Direct flights are planned between Pyongyang and Shanghai, as well as charter flights from Chinese cities to the North Korean capital, a Chinese website reports. It gives few details, but says the plans follow two visits by Shanghai tourism officials to Pyongyang in June. At present the only direct flights are from Beijing and Shenyang. The report says there are hopes of attracting more tourists from the Shanghai region and mentions the possibility of charter flights from nearby Hangzhou. It quotes the Shanghai officials who visited Pyongyang as finding the city “quiet” and “clean”. A separate report notes that because of “tension on the Korean peninsula” Shanghai residents haven’t been terribly interested in visiting North Korea, but this is now expected to change.
• A dim light is shed on the prospect of reopening the Mount Geumgang project
  While worsening inter-Korean relations and UN sanctions shackle the project, more than 50 percent of the public wants S. Korea to negotiate its resumption At 5:15 a.m. on July 11 of last year, the sound of two gunshots rattled the morning of the Geumgang (Kumgang) Mountains. A South Korean tourist, Ms. Park, age 53, was killed by gunshots fired off by a North Korean soldier on patrol and the Mount Geumgang project was suspended. No Promise of Restart Throughout this past year, the Mount Geumgang project has been put into a situation where its resumption has not been guaranteed. Since the project’s suspension, inter-Korean relations have been on the downhill. Even the Kaesong (Gaeseong) Industrial Complex, which along with the Mount Geumgang project had been one of the major pillars of inter-Korean relations, has been on the retreat due to travel restrictions and the detention of a Hyundai Asan employee. [Kumgangsan]

• First medical tourism group from China visits Taiwan
  2009.06.22 14:21:02 Taipei, June 22 (CNA) The first Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan for medical purposes checked into four medical centers around the country Monday for physical examinations. [Medical tourism] [Straits]
• More foreigners visit hospitals
  The number of foreign nationals visiting local hospitals increased last month after a revised bill that allows the direct marketing of medical services to foreign patients took effect May 1, a government survey showed yesterday. According to the sample survey by the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, a total of 1,061 foreign patients visited local medical institutions last month, up 41.3 percent compared with 751 patients in the same period of last year. [Medical tourism]
• DPRK Acquires Qualification for World Cup
  Pyongyang, June 18 (KCNA) -- The 2010 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers came to a close on June 17. That day there was the second match between the DPRK and Saudi Arabian soccer teams, which ended goalless. After all, the DPRK placed second in Group B to be qualified for the World Cup to be held in South Africa.
• N. Korea's football team receives heroes' welcome at home
  SEOUL, June 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's football team received a heroes' welcome after securing a spot in the World Cup finals for the first time since 1966, state media said Sunday. The North Korean football squad returned home over the weekend after qualifying for the 2010 tournament in South Africa with a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. North Korea's only previous World Cup finals appearance was in England 43 years ago.
• Good news - restriction lifted!
  We have just been informed by our Korean partners that the ban on UK citizens travelling to the DPRK has been lifted and they are now once more accepting visa applications from Brits. All tours will be running as expected with no restrictions on any nationalities, and all US tours in the summer are expected to also go ahead. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch. best wishes, Koryo Tours Source: Email from Koryo Tours in Beijing 17 June 2009
• DPRK bars UK tourists in retaliation for British travel ban
  Announcement from Koryo Tours, Beijing
  On Thursday June 11th we received the following notification from our Korean travel partners: "In connection with the recent measures taken by UK government not to allow DPRK citizens to enter the UK we also will not receive any UK citizens as tourists to the DPRK for the time being." Korea International Travel Company This is most likely a reaction to the recent UN sanctions that have been drafted against the DPRK that are to be signed on Friday. For any UK citizens who have booked a tour with us or are thinking of travelling with us please get in touch and we can advise. We expect that UK citizens travelling on our two group tours to Pyongyang next week will not be affected as the visas have already been issued. We have not been given any indication of how long this travel restriction will last and as yet the only people affected are UK citizens - all other nationalities remain unaffected but as always we will keep you updated as and when we receive new information. Yours sincerely, Koryo Tours
  Source: By email from Beijing, 11 June 2009
• Playing Politics With the East Asian Olympics, 1964-2016
  Introduction - William W. Kelly
  "The aims of the Olympic Movement are to promote the development of those fine physical and moral qualities which are the basis of amateur sport and to bring together the athletes of the world in a great quadrennial festival of sports thereby creating international respect and goodwill and thus helping to construct a better and more peaceful world." Baron de Coubertin, 1894 Those who only pay attention to the Olympics on the occasions of the Summer and Winter Games may understandably bear two impressions of these global games and the organization, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that has sponsored them since the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. First, they may presume that the intrusion of politics into the Olympics is a recent, unwelcomed erosion of the high-minded ideals that Olympic visionary Baron de Coubertin expressed in 1894. The pitched political battles leading up to the Beijing Games, in this view, accelerated this recent depreciation of Olympic philosophy. A second impression reinforced by the 2008 Games may well be that East Asia has but recently been drawn into the Olympic Movement, which was a European recreation of the ancient Games and remained Eurocentric (and then American-dominated) through the 20th century. Tuning into last year's events, many assumed that East Asia's experience with the Olympic Movement has been brief and episodic, with only the 1964 Games in Tokyo and the 1988 Games in Seoul as prelude to Beijing 2008. Neither is accurate. [Olympics]
• The 1964 Tokyo Olympics as Political Games
  Christian Tagsold The 2008 Olympics in Beijing were the third Summer Games to be held in Asia, and even before the Olympic flame was extinguished in the Closing Ceremonies, its legacy was being debated. The impressive ceremonies, the beautiful facilities, and the well-organized events captured the imagination of a world viewing audience. This has led some commentators to forecast that the Games will bring China greater international acceptance as a rising superpower with a human face. However, the crackdown in Tibet, the protests against the Olympic Torch Relay, and other controversies that received widespread media attention brought human rights issues to the forefront and left many doubts about China’s progress. [Olympics]
• The Beijing Olympics as a Turning Point? China’s First Olympics in East Asian Perspective
  Susan Brownell It is commonly stated that the 1964 and 1988 Olympics were “turning points” for the integration of Japan and South Korea, respectively, into the global community. It was anticipated that the Beijing Olympics would be a “turning point” for China. Now that the Beijing Games are over, we can ask whether anything “turned,” and if so, in which direction? This essay deals with a central paradox of the Olympic Games – they reinforce nationalism and internationalism at the same time. A one-sided focus on nationalism, such as characterized much of the media coverage of the Beijing Olympics, can lead to the erroneous conclusion that the Olympic Games exacerbate rather than moderate political conflicts. Wishful thinking that the Beijing Games would be a turning point for human rights and democracy led to the conclusion by China watchers in the West that the Beijing Games were not the turning point that was hoped for. However, reflection on what actually “turned” in Japan and South Korea helps us to see what we should actually be looking for in the case of China. This retrospective suggests that the interplay between nationalism and internationalism was similar in all three Olympic Games, and offers a more optimistic prospect for China’s peaceful integration into the international community. [Olympics] [China rising]
• Asia Pride, China Fear, Tokyo Anxiety: Japan Looks Back at 2008 Beijing and Forward to 2012 London and 2016 Tokyo
  William W. Kelly The logo of Tokyo’s bid for the 2016 Olympics is the musubi, a traditional Japanese decorative knot. The design uses the five Olympic colors as the strands that fold over to form a simple and colorful knot. Japanese have long used the musubi to tie up gifts on auspicious and formal occasions and to signify the ties that bind people together. Thus, a Bid Committee press release explains that the musubi logo "represents Tokyo 2016's mission to unite people young and old with sport and healthy living, unite green with 2016, unite the city and the Games, and unite old and new Japan." This is common rhetorical fare for a Games applicant, although in addition to such public relations sloganeering of domestic benefit, many have noticed the aesthetic resemblance of the musubi to the designs of the candidate city logos for Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Unlike the eventual Games logos (the much-admired “Dancing Beijing” calligraphic figure and London’s already-reviled, jagged “2007” logo), Beijing and London used entirely distinct logos when they were candidate cities, both based on flowing ribbon motifs. However unintentional the design similarities, they do remind us just how necessarily attuned an applicant and then candidate city must be to ongoing Games cycles. For Tokyo’s 2016 effort, this has required a triangulation between the long and fraught Sino-Japanese relationship and the competition between London and Tokyo as global financial centers. [Olympics]
• Soccer result could affect Iranian election
  By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran Published: June 5 2009 17:26 | Last updated: June 5 2009 17:26 Football fans the world over love to tell anyone who will listen that their sport is “not just a game” – it means so much more than that. But the clash between North Korea and Iran in Pyongyang on Saturday could be one of those occasions when the cliché actually proves true. A World Cup qualifier between the two remaining members of George W. Bush’s infamous axis of evil – one fresh from a nuclear test, the other accused by some of wanting to conduct its own – sparks all sorts of international intrigue. Coming just six days before the football-mad Iranians vote in presidential elections it could also have domestic repercussions. Some argue that failure to qualify – Iran needs to win its remaining three fixtures over the next 11 days to be guaranteed a place at next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa – could damage the re-election hopes of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the president.
• N. Korea, Iran Draw in World Cup Qualifier
  The prospect for North Korea to reach the 2010 World Cup is still unclear as the reclusive country fought to a goalless draw with Iran in their World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang Saturday. With the draw, the North must either win its final game away to Saudi Arabia on June 17 or hope other results go its way, The Associated Press reported. Iran stands a little change of reaching the World Cup finals as it stays in fourth with seven points from six games. In Asian region, the top two teams from the five-team group is supposed to qualify directly for South Africa 2010 and the third-placed team to go into a further playoff.
• North Korea faces grudge match with Iran
  By Christian Oliver in Seoul Published: June 5 2009 17:29 | Last updated: June 5 2009 17:29 International observers have no idea whether North Koreans stage major protests over food shortages, power cuts or human rights abuses. But it’s clear that they riot over World Cup qualifying crunches with Iran. Saturday’s grudge match against Iran piles more pressure on a North Korean side that is showing signs of cracking under the weight of national expectations. Until three months ago, the “stallions who cover a thousand leagues in a day” had been galloping into the World Cup finals for the first time since 1966.
• Tourism Bureau seeks to attract Muslim visitors
  * Publication Date:06/01/2009 * Source: China Times The six-star Emirates Palace Hotel and the seven-star all-suite Burj Al Arab in Dubai attest to the great spending power of Muslims from the Middle East. The Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is set to target tourists from this region in next half of this year, with the hope that it can attract at least 2,000 Muslim tourists per year to come to Taiwan for sightseeing tours. The agency estimated the tourism market for Muslim visitors to be worth as much as NT$1.4 billion (US$40 million) annually.
  Wayne Liu, director of the bureau’s international division, said that Islamic law has clear prescriptions for preparing foods, which can only be consumed if processed in accordance with the provisions of Sharia law. Even the ingredients in a soup stock must be certified by a Muslim mosque as conforming to Halal food standards, he added. In Taiwan there are currently only 40 Halal-certified restaurants, with most of them confined to the Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung metropolitan areas. When the bureau invited tour guides from Muslim areas to come to Taiwan for an exploratory tour, it became awkwardly apparent that there are no Halal restaurants in the Hualien and Taitung regions. “Before we can attract more Muslim visitors, the most urgent problem to solve is that we need to have more Halal food restaurants,” Liu pointed out. The Tourism Bureau has also started to improve accommodation facilities. It is helping hotels to set up prayer rooms, to install bidets, and to provide signs pointing in the direction of Mecca, for the convenience of Muslim visitors. [Islam] [Halal]

• Cavaliers Sell a Stake to Chinese Investors
  By DAVID BARBOZA and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT Published: May 25, 2009 SHANGHAI — The deal that may give a group of Chinese investors a minority stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers and its arena signals the first significant investment in a major American sports franchise by investors from China.
  The Cavaliers, who are led by LeBron James, the N.B.A.’s most valuable player this season and perhaps its biggest star, said they agreed over the weekend to sell a 15 percent stake in the franchise and its Quicken Loans Arena to the group, which is led by Kenny Huang, a Chinese-born investor who has also brokered marketing deals with the Yankees and the Houston Rockets, and a Hong Kong conglomerate. [FDI] [China rising]
• U.S. artist gets new life after liver transplant in Taiwan
  2009.05.24 20:20:41 A file photo of Chen Chao-long (front) Taipei, May 24 (CNA) A noted American painter returned to the United States Sunday after undergoing a successful liver transplant at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital's Kaohsiung Medical Center in southern Taiwan. It marked the first time that a Taiwanese medical team has performed a liver transplant for an American, according to Chen Chao-long, superintendent of the hospital's Kaohsiung branch who headed the medical team that performed the transplant.
  According to Chen, Dreizin's son suggested to his mother to undergo a liver transplant in Taiwan after he discovered through an extensive Internet search that Chen's surgical team has the world's highest survival rate, even higher than counterparts in many advanced countries, including the United States, Japan and major European Union countries.
  Another incentive was the relatively low cost of liver transplants in Taiwan, Chen said. In Dreizin's case, Chen said, the total cost was NT$2 million (US$61,350), far lower than the roughly US$300,000 needed in the United States. Stressing that Taiwan's organ transplant skill has long been acknowledged in the global medical community, Chen said he believes that Dreizin's case is just a beginning. "We believe that more people from advanced countries will choose to receive liver transplants in Taiwan given its lower cost, " Chen said, adding that the procedure could be a major asset in Taiwan's bid to develop medical tourism. [Medical]
• 12th Cycle WAG International Judges' Course Held
  Pyongyang, May 21 (KCNA) -- The 12th Cycle WAG International Judges' Course was held recently at the Table-Tennis Gymnasium in Chongchun Street, Pyongyang. The course was attended by coaches and judges of women's heavy gymnastics from different sports teams. The course, divided into theoretical and practical ones, dealt with the technical rules and marking regulations renewed by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and others. The course was presided over by Donattela Sachi, the first vice-chairwoman of the FIG WAG TC.
• FIFA Futsal Refereeing Course Held in DPRK
  Pyongyang, May 20 (KCNA) -- A FIFA Futsal Refereeing Course was held of late at the Handball Gymnasium in Chongchun Street, Pyongyang. The course was attended by FIFA international and national referees. The explanation of the game rules, foul movements, newly changed game rules and other issues were dealt with in the course. The course was given by Mousavi Seyed Sadrodin, a futsal refereeing lecturer of FIFA.
• DPRK pride in the Ryugyong Hotel growing
  Posted Date : 2009-05-13 (NK Brief No. 09-5-13-1) Once abandoned, considered a failure and an embarrassment, it now appears that North Korea’s tallest building will be completed by 2012. The Ryugyong Hotel is becoming the largest symbol of the North’s plan to construct a ‘Strong and Prosperous Nation’ by the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung. The hotel, on the bank of the Botong River, stands 105 stories tall. An article in the May 11 copy of the Choson Sinbo proclaimed, “Like a phoenix ceaselessly reaching for the sky, the high-rising Ryugyong Hotel is one emblem of North Korea, which is soundly knocking on the door of [becoming] a Strong and Prosperous Nation.” The North has set 2012 as the year that door will be swung open. The newspaper described the hotel as a “phoenix” after a May 1 celebration, “We Will Triumph!” at which the hotel was used as the background for a fireworks display. The paper reported on the “brilliant cannon salute” fired from this “super-highrise” at heights “not imaginable” to the spectators, creating a “picturesque view” of Pyongyang” as the fireworks display created a “grand spectacle” centered on the “magnificent 300m-tall building.” This praise is a significant change from the North’s previous practices of removing the hotel from pictures and portraits of the city skyline, leaving if off of city maps, and diverting tourist groups around it. Construction began on the hotel in 1987, but was halted without completion of interior or exterior surfaces in 1992. Since last year, construction has been underway on 10,000 private residences in Pyongyang as part of its modernization drive, and at the same time, the hotel has been receiving a facelift, with large glass panels being installed on its exterior.
• 33% of poll respondents unimpressed by Chinese tourists: survey
  2009.05.09 20:59:05 A group of Chinese tourists visit Taipei 101 tower in the April 25 file photo Taipei, May 9 (CNA) A total of 33 percent of the respondents to a recent poll said they are unimpressed with the influx of Chinese tourists, according to the results of the government -commissioned survey released Saturday. The poll, conducted by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission under the Executive Yuan, found that only 24.9 percent of the respondents said they had a favorable impression of the Chinese tourists who have arrived since the government opened its doors wider to visitors from China.[Straits]
• Preparing for the Games: Delhi beggars learn languages
  May 6th, 2009 - 10:13 am ICT by IANS - New Delhi, May 6 (IANS) Beggars cannot be choosers, but beggars are quick to spot an opportunity, especially when there is a buzz in the city about “thousands of tourists” flocking here for the Commonwealth Games next year. And beggars are gearing up for it by learning not just English but languages like French and Spanish as well, not knowing that only English is spoken in all the Commonwealth countries. “There will be thousands of foreign tourists when the games are going on. That is why some beggar families are teaching younger child beggars to beg in foreign languages,” said Savitri, a street performer from Prem Nagar, west Delhi.
• Bali airport renovation rejected by governor
  By balidiscovery.com | May 05, 2009 Kompas.com reports that Bali's governor, Made Mangku Pastika, has rejected renovation plans advanced by Bali's airport managers, calling instead for a more Balinese design concept with greater emphasis on public as opposed to commercial spaces.
• Iran's Supreme Leader Opposes Merger Of Hajj And Tourism Organizations
  Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei: Hajj is hajj, tourism is tourism
  By tehrantimes.com | May 04, 2009 TEHRAN – Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has expressed his opposition to a merger of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization and Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO). “I have emphatically cautioned Mr. president that the merger of this organization (the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization) with the tourism organization is not right,” Ayatollah Khamenei’s office said in a letter to Hojatoleslam Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri, according to HPO website. [Islam]
• Korea’s candidate evades interview then picks and chooses questions via email
  By Nelson Alcantara | May 04, 2009 South Korea’s Oh Jee-chul, the president and CEO of the Korea Tourism Organization, has the backing of his government in his bid to become the next secretary-general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. And yet, he is one very hard person to get a hold of. The quest to interview Jee-chul began at this year’s ITB Berlin, where I was told that I “missed him by a few minutes.” Once back at eTN headquarter in Hawaii, numerous phone calls were made to the KTO office in Seoul, South Korea. The idea of interviewing Jee-chul became an intricate affair, because as eTN sought out to interview him, he was supposedly traveling to various parts of the world. At some points, the KTO’s Seoul office could not even make up its mind whether Jee-chul was in South America or Germany. All the while, interviews of him kept appearing in The Korea Times.
• Babylon Ruins Reopen in Iraq, to Controversy
  By STEVEN LEE MYERS Published: May 2, 2009 BABYLON, Iraq — After decades of dictatorship and disrepair, Iraq is celebrating its renewed sovereignty over the Babylon archaeological site — by fighting over the place, over its past and future and, of course, over its spoils. Colonial archaeologists packed off its treasures to Europe a century ago. Saddam Hussein rebuilt the site in his own megalomaniacal image. American and Polish troops turned it into a military camp, digging trenches and filling barricades with soil peppered with fragments of a biblical-era civilization.
• New Visa for Medical Tourists Introduced
  Foreigners seeking medical treatment in Korea will face less red tape starting Monday. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health have decided to create a new M visa category for those coming to Korea to see a doctor. To receive a 90-day or one-year medical visa, visitors have to submit medical records, a statement of financial responsibility, and proof that they have appointments at Korean hospitals. To prevent M-visa holders from taking advantage of the relatively loose visa rules, government officials plan to strengthen supervision while the visitors are in the country [Medical]
• China And North Korea Will Open Tourist Train Route In Late May
  May 7, 2009 A cooperation agreement has been signed between the government of Tumen in Jilin province, North Hamgyong Tourism Bureau, Tumen River International Travel Service, and Chongjin Railway Bureau on routes for train tours. Under the agreement, the tourist train route from the Tumen-Nanyang border crossing to Chongjin and Qibaoshan in North Korea, will be operated jointly by two travel agencies from China and North Korea. It is reported that North Korea will set up an office to deal with problems during the operations. The route is expected to open in late May.
• Air China Expands Network To Pyongyang
  November 30, 2007 Air China will increase its global network with a new service in Asia linking the Beijing capital to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, on January 2, 2008, and will operate three times per week with Boeing 737 aircraft. This Beijing-Pyongyang addition will bring Air China's international network to a total of 72 individual routes from 2008. The Pyongyang launch is the most recent in Air China's growing network. In the current quarter Air China initiated nonstop service on the Beijing-Sydney sector, increasing its Australia presence, as well as on the Beijing-Macao route, adding service to the booming Pearl River delta area that includes Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou.
• Korea Halts Foreign Tourists
  August 27, 2004 It is being reported in the local press that Korea will not be opening its door to foreign tourists until August 31.
  The toll-gate between Korea and Dandong in Liaoning Province has already been closed. The reason given is that, as a country with a planned economic system for all its sectors (including the tourism industry), Korea has filled its tourist quota for the third quarter. Korea will reopen its borders to tourists on September 1.
• China reopens border tourism after three years' suspension over rampant gambling
  www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-29 20:47:43 Print DANDONG, Liaoning, April 29 (Xinhua) -- China reopened its land border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to tourism at Dandong, a city in the northeastern province of Liaoning, beginning Wednesday. A group of 71 tourists left Dandong for Sinuiju, the border city facing Dandong across the Yalu River for one-day tours early Wednesday. They were mostly Dandong locals. They were the first group of tourists to arrive in Sinuiju since February 2006 when China suspended all of its border tour programs following rampant gambling by Chinese tourists, according to the exit and reentry section of the Public Security Bureau in Dandong

• Yu-na Named Tourism Ambassador
  Top figure skater Kim Yu-na, right, poses with first lay Kim Yoon-ok during a ceremony to appoint her as South Korea's tourism promotion ambassador at Cheong Wa Dae Wednesday. First lady Kim is serving as an honorary chairman for Visit Korea Year 2010-12. / Yonhap South Korea's top figure skater Kim Yu-na was appointed a tourism promotion ambassador Wednesday as part of the government's three-year program aimed at attracting more foreign visitors, according to Yonhap News Agency.
• R.O.A.R.: Boycott Mexico? No, boycott American stupidity
  By Eric Lucas | Apr 20, 2009 The market vendor handed me the sack of fresh-made potato chips she’d just hauled out of the fryer, and motioned that I should add a bit of salt and lime juice. I told her thanks in my serviceable Spanish (mil gracias, senora) and did as instructed. Then I gently lifted one chip from the sack and took an experimental bite. I’d never tasted made-on-the-spot potato chips until my wife and I wandered by this food cart in the market in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico. It was the best potato chip ever. Too bad that one potato chip had more mental acuity than some of our own countrymen. Don’t go to Mexico and spend your money, urge the Americans United to Halt Tourism in Mexico, on the novel theory that the way to discourage Mexican immigrants from coming here to earn money is for us to not go there and spend money. [Politics] [Boycott] [Migration]

  Archive articles on the Beijing Olympics

  • The Beijing Olympics Fails to Meet Tourism Expectations
    Avatar Posted by gocielo 226 days ago (http://www.go-cielo.com) View profile Category: World & Business | Tags: tourism olympic 2008 beijing olympics In the months, even years leading to the Beijing Olympics, tourism experts have forecasted that there would be approximately two million tourists who would be flocking to China’s capital city in the two weeks of the Games. It was estimated that 500,000 of these two million visitors would be coming from overseas. However, during the Games itself, these numbers did not materialize. The Beijing Olympics failed to meet expectations as a tourist event.
  • Olympics set to boost tourism
    By Xin Dingding (China Daily) Updated: 2008-09-13 11:17 The country's tourism industry is set to receive a boost in the wake of Beijing Olympics, a worldwide survey has found. About 45 percent of 26,000 people polled in 26 countries and regions said after seeing the opening ceremony of the Games they now intend to travel to China at some point, the survey conducted by media and information group Nielsen and released on Thursday said.
    China is poised to become the world's hottest tourist destination by 2020, receiving 137 million overseas tourists in that year alone, the World Tourism Organization has said. The country is also expected to generate 100 million outbound tourists by then. "With the Beijing Olympics generating such strong interest in China, they may well reach these numbers earlier than anticipated," Pan said. Still, sources with travel agencies said the orders they have received so far showed it was not all rosy in the inbound tourism market. Partly because of a stricter visa policy that was adopted for security reasons during the Olympics, Beijing had received 389,000 overseas tourists in August, a drop of 7.2 percent compared with the same period last year, the Beijing tourism administration said.
  • Emotions high as Olympic torch scales Everest
    The Olympic flame reached the top of Mount Everest on Thursday, an emotional moment for China and the crowning of the Beijing Olympics torch relay that was dogged by anti-Chinese protests on its world tour.
  • Tibetan woman holds Olympic flame atop Everest
    Thu May 8, 2008 11:01am EDT By Nick Mulvenney EVEREST BASE CAMP, China (Reuters) - A Tibetan woman took the Olympic torch the last steps to the top of Everest on Thursday, realizing "a dream of all Chinese people", but Tibetan exiles criticized Beijing for politicizing the Games. "Long live Tibet!" and "Long live Beijing!", the climbers, all wearing red, shouted joyously into a TV camera after unfurling the Chinese national flag, the Olympic flag and a flag bearing the Beijing Olympic logo. [Media]

• One in 100 Medical Tourists Pays Over W100 Million
  One in 100 foreign patients at Korea's top five hospitals paid more than W100 million in medical fees, a study by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute suggests (US$1=W1,346). Six of 627 health tourists questioned paid over W100 million, with the average medical fee per foreign patient W11.8 million, more than four times the medical fees of Korean inpatients, which averaged around W3 million in 2006. Yin Yo-han, director of Severance Hospital's international health care center said, "Since foreigners pay extra for coordinators, their medical fee is at least 1.5 times, or sometimes three times more than that of locals. But foreigners are still coming to Korean hospitals because they are cheaper than hospitals in developed countries such as the U.S." [Medical]
• Travel Warning for Dandong Issued
  The government on Thursday issued travel warnings to 11 regions in China that are close to the border with North Korea, including Dandong, which is a popular destination for South Korean tourists. Seoul classifies different regions of the world into four categories: caution, controlled travel, limited travel and restricted. The restricted countries are Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. For details, refer to the website: www.0404.go.kr.
• Incheon Seeks 500,000 Foreign Tourists During Festival
  By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter With nearly 100 days left before the kick off of the Global Fair and Festival 2009, host city Incheon's preparations for the 80-day business fair for corporations and cities around the world have been shifted into high gear.
• Police delete London tourists' photos 'to prevent terrorism'
  Austrian tourist who photographed bus and Tube stations says 'nasty incident' has put him off returning to London Comments (…) Matthew Weaver and Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 April 2009 12.53 BST Article history Austrian tourist Klaus Matza and his son who were banned from taking pictures of buses in Walthamstow. Photograph: Klaus Matza Like most visitors to London, Klaus Matzka and his teenage son Loris took several photographs of some of the city's sights, including the famous red double-decker buses. More unusually perhaps, they also took pictures of the Vauxhall bus station, which Matzka regards as "modern sculpture". But the tourists have said they had to return home to Vienna without their holiday pictures after two policemen forced them to delete the photographs from their cameras in the name of preventing terrorism. [Bizarre] [Politics]
• Cabinet plan seeks to boost tourism industry’s potential
  Publication Date:04/17/2009 By Adela Lin The Cabinet has approved a NT$30-billion (US$890 million) multi-pronged plan, which aims to promote Taiwan’s tourism potential and lift industry revenues to NT$550 billion in 2012. “The new program will focus on attracting international tourists, enhancing tourism quality and increasing the sector’s revenues,” said Premier Liu Chao-shiuan April 9. “I expect associated government agencies to do their utmost to attract more visitors from abroad and help them experience the beauty of Taiwan’s nature and the achievements of our society.” [Taiwan]
• Tourism and politics collide in Thailand and Fiji
  By David Beirman, eTN Special Correspondent | Apr 16, 2009 Over the past week, travel professionals have encountered serious challenges to the viability of the tourism industry in Thailand and Fiji, two countries far apart in distance but facing a common perceptual and actual threat as a result of domestic political events which impact on the reputation of each country as tourist destinations. [Politics]
• Foreign Marathoners Here
  Pyongyang, April 10 (KCNA) -- Chinese and Ethiopian marathoners came here today to participate in the IAAF-22nd Mangyongdae Prize Marathon Race to be held on the occasion of the birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung. Earlier, arriving were marathoners from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya and Namibia.
• Cuba on their minds
  By Nelson Alcantara | Apr 08, 2009 Cuba's 29th International Tourism Fair will be held in Havana May 4-8 offering a unique comprehensive survey of opportunities for the US travel industry if legislation to end travel restrictions is adopted (HR 874, S 428), the Fund for Reconciliation and Development said Tuesday. “This is an annual trade show at which the full range of domestic and international travel services and facilities available in Cuba are represented,” Fund for Reconciliation and Development executive director John McAuliff said. “High level officials speak and presentations are made by the primary government tourism agencies. Hundreds of tour operators and travel agents from Canada, Europe, and Latin American attend, negotiating contracts for the following year.” According to McAuliff, Germany is the guest of honor this year. Under current United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations, it is not legal for American travel agents or tour operators to attend, even with a general license for professional research ("meetings or conferences may not be for the purpose of promoting tourism in Cuba"). [Sanctions]
• FIFA Urged to Take Appropriate Measure
  Pyongyang, April 5 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Football Association, in a statement released on Sunday as regards the serious incident that happened at the football match of the final Asian qualifier of 2010 FIFA World Cup between the DPRK and south Korea held in south Korea, expressed the expectation that the FIFA would examine the whole process of the match and take an appropriate measure. The statement says: Main players of the football team of the DPRK could not get up due to serious vomiting, diarrhea and headache since the night on March 31, just a day before the match. They were healthier than any others in ordinary days and they had their meals only in the place they put up. They were enthusiastic in the training till that day. It can be said that it was beyond all doubt that the incident was a product of a deliberate act perpetrated by adulterated foodstuff as they could not get up all of a sudden just before the match.
• Asia Pacific Travel Industry Sees Recovery By End of Year
  The top travel industry group in Asia expects a modest recovery in travel to the region late this year, despite the global financial downturn. Travel analysts say the industry faces business closures as part of the economic rebound. The Pacific Asia Travel Association says the industry in the Asia-Pacific region could show signs of recovery by the end of 2009. A new PATA report says in Southeast Asia, international arrivals will grow to almost 77 million by 2011, up from more than 62 million in 2007.
• Late Goal Seals Win for South Over North in World Cup Qualifier
  Kim Chi-woo's free kick saved the Korean national soccer team on Wednesday, giving South Korea a 1-0 win over North Korea in a World Cup preliminary held at Sangam World Cup Stadium in Seoul. With Wednesday's win, the South moved past the North to reclaim the top seed in Group B, and is in a far more comfortable position to secure a ticket to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. South Korea has played one game fewer than North Korea. Despite dropping to second place from first in Group B, North Korea has again proved its strength, and showed that there is a possibility the two Koreas may advance to the World Cup final for the first time ever.
• World Cup Roundup
  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: April 1, 2009 NORTH KOREA WANTED GAME OFF North Korea demanded that its World Cup qualifier with South Korea in Seoul be called off and played later at a neutral site, according to a South Korean official. North Korea claimed three players had food poisoning. The revelation came after South Korea won, 1-0. South Korea leads Asian Group B with 11 points, 1 ahead of North Korea and Saudi Arabia and with a game in hand.
• North and South face off on the field
  April 01, 2009 The South Korean national football team trains at the NFC training center in Paju, Gyeonggi, in preparation for today’s World Cup qualifying match against North Korea. [YONHAP] As the hostility continues to rise between the two Koreas, the countries will face off against each other tonight. The battleground will be Seoul World Cup Stadium, as the South fights for a spot in the 2010 World Cup.
• North to Repeat 'Route 66?'
  By Bryan Kay Contributing Writer In world football, 1966 will probably be best remembered as the year in which England won its one and only World Cup. The northern Europeans have been struggling to reach such heights again since, failing to fulfill expectations. But 1966 was also the year in which North Korea last graced the world stage in the planet's best-loved game. They too have struggled since that landmark year, though theirs has been a fight against poverty that stretches far beyond the football field and has seen them occupy the basement of the world's football rankings ever since.
  It is different this time, however, with only a single defeat and three wins in the Group B so far. Indeed, Swiss football legend Andy Egli, sent by FIFA to the North late last year as an instructor for two months, reckons huge potential exists for the game in the North. He claimed that in 20 or so years North Korea could be competing with the world's best thanks to its players' determination and ability to focus, in an interview with the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation Internet portal swissinfo. But despite the potential, Egli pointed out the huge disparities between the cream of the North's players and the weakest, also lamenting poor infrastructure and the quality of even the balls made available, which he said were comparable to those seen in the West in the 1970s.

• Korea Gears Up to Meet the North in World Cup Preliminary
  The Korean national soccer team gathered in the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday, and began training for the fifth match in the Asian preliminaries for the 2010 World Cup against North Korea scheduled for Apr. 1.
• Japan Wins World Baseball Classic
  Lucy Nicholson/Reuters Japan celebrated their team's win over Team Korea in the tenth inning of the World Baseball Classic in Los Angeles. By JACK CURRY Published: March 24, 2009 LOS ANGELES — To Japan and South Korea, the final of the World Baseball Classic was more than the last game of a 16-team tournament. It was the chance, the prized chance, to subdue a despised rival and be called the best team in the world. It was an opportunity for one proud country to incense another.
  With a pulsating 5-3 win against South Korea in 10 innings Monday night, the Japanese won their second straight Classic and remained atop the international baseball world.
  The all-Asian championship reiterated that the rest of the world plays excellent baseball, too, and was a credit to the two teams that play in a more disciplined way than the United States.
• Nation’s tourism ranking improves
  Publication Date:03/13/2009 By Jean Yueh According to the latest survey report released March 4 by the World Economic Forum, Taiwan’s global travel and tourism competitiveness ranking moved up to 43rd this year from 52nd in 2008. The island ranked 9th in the Asia-Pacific region, trailing Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand, but one notch ahead of mainland China. Despite improved world ranking in 2009, Taiwan fell far behind the 30th place it held in 2007 in the first edition of the report. In comparison, mainland China ranked 47th this year, up from 62nd in 2008. Switzerland, Austria and Germany maintained the top three places as last year, followed by France, Canada, Spain, Sweden, the United States, Australia and Singapore, in that order. The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report is published annually by the World Economic Forum, an independent Swiss non-profit foundation “committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.”
• Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009
  Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the third annual Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, published by the World Economic Forum. Among the top ten, France (4), Canada (5), Sweden (8) and Singapore (10) post improvements. The rankings are based on the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which measures the different regulatory and business-related issues that have been identified as levers for improving travel and tourism competitiveness in countries around the world. This year’s report, published under the theme “Managing in a Time of Turbulence”, reflects the difficulties the industry currently faces, which must be overcome to ensure strong sectorial growth in the future.
• Incheon Airport Sees 200 Mil. Passengers in 8 Years
  By Cho Hyun-jeong Intern Hitosi Dakai, 50, of Japan, received an 18.75-gram gold "key of luck" and a round trip ticket from Seoul to Japan as a special gift when he arrived at Incheon International Airport as its 200 millionth traveler Monday afternoon. He flew to the airport on the Korean Air Flight KE776 from Komatsu, in the western Japanese Prefecture of Ishikawa, at 2:05 p.m.
• Airlines Battle It Out on Land
  Airlines around the world are competing on land in order to overcome the economic slump. Competition over luxury lounges at airports has begun in order to attract wealthy, first-class passengers. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Deutsche Lufthansa AG opened a 12,000 sq. m lounge featuring a full-service spa, spacious bathrooms with whirlpool tubs, and a bar offering 84 different single-malt whiskeys, at Frankfurt Airport. Fliers get zipped to and from planes in Mercedes limousines or Porsche Cayenne sport-utility vehicles. Lufthansa has invested more than US$190 million to upgrade airport lounge services for its first-class passengers.
• Are Korean Hospitals Ready for Medical Tourism?
  Last week, Melissa Lowe, an American, was with a bored expression leafing through an English newspaper in the waiting room of the foreigners' clinic of a university hospital in Seoul. Since arriving on time for her 9 a.m. appointment, she had been waiting for about two hours, because the hospital staff told her to wait. "Because I'm a patient, I have to be patient," she said. The hospital has no doctor in charge of foreign patients, so three nurses who can speak English handle foreign patients' registration, give them directions, and even provide translation services for them if necessary during medical examination and treatment. It will become possible for hospitals to accept foreign patients for profit-making purposes in May after the passage of a revised medial law in January. The government plans to attract 100,000 foreign patients by 2010. But are we ready to accept them?
• Assembly Resolution Sought for Resuming Mt. Geumgang Tour
  By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff Reporter Twenty lawmakers urged Seoul and Pyongyang leaders to work toward resuming tours to Mt. Geumgang, saying the travel ban has taken a toll on South and North Koreans heavily dependent on tourism income. Seoul suspended the cross-border tours, which kicked off in November 1998, five months ago, shortly after a female South Korean tourist was killed by a North Korean soldier last July. The North has offered no official apology for the shooting. ``Since the suspension of the program, dozens of South Korean businesses and approximately 1,000 travel agents that offered organized trips to the North have gone to the brink of bankruptcy,'' said independent lawmaker Song Hun-suk, an architect of the resolution. Song said some 30,000 South and North Koreans are on the verge of losing their jobs due to the travel ban and eighty percent of shops and restaurants in Gosung, Gangwon Province, near the border with the North, have also been forced to shut down as a result of immense business losses.  
• Huge Demand for Reopening Mt.Kumgang Tours  
  The number of people who booked tours to Mt. Kumgang topped 15,000 in only 16 days since February 13, when the sales of the package tour resumed, organizer Hyundai Asan said Sunday. A total of 15,856 people have made reservations for the tours, which were suspended after the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist in the area last year. Customers who pay a deposit can get a 50 percent discount if they make the tour within one month after resumption of the tour to the scenic mountain in North Korea, a 40 percent discount within two months, and a 30 percent within three to six months.  

• TOUR NORTH KOREA: International Friendship Brigade
  Departs/returns Beijing September 3rd to 10th 2009 8 Days/7 Nights Fully Escorted Accommodation Meals Touring Full itinerary each day including a visit to the DMZ.
  Fare from Euro995 per person e-mail: info@interDDR.com
  Australia-DPRK Friendship and Cultural Society
• NKorea beats Saudi Arabia 1-0 in WCup qualifier
  The Associated Press Wednesday, February 11, 2009; 3:56 AM PYONGYANG, North Korea -- Mun In Guk scored the only goal Wednesday to help North Korea move a step closer to a 2010 World Cup berth with a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia in Asian qualifying. It was a deserved victory for the nation that made its only appearance at the World Cup in 1966. The three points gives North Korea seven from four games to share the Group 2 lead with rival South Korea, which plays third-place Iran later Wednesday.
• MASS GAMES 2009
  News from Koryo Tours, Beijing
  The latest news from Pyongyang (February 2009) is that the mass games will almost certainly be held from the beginning of August until the end of September this year. These dates have not yet been finally confirmed and it is normal for them to be altered slightly as the event draws closer - we expect the actual run of the games to go on into October so please keep checking the website for updates. All tourists who visit the country during the period of the Mass Games are able to attend the performance

• N.Korean Sports Commentators Take Note of Park Ji-sung
  Home> Culture/Sports Updated Jan.6,2009 08:58 KST A screen capture of Park Ji-sung from the (North) Korean Central Television Station /Yonhap The (North) Korean Central Television Station on Sunday evening broadcast a recording of the second half of final match of the Club World Cup between Manchester United and Liga de Quito of Ecuador, held in Yokohama, Japan, on Dec. 21, 2008. Park Ji-sung was praised by North Korean commentators as "a player who does the job of two men."
• Town Asks Kung Fu Monks for Tourism Blessings
  By ANDREW JACOBS Published: January 1, 2009 GUANDU, China — The cluster of temples at the heart of this dusty, traffic-clogged town are picturesque reminders of China’s faded Buddhist past. On a recent day, dogs warmed themselves in the winter sun as a few toothless devotees bowed before smiling Buddhas. The only sounds were the occasional clanging of wind chimes and the splash of coins tossed into a mucky pond.
  Mr. Dou found a savior 1,200 miles away, in the Song Mountains of central China, where the warrior monks of Shaolin have mastered the art of monastery marketing. Since the early 1990s, the chief abbot, Shi Yongxin, has turned Shaolin into a lucrative draw for kung fu enthusiasts and has transformed his lithe disciples into global emissaries for the temple’s crowd-pleasing mix of Zen Buddhism and fly-kick combat. [Religion]
• Hallyu Marketing Attracts Japanese Tourists to Seoul
  By Bae Ji-sook Staff Reporter At 7 p.m. on Dec. 22 at the Grand Hilton Hotel in Seoul, rooms were filled with round tables where people, mostly women, sat and waited. Soon, they began cheering ? TV actor and singer Kim Jung-hoon appeared with a smile and talked to his ``fans.’’ At a fan meeting dubbed ``Sweet X-Mas with Kim Jung-hoon,’’ Kim, who already has a steady fan base with hit drama Gung and his elite image as a top Seoul National University student, greeted more than 300 fans. [Hallyu]

• South Korea Expects 400,000 Chinese, Japanese Tourists in January
  With South Korean won’s value plummeting against those of neighboring countries, the nation expects a rush of 400,000 Chinese and Japanese tourists next month, a major holiday traffic time, Maeil Business News reported Saturday. “As Korean won’s value decreased by 40 percent, South Korea has become a new popular destination for Chinese people,'' a Chinese tourism official was quoted as saying. The most popular tour package by Chinese envisions a three-night-two-day schedule whose itineraries include major shopping areas in Seoul, including the well-known Myeongdong district. Last year, Chinese visitors to South Korea totaled 1.07 million. In the first 11 months of this year, 1.08 million Chinese visited South Korea. The number of Japanese tourists, who traditionally favor South Korea as one of their major travel destinations, reached 2.12 million in the first 11 months this year and is expected to grow further next year.
• North Korean leader's former home open to tourists
  A childhood picture of Kim Jong Il, second from left, along with childhood friends and a Soviet playmate is displayed Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008 on a wall outside the villa at Hwajinpo Beach, South Korea near the heavily fortified Korean border where late North Korean founder Kim Il Sung spent his summer holidays with his family before it fell into South Korean hands following the 1950-53 Korean War. The letters read " Kim Jong Il". (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (Ahn Young-joon - AP) A scratched childhood picture of Kim Jong Il, second from left, along with childhood friends and a Soviet playmate is displayed Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008 on a wall outside the villa at Hwajinpo Beach, South Korea near the heavily fortified Korean border where late North Korean founder Kim Il Sung spent his summer holidays with his family before it fell into South Korean hands following the 1950-53 Korean War. The letters read " Kim Jong Il". (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (Ahn Young-joon - AP) By HYUNG-JIN KIM The Associated Press Sunday, December 21, 2008; 12:18 PM HWAJINPO BEACH, South Korea -- This small stone villa perched among fragrant pine trees is about as close as most people can get to North Korea, in more than one way. It is only a few miles away from the border, and it was the childhood home of the boy who grew up to become the leader of the North. Kim Jong Il was 6 years old when his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, took ownership of the house known as "The Castle" near scenic Hwajinpo Beach. When the Korean War ended in 1953, the border between the Koreas was redrawn, and the villa wound up in the South.
• Koryo Tours newsletter
  December edition of our newsletter is now online
• Korea-Unique Tourism Plan Unveiled
  Vice Culture Minister Kim Jang-sil By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter Royal palaces will be more open to visitors and tour programs involving traditional and eastern religious cultures will be developed in a government effort to develop more ``Korean-style'' tourist programs.
• Weak Won Lures Tourists to Korea
  The record-weak won is helping improve the current account balance by inducing foreign tourists to visit at a time when the economy needs all the help it can get. The won plunged to a record W1,595 against 100 yen on Friday, a spectacular fall from the W840 around the same time last year. Against the dollar, the won has lost a staggering 60 percent since last year.
• N. Korea Loses to US in U20 Women's World Cup Final
  North Korea has failed to capture its second consecutive under-20 women's World Cup title after losing 2-1 to the United States in the final, according to Yonhap News. North Korea's Cha Hu-nam scored in injury time, but the goal came too late to squash the lead the United States built after Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux scored at the Estadio Municipal de La Florida stadium in Santiago, Chile. North Korea, the 2006 debutants and champions, had advanced to the final by beating both Japan and France 2-1 successively. Cha knocked home a volley shot in the 92nd minute, but no further effort materialized against the United States, the 2002 champions. North Korea is a powerhouse in women's football. The reclusive country became regional champions in the Asian Cup tournament in June, and the country also won the under-19 AFC tournament last year.
• 3 Million Begin Hajj Pilgrimage
  Associated Press Sunday, December 7, 2008; Page A23 MINA, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 6 -- Nearly 3 million pilgrims chanting prayers converged Saturday in a valley just outside the holy city of Mecca at the beginning of the five-day hajj pilgrimage, a lifelong dream for many Muslims. The pilgrims, from about 100 countries, left Mecca after completing the first ritual of the hajj by circling the sacred Kaaba structure seven times inside the Grand Mosque, which Muslims across the world face during their five daily prayers. Pilgrims in white robes piled into and on top of buses on their way to a ritual of prayer and reflection in Mina, three miles east of Mecca.
• Saudis step up security in run-up for Hajj
  By Abeer Allam in Mecca Published: December 5 2008 16:39 | Last updated: December 5 2008 16:39 More than two and a half million Muslim pilgrims will begin moving to tents on Mount Arafat east of the holy city of Mecca this weekend to perform rituals that mark the climax of the annual Hajj. Amid tight security, worshippers from all over the world, dressed mostly in white, will spend Sunday praying, meditating and asking for forgiveness on or near Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon to pilgrims in 632. As the world’s largest annual religious gathering, the Hajj poses immense logistic, health and security challenges for the Saudi government. With pilgrims coming from so many countries and speaking so many different languages while performing the rituals in a confined space within a tight timeframe, deadly accidents such as fires or stampedes are serious risks.
• DPRK Soccer Team Advances into Finals
  Pyongyang, December 5 (KCNA) -- The DPRK football team advanced into the finals of the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup held in Chile. The DPRK team defeated its French rival 2-1 in the semi-finals on Dec. 4 to meet with its U.S. rival in the finals.
• North Korean Women Reach U20 World Cup
  By Yoon Chul Staff Reporter Defending champion North Korea has clinched a place in the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) U-20 Women's World Cup final after defeating France 2-1 in Temuco, Chile, Thursday.
• Hyundai Asan Asks Gov't for Help
  Hyundai Asan, the operator of package tours to North Korea, has asked the government to normalize inter-Korean relations and to give urgent financial support to businesses operating in the North. Hyundai Asan on Wednesday said it submitted a petition to the Unification Ministry the previous day "urging the government to take a bold, epoch-making measure for the swift normalization of inter-Korean relations." The petition was signed by all Hyundai Asan staff.
• N. Korea Reaches Women's U20 World Cup Final
  Ri Ye-gyong Thursday scored in injury time to help North Korea overturn France 2-1 and secure a berth in the final of the women's under-20 World Cup, Yonhap News reported. The defending North Korean champions lost a goal early in the second half when France's Nora Coton-Pelagie netted the ball just six minutes in. North Korea leveled the score in the 68th minute when Ri Un-hyang powered in a header, and Ri Ye-gyong sealed the deal three minutes into injury time by blasting a goal off her right foot for a long-range cross from the midfield, FIFA said on its Web site. The victory in Santiago, Chile, will pit North Korea against the United States at the Estadio Municipal de La Florida stadium in Santiago for the final Monday. North Korea is a powerhouse in women's football. They became regional champions in the Asian Cup tournament in June, and the country also won the under-19 AFC tournament last year. Sixteen nations have competed in the biennial under-20 women's World Cup. North Korea won the 2006 title in 2006.
• U.S. vs. North Korea, Redux
  By Jack Bell Perhaps it has something to do with the air in the Southern Hemisphere. Or maybe it is the approach of summer on the opposite end of the globe. Then again, perhaps 60 years of enmity between the two countries can never be discounted. Whatever the reasons, a United States women’s national team will be playing a team from North Korea for a global title for the second time in less than one month.
• Hyundai Asan seeks resumption of Mount Geumgang tours
  Seoul needs to shift its thinking to resolve the impasse in inter-Korean relations, and tour resumption could be the first step: Hyundai CEO Hyundai Asan CEO Cho Kun-sik urged the government to make a priority of the unconditional resumption of Mount Geumgang (Kumgang) tourism to prevent further deterioration of inter-Korean relations and resume dialogue. In an interview Tuesday evening with The Hankyoreh, Cho said, “Currently, not only Hyundai’s inter-Korean economic cooperation projects but all inter-Korean relations are in an overall state of crisis, and as such there need to be historic and bold measures from the government to find a solution.” This means that because it was Seoul that declared a halt to Mount Geumgang tourism in the first place, it needs to “shift its way of thinking” to make a breakthrough in the improvement of overall North-South relations by first expressing its intent to resume [tourism] unconditionally as a solution to the problem it created itself.
• DPRK Soccer Team Beats Japanese Rival
  Pyongyang, December 2 (KCNA) -- The DPRK team beat its Japanese rival 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup held in Chile on Dec. 1, advancing into the semi-finals
• Tourism under siege in Bangkok and Mumbai
  By David Beirman | Dec 01, 2008 Terrorists in Mumbai and political activists in Thailand have both made it clear that if there is a sure way to publicize a cause--target tourists or tourism. The murderous attack in Mumbai which simultaneously targeted Indian civilians, Western tourists and Jews, traditional enemies of Islamonazis was guaranteed blanket global publication because of the fact that two of its prime targets , the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi hotels are high profile hotels popular with tourists from Western countries. On a very different level the largely non-violent occupation of Bangkok’s international airport by Thai anti-government protesters propelled an essentially internal political protest movement into a global issue because its actions closed one of the world’s busiest airports.
• Opening the Door to Mainland Tourists
  Mainland Chinese tourists take in the sights at Sun Moon Lake, one of Taiwan's most popular scenic spots. (Courtesy of Taiwan Panorama) Publication Date:12/01/2008 Byline:JIM HWANG After a nearly six-decade hiatus, visitors from mainland China are finally getting a chance to know Taiwan. The morning of July 4 saw the landing at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport of flight CZ3079, a China Southern Airlines chartered aircraft carrying about 100 passengers from Guangzhou, mainland China. Later that day, five more charter flights carrying passengers from four other mainland Chinese cities landed in Taoyuan and at Songshan Airport in Taipei. These 752 passengers, including tourists, 60 journalists and 31 officials, were led by Shao Qiwei, director of both mainland China's National Tourism Bureau and its Cross-Strait Tourism Association. They were the first batch of mainland Chinese nationals to land in Taiwan via a direct flight in nearly six decades. [Straits]

• Hyundai Asan Reeling as N.Korea Halts Kaesong Tours
  Hyundai Asan is in shock after North Korea announced it is stopping package tours to the city of Kaesong from Dec. 1. That means all tourism to North Korea stops for the first time in 10 years. The fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist in July already forced the company to halt tours to Mt. Kumgang. Hyundai Asan will cancel all reservations for December but will run the tourist business as usual until the end of November. The tours to Kaesong, which began in December 2007, had already attracted a total of 109,000 tourists as of last Sunday, with 4,200 people booked for next month. Places to Kaesong have been fully booked until the end of November. The price for the Kaesong tour is W188,000 per person, of which North Korea takes US$100 per person. Due to the weak won, Hyundai Asan has sustained substantial losses. [Spin]
• Myths and Realities of Chinese Tourists to Canada
  Kenny Zhang Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
• In Mongolia, sex tourism by S. Korean males leads to anti-Korean sentiment
  With Korean men contributing to growth of industry, the damage to Korea’s image has increased » In the photo on the left, Korean tourists enter a karaoke bar in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, on June 18. On the right, another karaoke bar in the Mongolian capital has put the Korean national flag on its signboard. The number of Korean men traveling to Mongolia as sex tourists has continued to increase, resulting in a corresponding rise in anti-Korean sentiment. South Koreans’ sex tourism to Mongolia remains widespread. According to an investigative report by The Hankyoreh, Mongolians accused South Korean tourists of spawning a culture of buying sex in their country. In 2002, a South Korean opened the first karaoke bar in Mongolia’s capital city of Ulan Bator and most karaoke bars in Mongolia are owned by South Koreans. The number of karaoke bars in Mongolia has increased to include some 50 bars.
  To avoid the crackdown, prostitution has spread to horseback-riding schools, massage parlours and others. An official at a Mongolian horseback-riding school, which is only identified by the letter “G” and is located an hour’s drive from the city center, said, “When (men who are here as sex tourists) arrive at the airport, they are escorted here. Local women arrive here in a different van. When they move off to the grassland, (the women) are accompanied by the men.”
• DPRK Girls Football Team Returns Home
  Pyongyang, November 21 (KCNA) -- The DPRK girls football team, winner of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup New Zealand 2008, returned home on Friday. It was greeted at the airport by Kim Jung Rin, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, and Kwak Pom Gi, vice-premier of the DPRK Cabinet, and others. Sportspersons and working people presented the players with garlands and bouquets and congratulated them who encouraged the servicepersons and people in the DPRK waging an all-out charge for the building of a great prosperous powerful nation after glorifying the 60th anniversary of the DPRK as a grand festival of victors.
• More Publicity Essential for Medical Tourism
  Participants take part in the 3rd International Medical Travel Conference at the COEX InterContinental Hotel in Seoul, Thursday. The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) are co-hosting the annual event to attract more medical tourists from overseas. / Courtesy of KTO By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter The increase in international recognition of Korea's medical skills is essential to the attraction of more medical tourists, a survey showed Thursday. Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) announced the interim result of their survey regarding medical travel in Asia and Korea during the International Medical Travel Conference, held in Seoul from Wednesday through Friday. The research was conducted on foreigners who had visited or planned to visit Korea or other Asian nations on medical tours. The final result will come at the end of this year. The survey showed medical tour visitors put more weight on the quality of hospital staff, reliability of institutions and cost savings than the condition of facilities and equipment. The surveyed showed 75.8 percent of medical tourists in Asia mainly came for medical skin care when multiple answers were allowed, followed by Oriental medicine and health checkups.
• Tours of Mt. Kumgang Resume Since Shooting Incident  
  The government on Monday allowed the first tour of Mt. Kumgang since the shooting death of a South Korean tourist last July. A government official said the government approved four officials from the Briquette Distribution Movement for Warm Korean Peninsula, an organization donating 50,000 briquettes to North Korea, for the trip to the North’s mountain area on Tuesday, which marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of Mt. Kumgang tours by Hyundai Asan. The government has banned tours of the Mt. Kumgang area for safety reasons since the shooting incident in July.  
• Mount Geumgang tour project marks 10-year anniversary
  Symbolic occasion passes amid doubts about the future of the project and inter-Korean relations  
    On November 18, 1998, the deluxe cruise ship Kumgang departed from the South Korean port of Donghae and set sail for the first cruise to Mount Geumgang (Kumgang), on North Korea’s eastern coast. After some 50 years of separation, exchanges between the South and the North had been initiated. A decade later, the tourism project to Mount Geumgang has reached a milestone in inter-Korean relations, despite the ups and downs. However, the project is currently facing a more tremendous challenge than ever. The Mount Geumgang tour program was one of the most prominent byproducts of the South’s sunshine policy of engagement with the North.  
• North Korea Wins U-17 Title Game  
  By Bryan Kay Staff Reporter It's a victory likely to spark triumphant scenes in Pyongyang, as much for against whom it was achieved as for the result itself. For North Korea's Under-17 Women's football team was crowned world champions in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday - after overcoming the United States 2-1 in a grueling 120-minute final.  
  U.S. coach Kazbek Tami admitted the North Koreans proved tough opponents. "They're a fantastic team and their recent record speaks for itself," he told the FIFA Web site. "To have won a World Cup at U-20s and now U-17s speaks volumes for them as a country and shows how good their youth programme must be. "If those players progress and fulfil their potential, I see no reason why their senior team won't be every bit as great in the next few years."
• DPRK Girls' Football Team Emerges Winner in FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
  Pyongyang, November 16 (KCNA) -- The DPRK girls' football team Sunday beat its U.S. rival, the strongest team in the world, thus emerging a winner of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup New Zealand 2008. The DPRK team surpassed its U.S. rival in the number of ball possession, corner kick and shooting of ball into the goal mouth throughout the finals. The DPRK team snubbed its U.S. rival 2-1, winning the first title of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup New Zealand 2008.
• North Korea claim title in extra time
  4:00AM Monday Nov 17, 2008 By Terry Maddaford North Korea's amazing record in women's age-group soccer tournaments hit another high with their stunning extra time win in Fifa's Under-17 Women's World Cup at North Harbour Stadium yesterday. Down by a goal after just 1m 42s - and that credited as an own goal - the Koreans needed almost 75 minutes to claw their way back to 1-1 and take the game into a tense period of extra time. The winning goal, scored by substitute Jang Hyon Sun nine minutes after her introduction and eight minutes into the second period, sparked scenes of joy for the red-shirted players and their supporters. It was a body-blow for the Americans who had gone into the match as slight favourites.
• Soccer: North Koreans overcome horror start to win under-17 World Cup
  6:25PM Sunday Nov 16, 2008 North Korea fought back from a nightmare start to secure a 2-1 extra-time win over the United States in the women's under-17 soccer World Cup final in Auckland today. A bizarre own goal from luckless Korean goalkeeper Hong Myong Hui opened the United States account after barely two minutes. Defender Cloee Colohan's mammoth throw-in cleared all the players in the box before bouncing over Hong, whose despairing fingers scraped the ball as it dropped into the net. Had she not touched the ball, the goal would have been disallowed as a goal cannot be scored directly from a throw-in. North Korea battled back and although play was scrappy for much of the first half they looked the stronger team through the midfield.
• Editorial: Something special afoot in symbolic soccer finale
  4:00AM Saturday Nov 15, 2008 Something special in sport and international relations will take place at North Harbour Stadium tomorrow afternoon. A team of schoolgirls from North Korea, a country which is an immediate past member of George W. Bush's "axis of evil", will play his United States under-17 girls' side in the Fifa World Cup final. That a schoolgirl side from North Korea would be involved in the biggest sports event in New Zealand this weekend is peculiar in itself. We rarely see a visitor from the Hermit Kingdom. That these girls will find vocal support in the stands at Albany from local fans, resident here but formerly of South Korea, will speak volumes for sport's power to unify. It was on display in Christchurch during North Korea's victory over England midweek and a repeat must be on the cards from the Korean population on the North Shore and wider Auckland.
• Soccer: Coy Koreans square up to US
  4:00AM Saturday Nov 15, 2008 By Craig Borley It's one of those sporting moments the script writers couldn't have penned any better - the United States and North Korean women's under-17 soccer teams meeting in the World Cup final at Albany tomorrow. The symbolic leaders of the free world, playing toe-to-toe against a communist nation America tagged as part of the "Axis of Evil". But for the North Koreans, it's just about football. Or so the Weekend Herald understands. An attempt to talk to the squad at their Takapuna training yesterday proved difficult. The US team has relatively short defenders, but tall strikers, three of the North Korean girls said through an interpreter. "But if we do our best we will have an opportunity to win in the final."
  But out on the training pitch their bashfulness melted away. If their discipline, soft touches and team unity are anything to go by, they will be a powerful force against the United States tomorrow. So too will their fans - a score of whom are South Korean. The two countries have a strained war-torn relationship, but at Thursday's Christchurch semifinal many of those cheering for the North Koreans were from South Korea.
• Medical Tourism: Surviving the Global Recession
  Like many medical centers in Asia, Bangkok's Bumrungrad Hospital had big expectations for a global trend known as medical tourism. Administrators were especially eager to attract more patients from the U.S. (BusinessWeek.com, 3/17/08) keen on saving money by having hip replacements, cosmetic surgery, and other operations overseas. For years, some of Asia's premier hospitals have been popular destinations for U.S. patients who either lack health insurance or can't get coverage for certain procedures. And recently there have been signs that insurance companies might start actively encouraging this trend to save on costs.
• Medical Tourism & Affordable Health Care Overseas Special Report
  RELATED STORIES Medical Tourism Thailand troubles could lift Philippines Taiwan Joins Medical Tourism Bandwagon Taiwan can offer patients from China more competitive prices than Hong Kong hospitals can. Medical Tourism Takes Flight Lower costs are luring Americans abroad but risks exist, experts warn 'Medical Travel Is Going To Be Part Of The Solution' David Boucher of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of South Carolina is forging alliances that allow members to go abroad for surgery and other procedures Outsourcing the patients More U.S. health insurers are slashing costs by sending policyholders overseas for pricey procedures
• Women's Football Match between DPRK and Ghana Held
  Pyongyang, October 30 (KCNA) -- A match between the DPRK team and the Ghanaian team belonging to Group B of group league matches of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup New Zealand 2008 was held on Oct. 29. The heated seesaw match between the two teams ended in a 1-1 draw.

• Tourism Deficit With US to Jump to $10 Billion
  Korea has craved the United States to grant visa waivers for Korean tourists for years for reasons of convenience and status on the international stage. According to a report by the Korea Tourism Organization, however, it will send tourism deficits with the U.S. skyrocketing. ``In 2007, our tourism deficit amounted to $10.1 billion, $4.6 billion of it from the United States,'' Joo Sang-yong, a KTO spokesman, said. ``The deficit is expected to balloon to $11 billion by 2011, three years after the U.S. visa waiver system is kicked in. Joo said that this estimation was compiled before the current financial crisis hit, adding that outbound tourists would decrease until the economy is put back on track.
• Gaeseong Tourists to Top 100,000
  Monday, October 6, 2008 08:18:46 The cumulative number of tourists that have traveled to North Korea’s border city of Gaeseong is likely to top 100-thousand in the middle of this month.
• Can Chinese Tourism Beat the Credit Crisis?
  China's GDP has slowed, a sign the nation is feeling the effects of the global downturn. Now its tourism engine is sputtering, too By Bruce Einhorn Recent news from China might be causing jitters among tourism industry executives counting on a surge in business from China's newly wealthy travelers. With gross domestic product growth slowing to 9% for the third quarter, the slowest rate in five years, the Chinese economy is starting to feel the effects of the global downturn. At the same time, China's tourism engine is showing signs of slowing. The number of Chinese tourists traveling to many overseas destinations fell in August; Hong Kong retailers accustomed to big-spending visits by mainland tourists griped about disappointing sales during the week-long National Day holiday in early October; and casino operators in Macao, the former Portuguese colony that depends largely on Chinese tourists, saw revenues fall to $890 million in September, a 3.4% drop from the same period a year ago and a 28% drop from the previous month.
• Ladyhawke sings New Zealand's praises
  New Zealand is the latest long-haul country to up the creative ante by enlisting the help of Ladyhawke to entice travellers
  Andy Pietrasik guardian.co.uk, Wednesday October 22 2008 09.55 BST Faced with the global credit crunch and rising airfares, long-haul countries are having to be more creative in their efforts to entice travellers. And that's especially true for destinations on the other side of the world. Last week, Australia dropped its prosaic "Where the bloody hell are you?" campaign for the more poetic "Come walkabout" promotional films by Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann. New Zealand - which this year has seen visitor numbers from the UK, its second-largest market, fall by four per cent – has gone the other way with its "What Do You Say UK?" campaign. This sees past visitors enthusing about their holiday adventures in New Zealand. But it is also relying on the help of its creative talent.
• Re-Branding Korean Tourism
  Korea Has Religious, Spiritual Pilgrimage Destinations This is the third in a series of articles highlighting ways of upgrading Korea’s image and brand from international ‘Nation Brand’ experts on the occasion of the 58th anniversary of The Korea Times, which falls on Nov. 1 ? ED. Korea has an amazing amount of treasures that can interest and entertain international tourists, but they are still far too little-known around the world. Korea's tourism brand-image suffers from a very low profile, and we attract far fewer visitors every year than our potential should warrant.
• Mt.Kumgang Tours ‘to Resume for 10th Anniversary’
  Tours to Mt. Kumgang, which have been halted since a South Korean tourist was shot dead in the North Korean resort, will resume by the end of this month or early next month, Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong said Monday. Early November marks 10 years since tours began.
• Gaeseong Visitors Top 100,000
  The tourism business at the inter-Korean industrial complex is expected to reach a milestone in October. The cumulative number of tourists that have visited the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea is forecast to surpass the 100,000 mark this month. South Korean tourists began visiting the industrial complex on Dec. 5, 2007. Since then up to 300 tourists have been visiting the area on a daily basis, according to Hyundai Asan. It is a unit of the Hyundai Group conglomerate that runs the tourism business there. Hyundai Asan reportedly pays the North Korean government $100 for every South Korean tourist. The tourism business at Gaeseong reportedly did not suffer significant downturns even after the shooting death last July of a South Korean tourist at Mount Geumgang resort, which had been another popular tourism destination in North Korea.
• Asphalt designated for N. Korean runway diverted for use elsewhere
  Unification Ministry failed to prevent asphalt donated by S. Korea for use at Samjiyon Airport
  North Korea has either poorly used or diverted 9.3 billion won (US$8.6 million) worth of asphalt pitch given by South Korea to pave the landing strip at the Samjiyon Airport near Mount Baekdu, according to a report released August 25 by the Board of Audit and Inspection. The pavement work that was done at Samjiyon was done haphazardly, and 2 billion won worth of asphalt was used elsewhere, and not for the Samjiyon Airport runway.
• Korea Least Attractive Tourist Spot
  By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff Reporter Korea is one of the least attractive countries for tourism, but the average five-star hotel rate is one of the highest among Asian countries, Rep. Choi Gu-sik of the Grand National Party (GNP) said Tuesday. Korea ranked seventh among eight Asian countries in the ranking of attractive tourist spots, according to an opinion survey conducted by the Korea Tourism Organization. In the poll of 7,000 foreigners aged between 18 and 64 who are familiar with the country, Japan ranked first, Singapore and Thailand joint second, followed by Hong Kong, China and Malaysia.

• Visit Korea 2010-2012 Committee Launched
  A private committee to promote Visit Korea 2010-2012 was launched with the aim of attracting more foreign tourists on the occasion of the Yeosu Exposition to be held in 2012 in the southwestern city.
• South Korea Draws With North Side
  South Korean midfielder Ki Sung-yueng, above, scores the equalizer during a match in Shanghai, China against North Korea in the final phase of the qualifying tournament for the 2010 World Cup, Wedneday. / Yonhap By Kang Seung-woo Staff Reporter In the almost-empty Hongkou Stadium in Shanghai, China due to ``host'' North Korea's ``malicious'' high-price ticket tactic, South Korea drew 1-1 with the North in its opening match in the final qualifying rounds for the 2010 World Cup, Wednesday. Huh Jung-moo's side conceded the lead on a penalty to its Northern neighbors in the second half, but Ki Sung-yueng equalized six minutes later. With the tie, the two Koreas have drawn in all four of this year's meetings _ two others in the World Cup preliminary qualifiers and one in the East Asian Championship. Adding one point to its tally, the North leads Group B with four points, while the South has one.

• DPRK Delegation and Players' Group Back from Olympic Games
  Pyongyang, August 26 (KCNA) -- The delegation of the Olympic Committee and players' group of the DPRK led by Pak Hak Son, chairman of the Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission, flew back home today after participating in the 29th Olympic Games held in China. The DPRK players bagged two gold medals, one silver medal and three bronze medals in the games. They were met at the airport by Kim Jung Rin, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kwak Pom Gi, vice-premier of the DPRK Cabinet, and others.
• Pyongyang Suggests Cross-Border Car Race
  With a permission from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the North Korean authorities have suggested an inter-Korean version of the "Gumball Rally," a global car race, Radio Free Asia reported on Tuesday. According to RFA, Maximilian Cooper, the organizer of the Gumball Rally, has already begun preparations for a car race that will start in North Korea, cross the DMZ and travel across South Korea, and will consult with the South Korean government soon.
• DPRK Player Wins Gold Medal at Olympiad
  Pyongyang, August 18 (KCNA) -- DPRK player Hong Un Jong bagged a gold medal in the vaulting horse contest of women's gymnastics in the 29th Olympic Games now underway in China. In the final competition held on Aug. 17 Hong made flawless performance requiring high technique from the start by turning herself 900 degrees backward in the air, turning herself 540 degrees frontward in the air and conducting accurate standing. She scored 15.650, the biggest points, placing first in the competition.
• US Olympic team eyes state help
  By Roger Blitz in Beijing Published: August 13 2008 20:07 | Last updated: August 13 2008 23:06 As the US Olympic team contemplates the abrupt loss of its longstanding dominance of the medals table to its Chinese hosts, American officials are looking at asking the federal government for money to make sure it never happens again. In what has the potential to become a sporting version of the cold war, China has poured millions into its state sports system to produce medal winners at the Beijing Games, and the US is positioning itself to retaliate. The US team, which gets no money from Washington, relies on only $150m a year from sponsors, fundraising and a share of revenues from the International Olympic Committee. As a result, China has opened up such a comfortable lead over the US in the race for gold medals that it is poised to top the tally of overall medals for the first time, a position the US has held for 16 of the 24 Games in which it has competed. [China competition]
• DPRK Weightlifter Wins Gold Medal
  Pyongyang, August 13 (KCNA) -- DPRK weightlifter Pak Hyon Suk won a gold medal at the weightlifting competition of the 29th Olympic Games now under way in China. She lifted 241kg total with 106kg in snatch and 135kg in jerk by making a quick jerk and a brilliant show of strength. She thus came first in the 63kg category final competition held on Tuesday.
• Summer Games Medals
  DPRK equal 9th with Britain
• Gumball drivers set to enter NK tomorrow
  August 12, 2008 More than a hundred participants in Gumball 3000, an annual international rally where luxury car owners join to drive around the world, are expected to visit hardly luxurious North Korea tomorrow. Participants, who started their eight-day trip at San Francisco last Saturday, are expected to spend a night in Pyongyang on Wednesday before going on to China to watch the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “All participants will get to experience an unprecedented one night in North Korea as part of a global ‘friendship’ initiative, getting to watch the Mass Games (their version of the Olympics) en route to rejoin their cars in Nanjing,” the rally organizer said in its official Web site (http://www.gumball3000.ro). Owners of 120 cars including Ferraris, Porsches, Corvettes, Range Rovers, Bugattis, Lamborghinis, low riders and electric cars kicked off their 4,830-kilometer (3,000-mile) journey through San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas. Each participant paid $120,000 to take part in the 10th anniversary rally, which will cover Hangzhou, Shanghai and Xuzhou in China before reaching the final destination, Beijing. “Fueled by adrenaline, amusement and amity, the 2008 route from the West to the East, including the city of Pyongyang, North Korea, will be a real once-in-a-lifetime adventure,” Maximillion Copper, Gumball founder, said in a statement. This year’s entrants include actor David Hasselhoff driving KITT from his 1980s “Knight Rider” television series.
• Fair travel’ - making tourism moral
  August 11, 2008 Much like the "fair trade" social movement, which promotes social consciousness in the consumer arena, the new concept of "fair travel" is now pushing tourists to take responsibility for their leisure trips. The new campaign aims to build healthy relationships between travelers and people living in the countries they visit, focusing on morally responsible tourism, beyond simple enjoyment - it is also called "moral" or "sustainable" travel. Seo Jeong-gi, 30, a graduate student at Yonsei University, was one of those practicing fair travel recently. During his trip in mid-June to Dharamsala, India, which hosts the Tibetan government in exile, Seo chose to stay at an inn run by locals and patronized smaller restaurants instead of large resort hotels or fast-food restaurant chains.
• Samaranch Says Seoul Olympics Changed Korea
  By Sunny Lee Korea Times Correspondent BEIJING ? Juan Antonio Samaranch, the honorary president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), doesn't know whether Korea will finish in the top 10 in the gold medal count in the Beijing Olympics, but he's hopeful that Korea will do very well. ``I don't know about the Korea's expected ranking. But I am sure Korea will do very well,'' Samaranch told The Korea Times on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Korea press center for the Beijing Olympics, also known as the ``Korea House.'' Samaranch was the president of the IOC during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. ``I remember very well the immense success of the Olympic Games in 1988,'' he said in a speech at the ceremony, adding ``I will never forget all the good memories I had in Korea.''
• Kaesong tours to get 10,000 won hike
  August 09, 2008 Tourists visiting Kaesong, North Korea, will have to pay an extra 10,000 won ($9.73) starting September. According to the Hyundai Group yesterday, Hyundai Asan has decided to raise its adult weekday tour package price. Prices for students and children will stay the same, along with weekend prices for all tourists. Weekday prices in September for adults will be raised to 188,000 won from the present 178,000 won. Students (primary, middle and high school) pay 170,000 won. Weekday prices for children and infants are 150,000 won and 120,000 won, respectively.
• Asan Pays N.Korea for July Tours
  Despite stalemate over the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at North Korea's Mt. Kumgang, tour operator Hyundai Asan made its July payment for tours to North Korea. Asan said Thursday it paid US$675,250 to North Korea to cover costs accrued by 10,380 South Korean tourists who visited the mountain resort on July 1-11, until the tours halted after a South Korean tourist was shot and killed by a North Korean soldier at Mt. Kumgang.
• North Korea beats Nigeria 1-0 in opener
  By TALES AZZONI The Associated Press Wednesday, August 6, 2008; 9:39 PM SHENYANG, China -- North Korea beat Nigeria 1-0 in women's soccer Wednesday, getting a 27-minute goal from Kim Kyong Hwa on the opening day of Olympic competition. The victory puts North Korea atop Group F after title contenders Germany and Brazil drew 0-0 in the first match of the day at Shenyang Olympic Stadium. The North Koreans have three points, while Germany and Brazil have one each and Nigeria none.
• No talks as Hyundai Asan chief returns home
  August 06, 2008 Hyundai Asan Chief Executive Officer Yoon Man-joon returned from the North yesterday afternoon after no discussions with North Korean officials on how to resolve the Mount Kumgang shooting case. The crucial inter-Korean tourism project is facing an increasingly uncertain future nearly a month after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier at the North’s scenic mountain resort.
• N.Korea Pins Olympic Hopes on Women
  Since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, North Korea has failed to win a single gold medal in the games and is therefore eagerly hoping for a change of fortunes in Beijing, pinning its highest hopes on judo heroine Kye Sun-hui and the women's football team. Kye, at dinner in a North Korean restaurant near the country’s embassy in Bejiing some time ago, was quoted by a waiter as saying she was confident she can win gold. She reportedly made the remarks when she ordered ox tail soup after eating a large quantity of steak tartar and raw fish.
• N. Korea Threatens to Expel S. Koreans From Resort
  By CHOE SANG-HUN Published: August 4, 2008 SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea threatened on Sunday to expel South Korean businesspeople from a joint tourist resort, escalating a standoff over the shooting death of a South Korean homemaker visiting a tourism zone. South Korean visits to the Kumgang Mountain resort, at the southeastern corner of North Korea, had already been suspended since July 11 when North Korean soldiers shot and killed a 53-year-old South Korean woman who strayed off the resort enclave and entered a restricted military zone. About 300 South Korean tourism officials and business people remain there, most of them affiliated with Hyundai-Asan, a Seoul-based company that operates the resort together with the North Korean government.
• Korea Still Hopes for Joint March in Beijing
  Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) President Lee Yeon-taek still hopes for a joint march with North Korea at the Beijing Olympics. / Yonhap By Kang Seung-woo Staff Reporter Korean Olympic Committee President Lee Yeon-taek said Friday that he still has hope that the two Koreas will march together at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympics. ``I will strive to get them marching together,'' Lee said before leaving for China with South Korea's main 56-member Olympic delegation at Incheon International Airport in the morning. The team comprised 25 athletes from weightlifting, gymnastics, cycling and rowing and 31 officials. Since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the two Koreas have marched together in eight international competitions, including the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2006 Doha Asiad. Bilateral ties, however, have been worsening since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in South Korea in February. [SK NK policy]

• Koreans Spend Much More Abroad Than Japanese
  Compared with the Japanese, Koreans spend excessively when they travel overseas given their income level, and this adversely affects the service and current account balance. The Bank of Korea on Tuesday released a comparative analysis of the current-account progress of Korea and Japan, showing that Koreans spent US$20.9 billion, or 2.2 percent of the GDP, on overseas travel, which is 3.7 times more in terms of percentage than what Japanese tourists spent, namely $26.4 billion, or only 0.6 percent of GDP
• Tourist Numbers to Kaesong Dwindle
  The number of South Korean tourists to the North Korean border city of Kaesong has plunged following the fatal shooting of a tourist at the North's Mt. Kumgang resort. Tour operator Hyundai Asan says Kaesong tour reservations fell from 14,455 to 12,065 during the 11 days from July 10, when Park Wang-ja was killed, and last Monday. Cancellations were 16.6 percent, far above the usual 2 percent. Reservations for next month stood at 13,991 on July 10, falling to 13,366 as of last Monday with 625 or 4.5 percent cancellations. In the 10 days since the incident, more than 3,000 people canceled Kaesong tours.
• N. Korea to Send Olympic Cheering Squad to China
  North Korea's cheering squad is expected to arrive in Shenyang, China, Monday to support its national team in the Beijing Olympic Games, which will open Aug. 8, Yonhap News reported quoting sources in China Sunday. "North Korean Olympic supporters are due in Shenyang by train on July 28," one of the sources said, adding that they are mostly women and they will number between 180 and 200. The cheering squad will visit Beijing and Tianjin to cheer for North Korea's teams during the 2008 Olympic Games, which will continue through Aug. 24. They will be joined by ethnic Koreans living in China, Yonhap said.
• N. Korea has high expectations for Olympic success
  Exchange of articles between Hankyoreh and N. Korea’s Tongil Sinbo produces interview with N. Korean sports director
  The Hankyoreh Shinmun received from the North Korean news publication Tongil Sinbo a news article and photographs about the North’s preparations for the Beijing Olympics in what is the first such exchange of articles since the two publications signed an exchange agreement in May. It is also the first agreement of its kind between news media organizations in North and South Korea.
• Koryo Quarterly – August 2008
  As before the big news though in terms of tourism in DPRK is the Mass Games event – this year for the first time two different performances have been arranged with the classic Arirang show being performed on Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat, and the brand new, not-yet-seen (even by the critics!) Prosper the Motherland! taking place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Both of these shows feature the full complement of 100,000 performers in the May Day Stadium and both will run to approx 90 minutes offering anyone who s there the chance to witness what is simply the greatest show on Earth, some information on the events can be found here. The Olympics will pale in comparison… a double dose of Mass Games will undoubtedly be vastly superior to the sight of amateur athletes running around in circles and throwing things!
• English suburbia in the clouds
  By Claire Wrathall Published: July 25 2008 22:03 | Last updated: July 25 2008 22:03 Bound for the Himalayas in search of medicinal herbs needed to save the wounded Lord Rama, the flying monkey god Hanuman paused on Jakhu Hill to rest. The precise location is a detail omitted in the great Sanskrit epic Ramayana but a gaudy temple marks the spot where Hanuman is said to have alighted and a troop of handsome monkeys – reddish-gray rhesus macaques the size of cats – is usually in attendance. At 2,455m, Jakhu is the highest of the seven hills on which Shimla was built (a 2km path rises steeply to its crest from just behind the town’s imposing Anglican church), and the best vantage point from which to survey the town and the sublime mountainscape that surrounds it. The air is cool and aromatic, especially after the stifling heat of Delhi. You can see why Hanuman might have thought to stop here. Indeed, you can see why the British Raj chose this as the site of its summer capital and would move its government here en masse from April till October, when the temperature can be up to 20°C cooler than Delhi. Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh, the state that markets itself as “the land of gods” but it is equally a land of monkeys
• China's Olympic Nightmare What the Games Mean for Beijing's Future
  Elizabeth C. Economy and Adam Segal From Foreign Affairs, July/August 2008 On the night of July 13, 2001, tens of thousands of people poured into Tiananmen Square to celebrate the International Olympic Committee's decision to award the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing. Firecrackers exploded, flags flew high, and cars honked wildly. It was a moment to be savored. Chinese President Jiang Zemin and other leaders exhorted the crowds to work together to prepare for the Olympics. "Winning the host rights means winning the respect, trust, and favor of the international community," Wang Wei, a senior Beijing Olympic official, proclaimed. The official Xinhua News Agency reveled in the moment, calling the decision "another milestone in China's rising international status and a historical event in the great renaissance of the Chinese nation." [China confrontation]
• Over 60 Sportsmen and Sportswomen of DPRK Will Go to Beijing
  Pyongyang, July 23 (KCNA) -- The 29th Olympic Games is scheduled in China next month. �@Jong Hae Man, vice-chairman of the Sports Subcommittee of the DPRK Olympic Committee, told KCNA that more than 60 sportsmen and sportswomen of the country will compete in over 10 events at the Olympics.
• Incredible (for) India…
  Jul 20, 2008 The Incredible India campaign has taken off for the country making the tourism sector witness huge buoyancy in recent times. The marketing strategy has helped India achieve unprecedented growth in terms of both volume and value. Foreign tourists arrivals to the country have grown at a cumulative annual growth rate of 15.86 percent touching almost 4.2 million in 2007, an increase of 12.4 percent compared to 2006. Foreign exchange earnings from tourism registered a cumulative annual growth rate of 30.97 percent in the same period with figures for 2007 closing at $ 11.956 billion – an impressive spike of 33.8 percent over 2006. Domestic tourism continues to surge, showing more than encouraging trends with tourist visits over 461 million in 2006. By 2010, with the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi, India expects to hosts 10 M tourists. Everything seems perfect. The problem: lack of rooms.
  “But there is no decline in corruption in India. The downside to all progress – the power of the bureaucrats has become less too. We have corruption – but the efficient kind,” Bhalla said, comparing theirs with inefficient corruption in Russia, Vietnam and China. [Tourism] [China India comparison] [Corruption]
• Temple Serenity Is a Storming Success
  Foreign participants in a temple stay program at Geumsansa Temple in Gimje, North Jeolla Province take a walk in the woods. /Courtesy of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism Summer is a season of temple retreats, which give you a chance to refresh your body and soul, reflect and find the inner light. The temple stay program was first introduced in 2002, targeting foreign visitors for the 2002 World Cup, and has become one of the most popular cultural activities in Korea. In a survey by the Korea Tourism Organization in 2005 of 2,300 French people, 79 percent said they would like to experience a temple retreat. The program was recently named Best Korean Developer of Seoul Tour Program in the 2008 Seoul Tourism Awards by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
• Why global tourism campaigns do not travel
  By Michael Skapinker Published: July 21 2008 18:12 | Last updated: July 21 2008 18:12 "So where the bloody hell are you?" One of the advertising world’s most derided taglines was formally buried this month when Tourism Australia appointed the DDB Worldwide agency to find a new way to entice visitors to the country. You can still catch the old advertisement online with its school-play acting and excruciating lines ("We’ve been rehearsing for over 40,000 years," chirps an Aboriginal dancer). The UK broadcasting authorities briefly banned the ad from television because of the "swearing", but even that publicity kick was not enough to redeem it. Kevin Rudd, Australia’s prime minister, has described the campaign as a "rolled gold disaster".
    Even more successful was the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, said to have enticed thousands of tourists to New Zealand. Visitors increased by a healthy 5 to 6 per cent annually in the early years of this decade, after the release of the films. They leapt 10.4 per cent in 2005 before dropping slightly in 2006 and then rising by a mere 2.8 per cent last year. Films do make a difference but, as we see in New Zealand’s case, it is not easy to sustain. In spite of the hype, it is also not clear how many people in fact come because of the movie. People who visit a country purely because they have seen a film tend to be slightly unusual. One Tolkien- obsessed US visitor to New Zealand, jan howard finder ("all lower case, like e.e.cummings"), told The New York Times in 2004 that part of the joy of a Lord of the Rings trip was travelling with "15 other nut cases".
• Two Koreas to March 'Virtually' Together at Olympics
  The Olympic teams from the two Koreas will effectively parade together at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony on Aug. 8, although they have not formally agreed to do so, officials of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games said Sunday. During the opening ceremony, teams will parade according to the stroke count of their names written in simplified Chinese characters. Thus "" ("Han") symbolizing South Korea and "?" ("Zhao") meaning North Korea have the same stroke count of 12, and the two characters have the same radical on their left-hand side. The radicals normally serve as classification indicators. As a result, the Olympic teams from the two Koreas are expected to parade one following on the heels of the other.
• Hyundai Asan Faces Punishment for Tourism Project
  By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter The government is considering punishing Hyundai Asan, the operator of the tour project to North Korea, if it is found to have violated the law, the Unification Ministry said.
• Thanks to Olympics, Beijing gets its Eiffel Tower, of sorts
  By Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers BEIJING — London has Big Ben, Paris has the Eiffel Tower, San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge and now Beijing has an iconic structure that's likely to identify the city forever.(sic) It's an audacious monolith that looks like two drunken high-rise towers leaning over and holding each other up at the shoulders. The eye-catching building, which is nearly finished, will be the headquarters of China Central Television, the staid propaganda arm of China's ruling Communist Party, and it's perhaps the boldest and most daring of several new buildings that have given Beijing a stunning new appearance for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games. In keeping with the playful nature of the new buildings, all have weird popular names. There's "the egg" and the "bird's nest." The "water cube" isn't far away, and lastly there's "short pants," also known as the "twisted doughnut." The last of them is the new television building, the CCTV headquarters, and it can nearly make one dizzy standing on the ground and looking up at its odd, teetering 49-story towers connected by a multistory, cantilevered, jagged cross section over open space at a vertiginous 36 stories up in the air. Designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, the building has been called an "angular marvel" and a "dazzling reinvention of the skyscraper."
• Gaeseong tours could be suspended
  Without joint investigation into Geumgang shooting, S. Korea will get tough on North   The government will consider suspending tours to Gaeseong (Kaesong) if North Korea does not ensure the safety of South Korean tourists, referencing the recent shooting death of a female tourist from the South at Mount Geumgang (Kumgang).   Participants in a meeting of the National Security Council on July 18 presided over by President Lee Myung-bak agreed that poor safety measures taken by tour operator Hyundai Asan should be completely checked, according to presidential spokesperson Lee Dong-kwan. Hyundai Asan was very late in reporting on the incident and continued the tour even after the shooting occurred, the spokesman added. It was the first time that Lee has convened an NSC meeting since he took office.
• China’s will to win
  By Mure Dickie Published: July 18 2008 21:29 | Last updated: July 18 2008 21:29 She could not even swim. "When I first saw the boat, I was terrified," recalls Yang, who was 14 when she was recruited in 1997. "Coming from a village, I was scared by any deep water – and now I had to go out paddling in a boat." Yet in an illustration of the power of China’s state-directed sports system, Yang became a world-class kayaker. [Olympics]
• Western Olympic Ads Cheerlead for China
  Ryan Pyle for The New York Times An Adidas campaign showing the Chinese masses supporting top athletes was honored at an international advertising festival.
  By DAVID BARBOZA Published: July 20, 2008 BEIJING — It is becoming increasingly clear which nation global corporations will be rooting for at this summer’s Olympics: China.   Or at least that’s what it looks like from advertisements here. McDonald’s is running a "Cheer for China" television ad. Nike ads feature China’s star hurdler, Liu Xiang, and other Chinese athletes besting foreign competitors. Earlier this year, Pepsi even painted its familiar blue cans red for a limited edition "Go Red for China" promotion. The campaigns for Western companies are part of an advertising blitz the likes of which this ostensibly communist nation has never seen. Ads are papered over bus shelters, projected on giant outdoor television screens and plastered on billboards. Commercials even flicker at commuters as they zoom through subway tunnels. China, already the world’s second-largest advertising market, after the United States, is a dream for consumer product companies. "For most international brands here, China is the growth market for the next 10 years," said Jonathan Chajet, strategic director at Interbrand, which consults on brands.   [IM] [Olympics]
• Beijing to Feel The Strain From Olympic Visitors
  By REUTERS Published: July 20, 2008 Filed at 3:23 a.m. ET BEIJING (Reuters) - There is little doubt at ordinary Beijingers' enthusiasm for next month's Olympic Games. But a whole series of problems that have proven tough to fix could give visitors an Olympic-sized headache, and may put many off coming altogether. From rioting passengers angry at delayed flights to poor foreign language skills, Beijing's tourism infrastructure faces a huge challenge dealing with their guests -- the ones who have obtained hard-to-get visas, that is. "The hardware will be there but the software will be lacking," said Paul French, chief China analyst at research firm Access Asia. Beijing has always known it would have a big challenge on its hands, and started its preparations early, erecting more English signs, correcting the plethora of 'Chinglish' that dots the city, building new roads and expanding the subway network. But a lot of the preparations are aimed at tour groups, which is traditionally how Chinese go on holiday, rather than individual tourists, the common preference of many foreign, especially Western, travelers. [Olympics]
• Beijing opens new subway lines for Olympics
  By Claro Cortes IV Reuters Saturday, July 19, 2008; 6:43 AM BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing opened two new subway lines on Saturday, delayed from a planned late-June start but just in time to carry passengers banned from their cars as the capital tries to clean up its skies before next month's Olympics. Passenger service has yet to start, however, on a third line that will serve the Olympic Green and was the site of an opening ceremony and test ride for the media on Saturday morning. An official with the Beijing subway operating company said it was not clear when the line would begin regular service. The three new lines, which cost 22.3 billion yuan ($3.3 billion) to build and are part of massive infrastructure plans to ease transport during the Games, will increase the city's subway lines to eight and expand their reach by 40 percent to 200 km (125 miles).
  Beijing has largely avoided the problems the last Olympic host, Athens, encountered with delayed infrastructure projects, and has won praise from the International Olympic Committee for finishing venue construction work either on time or ahead of schedule.
• Seoul Could Stop Tours to Kaesong
  The government is reportedly considering a halt to package tours to the North Korean border city of Kaesong unless Pyongyang cooperates in an investigation of the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist at Mt. Kumgang last week.
• North Korea's "Hotel of Doom" wakes from its coma
  Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:56am EDT By Jon Herskovitz SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's phantom hotel is stirring back to life. Once dubbed by Esquire magazine as "the worst building in the history of mankind", the 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel is back under construction after a 16-year lull in the capital of one of the world's most reclusive and destitute countries. According to foreign residents in Pyongyang, Egypt's Orascom group has recently begun refurbishing the top floors of the three-sided pyramid-shaped hotel whose 330-metre (1,083 ft) frame dominates the Pyongyang skyline. The firm has put glass panels into the concrete shell, installed telecommunications antennas -- even though the North forbids its citizens to own mobile phones -- and put up an artist's impression of what it will look like.
• At Royal Balinese Funeral, Bodies Burn and Souls Fly
  Justin Mott for The New York Times As a wooden bull burns, Balinese tradition says, the body within returns to earthly elements and its soul flies up in sparks. By SETH MYDANS Published: July 16, 2008 UBUD, Indonesia — In a roar of orange flame, the body of Agung Suyasa, head of the royal family of Ubud, was reduced to its earthly elements on Tuesday, liberating his soul to fly upward, in a spray of sparks, through the night sky to the heavens. A procession of porters carried the coffin of a member of Bali’s ancient royal family to a platform for its final ride, this time around. In the most spectacular royal funeral in Bali in at least three decades, the energy, mysticism and creativity of this Hindu island came together in the mass cremation of three royal figures and 68 commoners.  
• The Missing Road: Clashing Visions of Development across the Russian-Chinese Border
  Pál Nyíri and Joana Breidenbach
  In 2004, we visited the Altai Republic, a remote mountainous region in Southern Siberia, bordering on Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. For some time, the republic had been supposedly involved in an international collaboration called “Altai: Our Common Home,” supported by the German government. The project focused on economic development, tourism, and — somewhat contradictorily — environmental protection. One of the plan's central elements was a road linking the Altai Republic and China: currently, traffic between them has to detour via Kazakhstan or Mongolia. By the end of 2004, a 140 km road on the Chinese side had been completed, but no progress had been made on the Russian side.
  Xinjiang, on the Chinese side of the border, lies the Altay Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, home to the Lake Khanas National Scenic Area. Like the Altai Republic, it is largely inhabited by a Turkic-speaking population. In recent years, Lake Khanas has become the most popular tourism destination in Xinjiang, and the Chinese government has favoured a road that would connect the lake to the Russian border at the Khanas Pass, facilitating cross-border tourism. Burqin County, where the lake lies, received nearly three-quarters of its income from tourism; its airport has more than 20 flights a day in peak season. The government renovated buildings in the county town's main street in a “European style,” developed a pedestrian shopping and entertainment street “in Russian style,” and a neighbourhood of “European-style villas.” The Chinese government declared Lake Khanas a nature reserve, and—ostensibly for environmental protection, but no doubt also not to disturb the investors—the nomadic Kazak and Mongol herder population has been resettled outside. All tourist accommodation is removed from the shore, and swimming in the lake is forbidden. Nearly two thousand private enterprises operate in Burqin County, and the government claims that locals’ incomes, which only a few years ago had to be supplemented by emergency food aid, had risen dramatically because of tourism-related services.
• Foreign Office urges caution as Kashmir tries to lure back tourists
  Area out of bounds after kidnappings by insurgents · Rafters and climbers among first to return Maseeh Rahman in Delhi The Guardian, Tuesday July 15, 2008 Article history Almost two decades after gunfire first echoed across the mountains of Kashmir, concerted efforts are being made to reintroduce adventure sport and tourism in the Himalayan territory. Tomorrow the inaugural Kashmir Cup international rafting championship will begin on the Sindhu river in Sonamarg, 52 miles north-east of the capital, Srinagar. Men and women from 11 international teams, including Ukraine and the Czech Republic, will participate. "This is just the beginning," said Farooq Shah, director of Jammu & Kashmir Tourism, which is sponsoring the rafting event. "Kashmir is the unexplored frontier of international adventure sport and tourism. There is tremendous scope for a variety of activities besides rafting - mountaineering, trekking, skiing, heli-skiing, trout fishing, high altitude golf." [Separatism]
• Asan Strives to Recover From Shooting
  By Kim Tong-hyung Staff Reporter The fatal shooting of a South Korean woman by a North Korean solider at the Mt. Geumgang resort has Hyundai Asan breathing heavily on the ropes as it struggles to keep its cross-border tourism business afloat. The company has been criticized for what was exposed as its loose control of tourist activities following the death of 53-year-old Park Wang-ja, who is believed to have been shot after wandering into a military zone near her beachfront hotel. With the government suspending tours to Mt. Geumgang indefinitely, depriving the company of its biggest revenue source momentarily, and the chances for a quick resolution looking faint, Hyundai Asan is enduring its darkest hours since former Chairman Chung Mong-hun leaped out of his 12th floor office window in 2003.
• Phone Call From China Transformed ’84 Games
  By LYNN ZINSER Published: July 14, 2008 The call he will never forget came for Peter Ueberroth in the middle of the night on May 12, 1984, over a crackling phone line from Beijing. It carried the news he believed would determine the fate of the Olympics, not just the Games he was working to organize in Los Angeles that summer but all the ones beyond.
  At the other end of the line was Charles Lee, the man he had sent to persuade the Chinese to send their team to the Olympics for the first time. Ueberroth, the leader of the Los Angeles organizing committee, was asking China to defy a Soviet Union-led boycott that was announced four days earlier. The Soviets said the boycott would keep 100 countries away from the ’84 Games. If the Soviets succeeded, Ueberroth said flatly, “we were done.” Salvation came when Lee called and told Ueberroth, “They’re coming.” As the world prepares for the Beijing Games in August, that moment is all but lost in the history of the Olympics, when the winds shifted and carried the Games away from a political bludgeon in the cold war to the combination of athletic and commercial success they have become since.
  Ueberroth, now 70 and the chairman of the United States Olympic Committee, will lead the American team into China with a deep sense of gratitude. He believes China saved the Olympics.
• Hyundai Asan to start tours of western side of Mt. Geumgang in June
  Hyundai Asan Co., an affiliate of South Korean conglomerate Hyundai Group, said Wednesday it will begin tours of the western side of Mt. Geumgang on the eastern coast of North Korea in June. The company has conducted tours of the mountain's eastern side, which faces the East Sea, since 1998 but the other side has been closed to outsiders so far for security reasons. Hyundai Asan Chief Executive Officer Yoon Man-jun and North Korean tour officials reached an agreement Monday to start the tour program in June, the company said.
• China: Stirring Dragon, Leaping Numbers
  The Chinese inbound travel and tourism industry has reason to be bullish. UNWTO's 'World Tourism Barometer' for June reveals sustained strong interest in China (PRC) in 2007, with arrivals totalling 54.7 million pushing it to the fourth in the world rankings behind France, Spain and the US. China's arrivals fell short of the US by less than 2 million arrivals. And from a revenue standpoint China received just under US$42 billion last year, not much less than that received by Italy (US$42.7 billion). There's also reason for the rest of the world to be bullish about China. Outbound travel from China has continued to grow in both volume and expenditure. Mainland travellers last year generated US$29.8 million as they moved around the globe. In US$ terms, China now ranks 5th in the world in the travel expenditure rankings. Only 13 years ago, in 1995, the aggregate tourism expenditure by Chinese travellers was less than US$4 million.
• The Beijing Olympics in Keywords
  A Beijing Olympics 10 yuan note, part of memorial currency unveiled The Beijing Olympic Games have the motto "One World One Dream.” The world the host country dreams of, however, lies elsewhere -- to achieve a return to a Sino-centric China in politics, economy and culture. The basic concept of the opening ceremony of the Olympics appears to be a return to the spirit of the Tang Dynasty, which built an empire in its heyday. The acclaimed film director Zhang Yimou, who is in charge of directing the opening and closing ceremonies, said, "We're going to attempt to compress China's 5,000-year history into a single event." Preparing the sporting event, the Chinese have tried to represent all things Chinese -- thought, culture, tradition and customs. [IM] [Country image]
• India's Star Shines Bright
  India presents the perfect place for PATA Travel Mart 2008 (PTM2008), as the country's tourism industry is among the strongest, most dynamic in the world and still shows plenty of room for growth.
  Between 1996 and 2006, the Indian outbound market expanded nearly 10% per year. In 1996, Indians made nearly 3.5 million trips. By 2006, the number of outbound trips topped 8.3 million. These outbound numbers combined with a double-digit growth rate in inbound last year to around 5 million make India "one of the shining stars" in Asia Pacific travel and tourism, according to PATA's Strategic Intelligence Centre.
• Beef Protests Disrupt Tourism Industry
  Travel and tourism agencies that deal with foreign visitors are suffering because of the anti-U.S. beef protests which have continued for two months in downtown Seoul. A travel official whose agency provides school excursion trips for Japanese students says many Japanese parents who have sent their children to Seoul are calling to make sure of their safety. The Japanese Embassy in Seoul has issued an alert on its homepage advising Japanese tourists and residents not to be swept into the protests. [Boycott]

• KTO Spices Up Tourism
    By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter Korea lacks natural or historic tour resources appealing to foreign tourists. That's why it needs to develop cultural or unique tour products to attain its goal of making tourism a new growth engine for the country. Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), marking its 46th anniversary Thursday, has devoted itself to promoting the tour industry. It is now putting a greater focus on unearthing competitive cultural contents and exploring medical tour options to develop them into attractive tour programs. Its efforts to develop new tour products are bearing fruit. The number of foreign visitors to Korea reached 2.75 million during the five months to May, growing more than 10 percent from a year earlier. The tour agency's tour promotion is seen as having brought 2.3 million visitors out of 6.4 million incoming tourists in total in 2007, according to the Tourism Sciences Society of Korea. [IM]
• Latest no-shows for Beijing Olympics: Tourists
  By Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers BEIJING — China says the welcome mat remains out for tourists who want to attend the Beijing Summer Olympics, but foreigners apparently view the invitation as a little prickly. Tightened visa regulations, a major earthquake in southern China, unrest over Tibet and a scarcity of tickets to Olympics events have combined to slow the torrent of foreigners once forecast for this summer. When the Olympic Games begin Aug. 8, television cameras are likely to pan over venues filled largely with Chinese faces, few foreigners among them.
• Two Koreas Battle to Scoreless Draw
  South Korea's Oh Jang-eun, right, and North Korea's Mun In-guk compete for the ball during their World Cup qualifier at Seoul World Cup Stadium, Sunday. / Yonhap By Kang Seung-woo Staff Reporter South and North Koreas played to a scoreless draw in their final match in the third World Cup qualifying round. In the first FIFA-organized match which was held on the Korean Peninsula between the two sides on Sunday night, the Huh Jung-moo-led South Korean squad predominated over the opposing team through the full 90 minutes, but had to leave the ground with no decision. Irrespective of the match's result, the two Koreas have already earned appearances to the final qualifying round.
• Governments readying for increase in mainland visitors
  Publication Date:06/20/2008 By John Scott Marchant Following the announcement of direct weekend charter flights beginning July 4, the central and local governments began stepping up efforts to prepare for the expected influx of mainland Chinese visitors. The historic accords, signed between Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits June 13, will allow for 36 services between Taiwan and mainland China each week. They will operate Friday to Monday, with carriers from each side running 18 flights. Taiwan will allow a maximum of 3,000 mainland tourists a day starting July 18. [Straits]
• North Korean national football team arrives
  The North Korean national football team arrive at the Incheon International Airport Thursday ahead of its World Cup qualifier against South Korea at the Seoul World Cup Stadium Sunday. [photo]
• India's Star Shines Ever Brighter
  India's outbound market is continuing to boom, fuelled by a strong increase in new air services. According to the statistics just released, outbound travel to Asia Pacific destinations grew from 3.5 million trips in 1996 to 8.3 million trips in 2006 - an average increase of almost 10% a year. Singapore led the way in 2006 with 660,000 arrivals, followed by Thailand, the US, China (PRC) and Hong Kong SAR. Last weekend, Jet Airways became the first Indian private airline to launch flights to China, starting a service that will connect the thriving financial hubs of Mumbai, Shanghai and San Francisco
• The List: Top Tourist Spots Americans Can’t Visit
  Page 1 of 1 Posted June 2008 Looking for someplace special to spend the Fourth of July? FP investigates five fabulous destinations where a summer getaway is next to impossible.
  Mount Kumgang, Kumgangsan Tourist Region
  Location: North Korea’s east coast Why you should go: It’s an unspoiled spiritual retreat. Mount Kumgang and the surrounding area feature exquisite natural beauty, a famous Zen monastery, and challenging trails for hiking enthusiasts. Nearby Kuryong Falls plunges 242 feet before crashing into a series of lagoons below. A pavilion allows easy viewing of the falls, and mountain paths take travelers more than 5,000 feet up for a stunning panoramic view of the surrounding valleys and the white-sand beaches of the Korean coastline. Enjoy the latter while you can, as electric and barbed-wire fences make access to these beaches rather difficult. Why you can’t: Because it’s almost impossible. Americans can acquire visas for North Korea, but the only access points are through China and South Korea. Tony Poe, a travel agent based in Little Rock, Arkansas, says that although the North Korean regime has begun to allow U.S. tour groups entry, “you’re basically under quarantine” the entire time. American tourists (of which there have been fewer than 500 since the Korean War ended in 1953) are generally restricted to Pyongyang and the surrounding areas, with Kumgangsan essentially off limits. Straying too far from the tour group is strictly forbidden, and the nonexistent U.S. Embassy and Consulate aren’t going to be of much help if you get into trouble with the Stalinist regime’s notorious secret police. [Disinformation] [media]
• Going green. Everyone’s doing it and those who aren’t, want to know how they can.
  By Ken Walsh, CTIE | Jun 04, 2008 Going green. Everyone’s doing it and those who aren’t, want to know how they can. Some companies are starting small by replacing their old light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs and switching off computers and printers at night, while other companies are undertaking much larger initiatives like purchasing carbon offsets when they purchase airline tickets and becoming a designated recycling center for their community. Regardless of how they decide to get involved, companies today understand the value of becoming more environmentally-friendly. ASTA also understands this and as part of its commitment to the environment and the travel community, it created the Green Member Program for travel professionals and companies. ASTA saw how important the green movement was becoming, but realized that in terms of progressing the movement, American efforts weren’t up-to-par with Europe’s. European travelers have been demanding more green alternatives for quite some time now, while American tourists are just now starting to learn about their options and the importance of responsible travel. [Green] [IM]
• China’s Pride: A 24-Karat Olympic Machine
  Doug Kanter for The New York Times Rowing is unfamiliar to most Chinese, but their national team, in the gym and on the water, is among the world’s best. More Photos > By JULIET MACUR Published: June 1, 2008 QIANDAO LAKE, China — When Igor Grinko, a former Soviet coach with an impressive résumé, agreed to take over the Chinese rowing team four years ago, Olympic officials outlined their expectations with a simple equation: one gold equals 1,000 silvers. The Coach China’s coach, Igor Grinko, once led the Soviet and U.S. teams. "Silver? It means nothing here; you might as well finish last," he said. More Photos » "Silver? It means nothing here; you might as well finish last," Grinko said. "Coaches like me come, help them win gold medals, or we are fired." In anticipation of China’s debut as an Olympic host, officials here have seized the opportunity to prove their country is a world power in sports. Rowing is at the heart of China’s plan to capture, for the first time, more gold medals than any other nation at the Olympic Games.
• Cuba woos Indian travellers
  By Anil Mathur | May 30, 2008 NEW DELHI, India (eTN) - Only a few years ago, it would have been difficult to comprehend, but today communist Cuba is wooing Indian traveler. The move comes follows a recent trip to India by a strong Cuban delegation s touring India to see how the numbers Indian travelers to Cuba can be increased. In 2007, some 3000 Indians travelers visited Cuba for leisure. Cuba Tourism marketing director Mayra Penichet said while in Delhi that she and her delegation were looking forward to catering to a larger number of Indian travelers. Though she didn’t divulge numbers, three travel agents in Cuba are dealing with Indian operators currently. The Cuba delegation said they are aiming to increase the awareness on Cuba, which has seven UNESCO heritage sites. Scuba diving and other water activities are attractions being highlighted, apart from beauty of nature and culture. Recently the country was in news for promoting golf. Cuba receives some two million tourists a year--some 600,000 are from Canada and 200,000 from the UK

• Olympic Sponsors Cheer the Home Team
  Western businesses are harnessing Olympic fervor in China and playing up national pride in their advertising campaigns
  McDonald's China launches the sponsorship logo for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at a 2005 ceremony. STR/AFP/Getty Images by Chi-Chu Tschang SPECIAL REPORT Business and the Olympics More Red Tape for Olympic Advertisers Olympic Sponsors Cheer the Home Team Video Piracy's Olympic Showdown Podcast: Chinese Nationalism and the Olympics Olympic Diplomacy: Don't Fear China China's Li Ning Toe-to-Toe Against Nike and Adidas Beijing's Olympic-Sized Headaches Multinationals and the Beijing Games As a sponsor of the Beijing Olympics, McDonald's (MCD) has built most of its global marketing campaign around the idea of people from all over the world coming together in a festival of sport. The company's ads exhort people to "Celebrate Olympics with McDonald's." But within China, where pride in hosting the games is running high and feelings are sensitive because of the Tibetan protests and the Sichuan earthquake, this universalism gives way to something else. For its Chinese marketing, McDonald's dispenses with appeals to unity and friendship and instead focuses on cheering for the home team. Its slogan in Chinese is "wo jiu xihuan zhongguo ying." The translation: "I'm loving it when China wins." The nationalist campaign demonstrates the company's "deep-seated commitment to the people of China, the Chinese government, and the Chinese Olympics," says Jeff Schwartz, McDonald's China's chief executive officer. "I think that's going to resonate very, very strongly with all the Chinese consumers." [IM]
• For foreign tourists, U.S. is Filene's Basement
  By Britney Maloney | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — The shoe's on the other foot now. For years, American tourists plundered Europe's shops with strong dollars and hauled home bargains. Now, foreign visitors bearing Euros and other robust currencies shop giddily in America, feasting on iPods and other electronics, U.S. fashions, books and other sweet deals. [Decline]
• Bali tourism gets OK back from US gov’t
  By Yusof Sulaiman | May 27, 2008 Bali tourism, after having been in the dark shadows of terrorist activities, may soon be on the road to recovery. The US government has endorsed the Indonesian tourism capital by lifting its almost decade-long travel advisory. The move is expected to have a domino effect on Bali's tourism, with other countries following the US action.
• Luxury golf, spa resort open in Kumgang today
  May 28, 2008 Kumgang Ananti Golf Club, the first golf course built by a South Korean company in North Korea, opens today. Provided by the company The first golf course built by a South Korean company in North Korea is scheduled to open in Mount Kumgang today. The 18-hole golf course at Kumgang Ananti Golf and Spa Resort will host 25 groups of players selected by lottery among its members on its first day, said Kim Min-jung, a spokeswoman for course builder Emerson Pacific Group.
• Travel Experts Say Indian Tourism On Rise
  A five-year-long economic boom in India has led to a dramatic rise in the number of Indian tourists heading overseas for a vacation. Anjana Pasricha has a report from New Delhi. A teacher in Delhi University, 54-year-old Nandini Guha, is packing her bags to fulfill a long-cherished dream - a holiday to Europe with some friends. Guha loves to travel, but like most middle class Indians, she was unable to afford overseas vacations until recently. "Things were much more expensive and it was difficult to plan a holiday, especially abroad," said Nandini Guha. "But now it is a little easier to take a holiday like this." Indians can now travel more easily thanks to an economic boom that has raised incomes and fueled consumer spending. The growth of low-cost carriers in recent years has slashed air fares, and made travel more affordable. Five million Indians traveled overseas last year. The number is expected to triple, to more than 16 million by 2011, according to travel industry associations. The growing number of Indian tourists has prompted countries as far apart as China, Ireland and New Zealand to open tourist offices in India to tap into the large market. [IM]
• 10 top affordable Delhi hotels
  At last, Delhi has a decent choice of mid-range hotels between the hostels and five-star luxe. Here are 10 of the best Claire Colley guardian.co.uk, Tuesday May 20 2008 One of the bugbears of travel to India has been the lack of good affordable accommodation, especially in Delhi. Choice has largely been limited to hostels, or five-star luxury at a painful £150 a night. Changes are afoot however. India's astonishingly rapid economic boom, along with the fact that Delhi is hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games means that a profusion of mid-range hotels and B&Bs are popping up everywhere. Unusual for Delhi, they are reasonably priced, clean, quiet and well run. Here are 10 of the best:
• Orascom and DPRK to complete Ryugyong Hotel construction
  Posted Date : 2008-05-20 (NK Brief No. 08-5-20-1) Sources recently returning to China from Pyongyang have reported that North Korea has resumed efforts to complete the 105-story Ryugyong Hotel. With only 20 buildings in the world taller than the 330-meter structure, it would be by far the largest building in all of North Korea. Baekdu Mountain Architects and Engineers began building the highrise in 1987 but halted construction in 1992 amid economic hardships and rumors of structural deficiencies. The North has been seeking foreign investment of up to 300 million USD to complete the structure. Traders in Shenyang, China with ties to Pyongyang say the North has now found that funding, partnering with Egypt’s Orascom Group. Orascom has publicized significant investment plans for North Korea in the last twelve months. Orascom Telecom Holding announced on January 30 of this year that it had been granted the first-ever commercial license to provide WCDMA 3G technology-based cellular service to North Korea, and put forth plans to invest 400 million USD to create a nationwide infrastructure. This deal followed on the heals of Orascom’s first venture into DPRK investment, announced in mid July, 2007, when Orascom Construction Industries purchased a 50 percent stake in the North’s Sangwon Cement Factory near Pyongyang. This venture involved the injection of 115 million USD, which is being used to modernize the facility and increase production capacity from 2.5 million tons to 3 million tons per year. In addition to Orascom Telecom Holding and Orascom Construction Industries, the Orascom Group also includes Orascom Hotels and Development and Orascom Technology Solutions. [FDI] [JV]
• N. Korea resumes construction of luxury hotel
  SHENYANG, China, May 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea resumed the construction of a highrise hotel building in Pyongyang last month, which was suspended for nearly 20 years due to funding problems, informed sources here said Monday. The construction of the luxury Ryugyong Hotel began in 1987 with French capital and technology for completion in 1992. The 105-story building has long been left uncompleted since early 1990s amid North Korea's chronic economic problems. [FDI] [JV]
• Hyundai Asan Losses From N.Korea Tours Mounting
  Hyundai Asan is in trouble as losses mount from its package tours to North Korea. According to the Financial Supervisory Service on Sunday, Hyundai Asan suffered a net loss of W9.64 billion (US$1=W1,041) in the first quarter this year, three times greater than the W3.34 billion in the corresponding quarter last year. Despite the large number of tourists, which, at 125,000 as of mid May this year, nearly doubled since last year, it is the largest loss reported since the tours to Mt. Kumgang began in 2004. Over 45,000 people have traveled to the North Korean city of Kaesong since the tour program began in December 2007, and it is almost certain that the company would reach its goal of 100,000 tourists for this year. The reason for such struggle is the weakness of the won against the U.S. dollar, since North Korea charges admission fees to Kaesong and Mt. Kumgang in dollars -- US$ 100 for one and $80 for the other per person for three days and two nights. As the dollar has risen more than 10 percent since the beginning of the year, from W940 to W 1,040, so has the initial cost. The tour program to Kaesong has reportedly gone into the red already. Moreover, Asan has to pay off $200 million of North Korean foreign debt in return for the license to develop Mt. Kumgang granted in 1999.
• Mass Games expanded
  British run Koryo Tours have just been informed that this year’s Mass Games in North Korea have been expanded to include two different events, both staged in Pyongyang’s May Day stadium with a full compliment of 100,000 performers
• What can the West Gain from Politicising the Olympics?
  EAI Bulletin, East Asia Institute, National university of Singapore [China confronTation] [Olympics] [Softpower]
• Landmark Report Launched on Maximising China's Tourism Potential
  By PATA COMMUNICATIONS BEIJING, CHINA (PRC), May 8, 2008: With the world’s attention firmly on China (PRC) in the run-up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has produced a landmark report on how the country’s tourism potential can be maximised. Endorsed by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), and sponsored by Visa, ‘Realising China’s Tourism Potential: Recommendations for Future Development’ is the first definitive international study that presents a roadmap for growth and management of the US$100bn industry. Poised to become the world’s most popular tourist destination within a decade, mainland China stands to benefit not only from international tourist arrivals but also a massive increase in domestic tourism as the country’s economy booms.
• Chinese travelers follow their palate when they travel
  Strong regional differences among Chinese travelers 30 Apr 2008 Shanghai Nielsen’s latest China Outbound Travel Monitor reveals that when choosing a leisure destination, Chinese people are following their taste buds as they travel around the world. Not surprisingly, affordability topped the list of key factors (61%) influencing Chinese people’s choice of destination, but good food was a close second with 58 percent of respondents considering it an important factor when choosing a leisure destination. "With limited knowledge about many overseas destinations, Chinese outbound travelers are more likely to visit famous landmarks and major tourist attractions than they are to visit little known or niche regions. But knowing that Chinese people are influenced by good food provides a unique opportunity for marketers to tap into the fact that Chinese are influenced by destinations known for their good food,” said Dr Grace Pan, Head of Travel & Leisure Research, The Nielsen Company China.
• FIFA Says World Cup Qualifier Stays in Seoul
  The International Football Federation (FIFA) has effectively dismissed North Korea's proposal to relocate the venue for the qualifier for the 2010 World Cup against South Korea, which is scheduled to be held in Seoul on June 22. The Korea Football Association said Wednesday it received an official notice from the FIFA confirming the date, time, venue, and referee of the game. The match will be held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. with a Malaysian referee.
• Emotions High as Olympic Flame Scales Everest
  By REUTERS Published: May 8, 2008 Filed at 4:25 a.m. ET EVEREST BASE CAMP, China (Reuters) - The Olympic flame reached the top of Mount Everest on Thursday, an emotional high for China and the crowning moment of a Beijing Games torch relay that was mired in anti-Chinese protests on its world tour. "Long live Tibet!" and "Long live Beijing!," the climbers, all wearing red, shouted joyously into a TV camera after unfurling the Chinese national flag, the Olympic flag and a flag bearing the Beijing Olympic logo. Rights groups criticized the climb as politically motivated, saying China had used the torch to underline its claim to sovereignty over Tibet.
  Beijing student Huang Chungui passed the flame to ethnic Tibetan woman Ciren Wangmu, who trudged the final steps unaided by oxygen to hold the torch aloft. That prompted jubilation among the reserve climbers, officials and a small team of journalists who had endured thin air at high altitude, sub-freezing temperatures and basic sanitation for nearly two weeks as they waited for the final ascent. The tent to which the live pictures were relayed from the summit was rent with cheers and tears, and several renditions of the Chinese national anthem echoed out across the Himalayas. The Everest climbing team, which included 22 Tibetans, eight Han Chinese and one man from the Tujia minority, had been on the mountain for more than a week preparing the route along the north-east ridge.
• N.Korea Wants to Move World Cup Qualifier
  North Korea is apparently hoping to relocate the venue for the World Cup qualifier for the 2010 World Cup against South Korea, which is scheduled to be held in Seoul on June 22. The homepage of the Asia Football Confederation reported on Tuesday that North Korea’s Football Association vice president Son Kwang-ho visited the AFC Office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday to discuss "a number of footballing matters with AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam, including the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup match against Korea Republic in Seoul on June 22, 2008." The Korea Football Association has not been officially notified of the details of the discussion between Son and Bin Hammam. In March, in another qualifier game between South and North Korea originally planned for Pyongyang was moved to Shanghai, China after North Korea violated FIFA regulations by refusing to raise the South Korean flag and play the South’s national anthem. North Korea insisted on raising the unified Korean Peninsula flag and playing the famous folk tune "Arirang" instead. It now argues that the return match should therefore also be played in another country.
• Seoul Steps Up Campaign to Upgrade Tour Business
    Samuel Koo By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter Tourism is what a country should develop on its way towards becoming a developed nation, as tourism is a barometer of a country's attitude toward foreigners, said Samuel Koo, president and CEO of Seoul Tourism & Marketing. Seoul Tourism & Marketing is a corporation that Seoul city government set up with 16 tourism-related companies in March in its aim to invite 12 million annual travelers to the capital by 2010, and Koo is the inaugural head.
• More South Koreans toured North Korea despite chill in ties
  SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Korean tourists heading to North Korea's scenic Geumgang Mountain nearly doubled in the first four months of this year, industry sources said Sunday, despite strained inter-Korean relations following the launch in February of the conservative Lee Myung-bak government. North Korea has reacted angrily to Lee's pledge to get tough on North Korea unless Pyongyang abandons its nuclear weapons programs, threatening to turn South Korea into ashes, suspending all inter-Korean dialogue and expelling South Korean officials from the inter-Korean industrial complex in the North's border town. The industrial complex in Kaesong and the Geumgang Mountain tourism project are among the conspicuous inter-Korean economic cooperation projects agreed on at the unprecedented inter-Korean summit in 2000 between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. As many as 100,300 South Koreans toured Mount Geumgang so far this year, up from 58,000 a year earlier, according to a spokesman for Hyundai Asan, Hyundai Group's arm dealing with business with North Korea. Hyundai Asan officials expect more than 500,000 South Korean to visit the North's mountain resort this year alone, up from last year's 350,000. A total of 40,090 South Koreans also visited the North's medieval capital city of Kaesong during the first four months this year, Hyundai officials said, adding they recently increased the daily quota for South Korean visitors to Kaesong to 500 from 300. The tours of Kaesong began last December and then President Roh Moo-hyun, and Kim Jong-il agreed last October to launch another tour project for South Koreans in North Korea's Baekdu Mountain, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula which has long been considered a sacred place and the birthplace of the Korean nation. "The fact that so many South Korean tourists visited North Korea's Kaesong and Geumgang Mountain this year despite the chillied ties shows that the places are attractive in their own right as sightseeing places," a Hyundai Asan official said.
• Tours to Mount Baekdu not likely to resume this year
  N. Korean airport facilities in dire need of repairs and upgrade
  Tours to Mount Baekdu are expected not to resume this year due to problems with the infrastructure of North Korea’s Samjiyon Airport, the closest airport to the mountain resort.   According to a report on Mount Baekdu tours, which was prepared by a joint inspection team composed of government officials and civilians and submitted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to GNP lawmaker Chin Young, of the National Assembly’s Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee on May 5, the facilities at Samjiyon Airport were old or had problems.
• Awaiting Tourism Deal, Taiwan Is Primed for More Mainland Chinese Visitors
  Christie Johnston for The New York Times Tourists in Taipei took photographs in January at a memorial hall formerly named for Chiang Kai-shek. Sites associated with him are popular among visitors from mainland China, whose numbers in Taiwan may soon grow under an anticipated tourism deal. By JONATHAN ADAMS Published: May 5, 2008 PULI, Taiwan — At his hotel here, a short drive from scenic Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan, Chang Tse-yen is already making plans for a possible boom in tourism from mainland China.
• Beijing Air Terminal Goes All Out for the Games
  In China, an Airport Colossus for the Olympics Adorned with the colors of imperial China and a roof that evokes the scales of a dragon, the massive glass- and steel-sheathed structure, designed by the renowned British architect Norman Foster, cost $3.8 billion and can handle more than 50 million passengers a year. The developers call it the "most advanced airport building in the world," and say it was completed in less than four years, a timetable some believed impossible. It opened in late February with little fanfare, but also without the kind of glitches that plagued the new $8.7 billion terminal at Heathrow in London, a project that took six years to complete. This is the image China would like to project as it hosts the Olympic Games this summer — a confident rising power constructing dazzling monuments exemplifying its rapid progress and its audacious ambition.
• Korea, Japan Declare 2008 as Tourism Exchange Year
  Last year was a significant one for both Korea and Japan, as the two countries saw a combined number of almost 5 million tourists from each other. And tourism ministers from both countries took another step to boost the already blooming tourist industry.
• Chinese cheer Olympic torch in peaceful Vietnam relay
  By Grant McCool Reuters Tuesday, April 29, 2008; 10:22 AM HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) - Crowds of Chinese waved red national flags and cheered the Olympic torch in Vietnam on Tuesday, the last international leg of its harried voyage around the world.  
• Olympic torch finishes first-ever relay in N. Korea
  The Olympic torch's first-ever relay in North Korea, one of the closest communist allies of China, was marked by enthusiasm Monday, media reports said, despite anti-Chinese protesters having marred the event elsewhere in the world.   The torch travelled a 20-km route through the North Korean capital where about 400,000 citizens lined in the city's main streets, waving paper flowers and small flags, according to Chinese news reports.   The torch is to leave for Vietnam in the evening before going to Hong Kong and Macau.  
• Torch Relay for 29th Olympic Games Held
  Pyongyang, April 28 (KCNA) -- The torch relay for the 29th Olympic Games was held in Pyongyang on Monday. A ceremony of starting the torch relay took place in the plaza of the Tower of the Juche Idea at 10 in the morning. Present there were Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, Pak Hak Son, chairman of the Korean Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission who is chairman of the DPRK Olympic Committee, and Pak Pyong Jong, first vice-chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee, and other officials concerned and working people in the city.
  The torch bearers covered 20 odd kms from the Tower of the Juche Idea to the Kim Il Sung Stadium, passing the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, the April 25 House of Culture, Jonsung Square, the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium, the Pyongyang Grand Theatre, Kim Il Sung Square and the Arch of Triumph being accorded enthusiastic welcome from hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life who turned out to the routes with pennants of the two countries.
• Well-organized Olympic relay completed smoothly in Pyongyang
  Video

• Chinese Turn Out in Force for Seoul Torch Relay
  The Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, southwestern Seoul was swarming with over 6,500 Chinese students and residents in Korea on Sunday afternoon holding or wrapping their bodies in Chinese flags. Many carried banners declaring, "We love China", "We will let real China known to the world", and "Tibet belongs to China forever."
  Kim Seong-yong (71) from Seoul, who witnessed the event, said he had "never seen so many Chinese flags waving in central Seoul, not even during the Korean War."
• Reports: N.Korea to Surprise World with Torch Relay
  Pyongyang has been busy preparing for the torch relay coming to the North Korean capital. Japan's Kyodo News Agency and China's official Xinhua News Agency say North Korea vows to wow the world on Monday.  
• S. Korea expresses regret over torch relay violence
  South Korea expressed "strong regret" Monday over clashes between anti-China activists and Chinese residents during Sunday's Olympic torch relay amid concerns that public outrage here may harm Seoul-Beijing ties.   The Foreign Ministry said Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon met with Chinese ambassador to Seoul Ning Fukui and delivered a message of regret.
• Pyongyang leg of Olympic torch relay begins: reports
  The North Korean leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay got off to a peaceful start Monday with thousands of citizens enthusiastically waving pink paper flowers and Chinese flags, news reports said.   It marked the Olympic torch's first run in the reclusive North.       Kim Yong-nam, head of the North's rubber-stamp Supreme People's Assembly who acts as ceremonial head of state, presided over a ceremony to mark the start of the leg, according to the Associated Press.   Kim passed the torch to the first runner Pak Du-ik, the North Korean soccer striker who led his national team to the quarter finals of the 1966 World Cup, the AP said.   Thousands more cheering people lined Pyongyang's city streets waving pink paper flowers and the national flags of the North and China as well as small flags displaying the Beijing Olympics logo, as Pak began the 20-km route through the North Korean capital, according to news reports.   The Choson Sinbo, the newspaper of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, said Monday Jong Song-ok, the North's marathon heroine, will be the last of the North's 80 torch runners. The group was composed of 56 North Koreans, including three residents in Japan, and 24 Chinese people, it said.   The flame arrived in Pyongyang's Sunan Airport before dawn aboard a chartered flight from South Korea over the West Sea.
• Tensions mount as Olympic torch approaches Seoul
  Tensions are rising in South Korea Friday ahead of Sunday's arrival of the troubled Olympic torch amid fears over a possible clash between Chinese residents and human rights activists preparing welcoming and protesting events, respectively. [China confrontation]
• Olympic torch tours Canberra unimpeded
  By Peter Smith in Canberra Published: April 24 2008 04:28 | Last updated: April 24 2008 07:10 The Olympic torch was shepherded through the streets of Canberra on Thursday amid a large security presence as thousands of Chinese supporters descended on the Australian capital determined to counter the high-profile protests being mounted around the world by pro-Tibet campaigners.   [Reassertion]
• S. Korea scrambles to find torchbearers for this weekend’s torch run
  Civic leaders refuse to participate in protest against rights violations in Tibet
  The hosts of the Beijing Olympic torch when it comes to Seoul on April 27 are scurrying to find torchbearers in the wake of announcements by Koreans previously designated to run with the torch that they are now refusing participate. The torch run is being organized by the Korean Olympic Committee and the Seoul city government. [China confrontation]
• Torch Relay for 29th Olympic Games Supported
  Pyongyang, April 12 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Olympic Committee of the DPRK gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA in connection with the torch relay for the 29th Olympic Games: The torch relays for the 29th Olympic Games to be held in China in August this year are now underway amid the support and welcome from sportspersons and other people of various countries. However, there occurred incidents of creating difficulties in the way of events in some countries. The Olympic Committee of the DPRK positively supports the above-said torch relays taking place in line with the Olympic idea of peace and friendship and vehemently condemns some disruptive forces' obstructions as a challenge to the Olympic idea. It is our belief that the international community including the International Olympic Committee will conduct the above-mentioned torch relay in the Olympic idea and spirit as planned. The Olympic Committee of the DPRK is now pushing ahead at a final phase with all preparations for successfully ensuring the torch relay slated to take place in Pyongyang on April 28 in close touch with the Organizing Committee of the 29th Olympiad. This event will take place in the most secure and smooth manner as planned in the DPRK where all the people have formed a big harmonious family, single-mindedly united around the WPK, a great party.
• Never mind the Olympics! - North Korea puts on a more impressive performance
  If you are in Beijing during the Olympics you will be missing the biggest show on earth - the Mass Games in Pyongyang, DPRK (North Korea). British-run Koryo Tours (specialists in tourism to North Korea since 1993) were contacted today by the North Korean authorities who announced that they are staging the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang’s May Day stadium (capacity 150,000 - the highest in the world) between August 4th and September 30th 2008.
• Bush to attend Olympic opening ceremony
  By Demetri Sevastopulo and Daniel Dombey in Washington Published: April 9 2008 06:23 | Last updated: April 9 2008 06:23 President George W. Bush will not skip the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing to protest the Chinese government crackdown on protestors in Tibet, according to a senior US official. Ambiguous comments from the White House sparked speculation on Tuesday that Mr Bush might be considering a boycott of the opening ceremony. Asked several times whether the president was considering attending only the sporting events, Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman, replied: "I would not put it that way".   The White House has privately criticised European threats to miss the opening event. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, will not attend the ceremony, while Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is considering a similar move. Tibet witnessed its worst bloodshed in two decades in early March as long-standing unrest escalated into violent protests that sparked a Chinese government crackdown. World leaders have called on Beijing to reopen talks with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, to resolve the tensions.
• Joint inter-Korean Olympic squads in limbo: officials
  The two Koreas appear stalled in their efforts to field joint athletic and cheering squads for the Beijing Olympics amid a recent freeze in their relations, sporting officials said Tuesday.
• Air China opens Beijing-Pyongyang route
  + - 20:53, March 31, 2008 An Air China Boeing 737 landed at Pyongyang Sunan Airport Monday, launching the company's direct flight service from Beijing to Pyongyang, the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Flight CA121 will take off from Beijing at 1:40 p.m. local time (05:40 GMT) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and arrive in Pyongyang at 4:20 p.m. (07:20 GMT). Flight CA122, the return flight, will leave Pyongyang at 5:20 p.m. local time (08:20 GMT) and arrive in Beijing at 6:05 p.m. (10:05 GMT).  
• Koryo Quarterly
  Newsletter from Koryo Tours in Beijing
• Islamic hotels in demand in Mid East
  By Aftab H. Kola | Apr 07, 2008 DUBAI (eTN) - Islamic hotels are becoming increasingly popular with Muslims and non-Muslims alike for their quiet, family-friendly approach, according to the manager of one of Dubai’s oldest establishments. Islamic hotel brands are springing up in the UAE and the Middle East with their developers citing the concept’s popularity and as Jawhara Group general manager Hani Lashin quotes, a nearly 100 percent occupancy, even in Dubai, is hard to argue with. Jawhara, including Jawhara Gardens, Jawhara Apartments and Jawhara Metro, was the first company with an Islamic hotel in Dubai 27 years ago and the collection of hotels has since been certified to international standards, as well as being Shariah-compliant. [Islam] [Halal]
• London may forgo 2012 procession after global protests against Beijing Games
  IOC revising organisers' proposal for world relay · Officials concerned over damage to Olympic brand Paul Kelso, Vikram Dodd and Tania Branigan The Guardian, Tuesday April 8 2008 Article historyAbout this articleClose This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday April 08 2008 on p3 of the Top stories section. It was last updated at 03:24 on April 08 2008.     The International Olympic Committee will consider abandoning plans for an international torch relay in advance of the 2012 Games following the violent protests that accompanied the Olympic flame's progress through Paris and London in the past two days. Olympic sources said yesterday the IOC was likely to review its position on relays in light of the clashes, a move that would undermine Britain's plans to stage an international event in the build-up to 2012. During their successful bid the London Games' organisers committed to holding a domestic relay, and said they would consider staging an international "journey of hope and reconciliation". After Sunday's troubled event in London, those plans were already under review. The IOC's move may yet take the decision out of their hands.

• Shanghai Stalemate Leaves Huh Few Excuses
  South Korean striker Seol Ki-hyeon, left, was ineffective against the North Koreans in their World Cup qualifier in Shanghai Wednesday. / Yonhap By Kim Tong-hyung Staff Reporter Since taking the job in December, South Korea football manager Huh Jung-moo pledged to rebuild the national team into a flamboyant and resilient squad that is tough to beat, an expanded version of his own traits as a former midfielder. However, after the Taeguk Warriors labored through a goalless and gutless draw against North Korea in a World Cup qualifier in Shanghai, China, Wednesday, it's hard to deny that the all-new Huh era is looking much like the old Pim Verbeek era that was as dull as ditchwater. The Shanghai showdown was among the most anticipated sporting events of the young year, and Huh clearly hoped his squad would flex its muscles against a less-heralded North Korean side before a nationally televised audience.
• Tours to Highest Peak in Mt. Kumgang to Open in April
  Beginning in April, Birobong, the highest peak in North Korea's Mount Kumgang range, will be opened to visitors. South Korean tour operator Hyundai Asan will start tours to "inner" Kumgang early next month, while tours to the mountaintop will begin later in mid-April, owing to inclement weather conditions at the summit. Last year, some 350,000 tourists visited Mount Kumgang, but Hyundai Asan says it is expecting that number to grow by nearly 25 percent this year. The tour company will make one last visit to the area at the end of this month to determine whether the 16-km-long Birobong trek will be a day trip or require an overnight stay.
• South and N.Korea Face Off in World Cup Qualifiers
  South and North Korea battled it out in a much-anticipated game to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The showdown ended with no goals scored. The game took place on neutral turf in Shanghai after North Korea refused to let the South raise its flag and play its national anthem in Pyongyang, the original venue. South Korea, ranking 47th in the world, seeks its seventh straight ticket to the World Cup
• Koreas draw in World Cup qualifier
  North Korea held South Korea to a scoreless draw Wednesday in an Asian World Cup qualifier at the neutral venue of Shanghai, China, keeping the Cold War rivalry alive on the pitch. The divided Koreas exchanged heavy fire and counterattacks throughout the match at Hongkou Stadium as their top players showcased their speed and power to knock their opponents out.
  During the first half of the match, North Korean midfielder Hong Yong-jo nearly stunned the South Korean squad when he rifled a powerful mid-range shot in the 27th minute that went wide of the right post.   South Korea returned a similar threat in the 60th minute when Kim Do-hyun, who is with with England's West Bromwich Albion, launched an impressive ground shot that was stopped by the hunching North Korean goalie, Ri Myong-guk.   Seol Ki-hyeon, summoned from the English Premier League club Fulham, also came close to breaking the stalemate two minutes into the second half when he rushed into the penalty area and nearly deflected a lob pass into the North Korean net with his right foot.   The North's top striker, Jong Tae-se, also had his chance to claim a goal in the 66th minute when he possessed the ball over the penalty spot and fired a shot that flew off the pitch after hitting South Korea's charging goalie, Jung Sung-ryong.   South Korea summoned three of its English Premier League players, including Park Ji-sung of Manchester United and Lee Young-pyo of Tottenham Hotspur, for the match while North Korea sought to stun its opponent with its regular target man, Jong.   Jong, who plays for Japan's professional Kawasaki Frontale club and is nicknamed "North Korean Wayne Rooney" among the Seoul press for his speed and agility, scored an equalizer to hold South Korea to a 1-1 draw in an East Asian derby on Feb. 22 in China. [IM] [Services] [Opening]
• Koreas to collide in World Cup qualifier
          South and North Korea will face off against each other Wednesday in an Asian qualifier for the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer finals in South Africa, reviving their Cold War rivalry on neutral ground in Shanghai, China.
• Tensions, hope rise ahead of inter-Korean World Cup
  What makes Wednesday's rare inter-Korean World Cup qualifier interesting is not just the fact that the countries sharing the last Cold War frontier on earth are squaring off on the pitch. Nor is it simply that the match comes after North Korea refused to allow South Korea to raise its national flag and play its national anthem in the initial venue, Pyongyang, leading FIFA to compromise by ordering them to play in the neutral city of Shanghai.   It is worth noting, among others, that South Korea, which ranks 47th in the world and seeks its seventh straight World Cup ticket, is in no mood to enjoy complacency ahead of its showdown with the 126th-seeded North.   "Individually, we're more talented, but North Korea has the ability to attack quite fast and skillfully," South Korean manager Huh Jung-moo said before departing for the Chinese city with his squad on Sunday. "It is threatening when the North Koreans quickly reverse from defense to offense."
  North Korea had insisted that the two Koreas jointly use a flag depicting the Korean Peninsula and a traditional folk song in Pyongyang for the March 26 match, prompting the intervention by the world football governing body.  
  South Korea has a record of five wins, four ties and one loss against the North. North Korea has not appeared in the World Cup since 1966, when it stunned the world by reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament in England.
• Playing Games: The Two Koreas and the Beijing Olympics
  Brian Bridges
  For divided nations such as the two Koreas, which by their very rationales are involved in a highly-charged competition for legitimacy with their other ‘part-nation’, the Olympics have been a particularly potent arena for political posturing. This article examines the troubled history of the two Koreas’ endeavours to out-do each other in the Olympic movement, the prospects of a joint Korean team for the Beijing Olympics being realised, and the potential Chinese role in the run-up to those Olympics, which mean so much to China.
• Asia Pacific Tourism Revenues set to soar to us 4.6 Trillion by 2010
  March 19, 2008 in Travel Related (Forimmediaterelease.net) Despite concerns over a US recession, PATA's new Forecasts predict a bright future for the region, with China (PRC) and Korea (ROK) set to generate strong outbound growth to Asia Pacific destinations. SINGAPORE, March 19, 2008 - The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is forecasting robust growth for travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region, with tourism revenues to top US$4.6 trillion and visitor arrivals to reach close to 500 million by the end of 2010. [IM] [Tourism]
• S. Koreans May Get Chance to Golf in Pyongyang
  A South Korean company operating tours to North Korea said Thursday it was preparing to launch a rare program that would allow South Korean visitors to play golf in the North's capital. Seoul-based Pyeonghwa Air Travel Agency Corp. said it has agreed "in principle" with North Korean officials to offer the golf tour for South Koreans from June and is waiting an approval from the South's Unification Ministry. "We are receiving pre-sales orders to start the golf tour to Pyongyang as soon as we get the ministry's permission," said an official at Pyeonghwa Air. Pyeonghwa Air is an affiliate of Pyeonghwa Motor, which has exclusive rights to produce cars for the North Korean market. [FDI]
• Crossings by vehicle to Mt. Kumgang to be allowed
  March 08, 2008 This road, parallels to an inter-Korean railway, will open next week to tourists who want to drive to Mount Kumgang in North Korea. [Joint Press Corps] Tourists bound for Mount Kumgang in North Korea will be allowed to take their own cars to pass the military demarcation line starting next week, Hyundai Asan said yesterday. The access will remain limited, however. The visitors can only drive straight to their hotel. Once there, they will be required to take a designated bus to tourist attractions. The Hyundai Group¡¯s inter-Korean business arm, which has an exclusive deal with North Korea for tourism programs, said in a release that a maximum of 20 cars will be permitted per day. The program has been designed to last two nights and three days. Only vehicles which have 12 seats or less will be allowed to cross the border. It will be the first time South Korean civilians drive their own vehicles across the heavily armed North-South border.
• Visa-Free Visit Planned for Chinese
  By Kim Tae-jong, Park Si-soo Staff Reporters Beginning this summer, the government plans to allow visa-free entrance for Chinese nationals. Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han said Friday the measure is part of ongoing efforts by the new government to attract more tourists. ``The ministry will continue to ease visa restrictions on Chinese nationals so that we can get more Chinese tourists and hopefully help boost the economy,'' Kim told reporters at Incheon International Airport. [Tourism]
• Anthem, flag flap still unresolved for Korean FIFA match
  March 06, 2008 The Korea Football Association, South Korea¡¯s governing body for football, yesterday refuted a Tuesday news report that the FIFA flag and anthem will be used in the World Cup qualification match between the two Koreas in Pyongyang on March 26.

• N. Korea’s cultural diplomacy not extended to sports
  [Editorial]     The Northerners are acting irrationally about a preliminary match between North and South Korea scheduled for March 24 in Pyongyang. The match is being held in advance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which is to take place in South Africa. Following the breakdown of the working-level planning meeting yesterday in Gaeseong (Kaesong), the Korean Football Association, or KFA, has decided to ask the Federation Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, to intervene. The match could end up being played in a third country, or it is even within the realm of possibility that the match could be declared a forfeit by North Korea’s national team.   The North insists the "Korean Peninsula Flag" (bandogi) be flown and the traditional Korean song "Arirang" be played at the start of the game, instead of the official flag and anthem of South Korea, but this is a demand that goes against FIFA regulations  
• Pyongyang Match Likely Relocated
  By Kim Tong-hyung Staff Reporter South Korea football manager Huh Jung-moo might be spared from a daunting trip to Pyongyang's massive Kim Il-sung stadium after all. With North Korea continuing to refuse South Korea to display its flag and play its national anthem in their World Cup qualification match in Pyongyang next month, the South's Korea Football Association (KFA) plans to submit the matter to FIFA for arbitration.
• A Peek Behind North Korea’s Iron Curtain
  By HILARY HOWARD Published: February 24, 2008 The Berlin Wall might be a thing of the past, but the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea — the world’s most heavily armed border — is still a modern-day phenomenon. Americans who’d like to take a peek behind North Korea’s Iron Curtain, including the zone have a chance to do so this fall with two tours offered by Snow Lion Expeditions (www.snowlion.com), a Salt Lake City-based travel company. "We have a crack in the door for Americans to get in," said Steve Pastorino, vice president of marketing for the company, who has found a way to procure visas for Americans through a partnership with Koryo, a British consortium of documentary filmmakers and tour guides who work regularly in North Korea.
• Pyongyang to start using buses with air conditioning: report
  SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will begin using more than a hundred new buses with air conditioning for the convenience of a growing number of foreigners visiting Pyongyang, a U.S. government-funded radio station reported Tuesday. Pyongyang's municipal people's committee recently requested a Chinese bus manufacturer to install air conditioning in 110 new buses to be used in the capital city, Radio Free Asia said.
• S. Korea Draws With North in Chongquing [Chongqing]
  North Korean defender Nam Song-chol, center, clears the ball for goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk during a match against South Korea in the East Asian Football Championship being held in Chongqing, China, Wednesday. / Yonhap By Kim Tong-hyung Staff Reporter South Korea failed to protect a first-half lead and played out a 1-1 draw against North Korea in the East Asian Football Championship in Chongqing, China, Wednesday. The match was a preview for next month's World Cup qualifier between the two countries and South Korea boss Huh Jung-moo surely isn't looking forward to the scheduled visit to Pyongyang's massive Kim Il-sung Stadium.
• Airlines Vie for Mt. Baekdu Tours
  By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter Competition is getting fierce among local airlines to grab the business opportunity in the Mt. Baekdu tourism project as Hyundai Asan, the main operator, gears up for the official launch in May. According to industry sources Monday, Hyundai Asan has been discussing possible flights to the mountain on the border area between North Korea and China along with some minor airlines as well as the country’s flagship carriers. In particular, the opportunity seems open to minor firms such as Jeju Air and Hansung Airlines, which provide low-priced flights, as planes with around 100 seats are most suitable for the Samjiyeon Airport ? the only airport to Mt. Baekdu ? which has a narrow runway.
• Two Koreas agree to send 600-strong joint cheering squad to Beijing Olympics
          South and North Korea agreed Monday to send a 600-strong joint cheering squad to the Beijing Olympic Games in early August using a cross-border railway, the Unification Ministry said.  

• N. Korea lures foreign tourists to soccer match
  North Korea has invited foreign tourists to a rare soccer match between the two Koreas, set to kick off in Pyongyang in late March, a foreign tourism agency said Wednesday. North Korea is to face South Korea on March 26 in a regional qualifier for the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa. The two Koreas will also meet in Seoul on June 22 in another qualifier under FIFA's home and away match system. It will be the first match between the national soccer teams of the two Koreas in Pyongyang since 1990, when a friendly was held to symbolize hopes for reunification.
• North Korea, last Cold Warrior standing at Games
  By Jon Herskovitz Reuters Tuesday, January 15, 2008; 8:31 PM SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean athletes will enter the 2008 Beijing Olympics with pluck, a soldier-like fighting spirit and a completely different concept of international sport to the one embraced by former Cold War allies. Eastern Bloc states used to spend heavily on sports systems that turned out Goliaths, whose victories at the Olympics were used to validate what they argued was a superior political system. The impoverished North, however, is much happier playing the role of David where its rare victories are attributed to the teachings of pudgy leader Kim Jong-il and its losses are blamed on a playing field made unfair by its foes. "North Korea's paranoid nationalism can use defeat just as well as it can use victory," said Brian Myers, an associate professor at the South's Dongseo University who specializes in analyzing the North's ideology. The reclusive North spends its limited resources to inspire its masses and not to impress the outside world on the playing field. [Media]
• Eager South Koreans Tour a Semi-Open City in the North
  By NORIMITSU ONISHI Published: January 4, 2008 KAESONG, North Korea — Under the gaze of a bronze statue of Kim Il-sung standing atop a hill, a convoy of 11 buses packed with South Koreans wound its way through this quiet city center in North Korea, which was opened up to daily tours early in December and is now suddenly host to hundreds of mostly South Korean tourists seven days a week. Bus No. 1 came to a halt at a street corner, temporarily blocking two middle-aged North Korean women from crossing the street and producing a telling moment in the short history of tourism in the North. Finding themselves only feet away from North Koreans — real, live North Koreans who were neither guides nor minders — the South Korean tourists stared at the two women outside, some even pressing their noses against the bus windows. The two women, wearing gray overcoats and the kind of high-heeled boots that seemed to be in fashion here, smiled in embarrassment. Then they waved at the South Korean tourists, who waved back just as the bus started moving. And so went a recent visit to Kaesong, the product of a rare period of relative openness in the North, which strictly controls even the glimpses it provides of itself to the outside. Waved to, most women waved back. Men nodded. Schoolchildren, who could be seen going about unaccompanied by adults, did not fail to return a wave. [EWA]

• Tours to Gaeseong start Dec. 5
  Fee includes visits to historical sites and Gaeseong Industrial Complex
    Hyundai Asan Corp. will run tourist trips to the North Korean border city of Gaeseong (Kaesong) beginning on December 5. The one-day tourist fee will be 180,000 won per person and includes transportation, food and traveler’s insurance. The number of tourists will be limited to 300 each day, and they will be divided into three groups for separate bus tours around the area.   The tour includes a visit to the 37-meter Bagyeon Falls, which is one of three attractions in Songdo, and Gwaneum Temple in the morning. In the afternoon, tourists will visit traditional and historical sites such as Goryeo Museum and Seonjookkyo, the bridge where ranking Goryeo official Jeong Mong-ju was killed by Lee Seong-gye, who was the founder of the Joseon Dynasty. Visitors will be served a lunch composed of food traditional to Gaeseong and will cross the Military Demarcation Line around 5 p.m. via Gaeseong Industrial Complex. [Kaesong]
• South, North Korea to Face Off in World Cup Soccer Qualifier
  South and North Korea were drawn together in the same group for the 2010 World Cup preliminary competition Sunday, meaning the cold war rivals will compete against each other for the first time in 15 years for a place at the tournament in 30 months time.
• Olyroos heading to Beijing
  November 21, 2007 North Korea 1 Australia 1 Hero .. Mark Milligan scored the all-important equaliser. Photo: Getty Images Advertisement The Olyroos have fought back from near-disaster to qualify for the Beijing Olympics with a 1-1 draw against North Korea in Pyongyang tonight.  Skipper Mark Milligan's header in the 70th minute secured Australia's under-23s the point they needed to top Group A and secure their passage to next year's Games. The Olyroos trailed for most of the match after being caught napping defensively after just 10 minutes. Striker Pak Chol Min nipped in between Milligan and goalkeeper Danny Vukovic, then lobbed neatly over the keeper's head to give the home side the lead. Despite being out of contention to qualify, North Korea torched the Aussies in the first half, peppering their goal while the Olyroos struggled to master a plastic pitch and near-zero temperatures in the North Korean capital.
• Package Tours to Pyongyang ‘Likely in 2009’
  South Koreans may be able to go on package tours to Pyongyang from as early as 2009, while tours to the historic city of Kaesong on the North Korean side of the border will start on Dec. 5. Meeting the press at the North’s Mt. Kumgang on Sunday afternoon on the ninth anniversary of tours to the mountain resort, Hyundai Asan CEO Yoon Man-joon said, "We are pushing for tour packages of Mt. Baekdu and Pyongyang. Mt. Baekdu tours will start in May next year."
• NK Told to Think About Hosting Asian Games
  WASHINGTON _ North Korea was encouraged to think about hosting the Asian Games as a way of bolstering its economy at a meeting last week with U.S. experts, sources here said Monday. The suggestion came from Victor Cha, former Asia director at the National Security Council who returned to teach at Georgetown University, according to the sources. Kim Myong-gil, North Korea's deputy chief of mission to the United Nations, "took note" of the suggestion, they said.
• Agreement on Tourism between North and South of Korea Published
  Pyongyang, November 3 (KCNA) -- An agreement on tourism between the north and the south of Korea was published. The Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee and Hyundai Group agreed as follows after discussing the issues related to tourism between the north and the south of Korea in Pyongyang: 1. The Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee decided to grant Hyundai Group the right to conduct the tour of Mt. Paektu. ‡@ Both sides agreed to start the tour of noted places in Mt. Paektu from May of 2008. ‡A They agreed to conduct the tour of Mt. Paektu by use of Mt. Paektu-Seoul direct air service. 2. The Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee decided to grant Hyundai Group the right to conduct the tour of Kaesong area. Both sides agreed to start the tour of historic sites and scenic places in Kaesong area from early in December of 2007. 3. The Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee and Hyundai Group agreed to take practical measures for the tour of Mt. Paektu and Kaesong area. This agreement takes effect from the date of its signing. November 3, 2007 Pyongyang Choe Sung Chol Hyon Jong Un Vice-Chairman Chairwoman Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee Hyundai Group

• S.Korean Tourists Injured in N.Korean Bridge Accident
  A tourist (right) hangs from Mooryong bridge near Guryong Falls on North Korea's Mt. Kumgang as rescuers pull people to safety. Around 20 South Korean tourists were injured when the bridge tilted on Monday./Yonhap A group of South Korean tourists at Mt. Kumgang in North Korea were hurt on Monday when they fell 5 m from a bridge near Guryong Falls. About 20 were injured, five of them seriously. The accident reportedly happened when the bridge tilted to one side after an iron buckle failed under the weight of the tourists. The bridge was designed to hold only five people at a time, but the tourists were apparently trying to cross it in a crowd. Some 1,300 tourists were visiting the falls at the time as this is the peak tourist season for the area. Most of the injured are seniors in their 60s or 70s on a package tour. Hyundai Asan said it checked the safety of all the facilities in the area, including the collapsed bridge, earlier this year and in August, September and October. The accident was not due to its negligence, the tour company said.
• Hyundai Head to Visit N.Korea for Mt. Baekdu Talks
  Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun is planning a trip to Pyongyang to discuss tours to Mt. Baekdu, including direct flights to the mountain area as agreed upon at the inter-Korean summit. The chairwoman's visit is intended to thresh out plans for the non-stop flights to Mt. Baekdu from Seoul. Hyundai Group plans to offer the tours from April next year.
• Hyundai Group hopes to operate new North tours
  October 06, 2007     Hyun Jeong-eun Hyundai Group may soon be able to expand its tourism program in North Korea from the Mount Kumgang program to the city of Kaesong and Mount Paekdu, the highest mountain on the Korean Peninsula. The group's chairwoman, Hyun Jeong-eun, discussed the plan with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during the presidential summit earlier this week. Hyun, one of 17 business representatives who accompanied South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun on his trip to the North, talked about her trip and future plans during an exclusive interview with the Joongang Ilbo on her way to the office yesterday morning.
  Q. We heard Kim talked a lot about Chung Mong-hun (Hyun's late husband). A. Yes, Kim often talked about my husband, like how the two got together to drink makgeolli and how my husband admired the unspoiled beauty of Mount Paekdu.
• NK taekwondo in Los Angeles:
  A female North Korean taekwondo practitioner receives a bouquet of flowers on arrival at Los Angeles, Thursday. The North Korea taekwondo team is to give demonstrations in the U.S. for the first time.   [photo]
• South and North Koreans to travel by train to Beijing Olympics
  First inter-Korean cheering squad will take rail link from Busan to Beijing via Pyongyang North and South Korea are about to create their first "official" joint cheering squad for an international sports event. Even better, the cheering squad is going to go to the 2008 Beijing Olympics via the Seoul-Sinuiju railway connecting North and South Korea.

• New Cable-cars Operated on Mt. Paektu
  Pyongyang, September 21 (KCNA) -- New cable-cars started on operation on Mt. Paektu, the ancestral mountain of Korea. �@The cable-cars run between the Paektu Station and the Hyangdo Station on the peak of Mt. Paektu under the Paektusan (Mt. Paektu) Revolutionary Battle Site Cableway Management Office. �@The new cable-car has more seats than the former one and its exit is so convenient that many people get on and off at one time. �@Its vibration and noises are little. And visitors can command a bird's eye view of the splendid and beautiful scenery of Mt. Paektu through the wide windows. �@The cable-car service will provide better convenience to the visitors.
• DPRK Weightlifter Wins World Men's Weightlifting Title
  Pyongyang, September 19 (KCNA) -- DPRK weightlifter Cha Kum Chol won the title in the 56kg category at the World Men's Weightlifting Championships for 2007 held in Thailand. At the 56kg category contest held on Sept. 18 he lifted a total of 283 kg (snatch 128kg, clean and jerk 155kg) to come first and win a gold medal. And he also placed second in snatch and clean and jerk events respectively.
• NK reaches quarters finals
  North Korea’s Ri Un-suk, right, celebrates with Ri Kum-suk, center, and Ri Un-gyong after Ri Un-suk scored against Sweden Tuesday during their Group B match at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament in Tianjin, China. North Korea lost 2-1, but advanced to the quarter finals. [Photo]
• N. Korea Ousts Sweden Despite Loss
  Sweden 2, North Korea 1 Associated Press Wednesday, September 19, 2007; Page E10 TIANJIN, China, Sept. 18 -- North Korea advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup, finishing second in Group B despite losing, 2-1, to Sweden on Tuesday. The teams finished tied with four points each, but North Korea advanced because of a better goal differential. Sweden needed to win by at least three goals to advance.
• FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007
  
• Two Judoists From Two Koreas Win World Championship
  South Korea's Wang Gi-chun beat Azerbaijan's Elnur Mammadli to grab the gold medal in the men's under-73-kilogram class in the 25th World Judo Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, the Korea Judo Association said. Wang gave his country the first gold in world judo championships in four years. Lee Won-hee and two other South Koreans won golds in the World Judo Championships held in Osaka, Japan, in 2003.
  North Korea's Kye Sun-hui, meanwhile, defeated Spain's Isabel Fernandez to win gold in the women's under-57-kilogram category. It is her fourth world championships title since 2001.
• DPRK Women Football Team Beats Nigerian Rival
  Pyongyang, September 14 (KCNA) -- The DPRK women football team beat its Nigerian rival 2-0 in the game of Group B of the 2007 Women's World Cup held in Chengdu, China on Friday.
• N.Korea Becoming Tourist Spot for Young Chinese
  As the economic gap between China and North Korea widens, more and more young Chinese people are traveling to North Korea to see the sort of poverty their parents endured, China's Xinkuai Bao reported on Thursday. About thirty years ago, before Deng Xiaoping began reforms, China's economy was similar to that of North Korea. But now youngsters from China which is brightly illuminated at night are visiting North Korea where the electricity is cut off after dark.
  The tourists usually go by train to North Korea through the Chinese border city of Dandong. The Chinese youngsters look different from their North Korean counterparts, with their trendy clothes, digital cameras, and loud laughter at tourist attractions like Panmunjon. North Korean authorities ask the tourists to use the euro, but the Chinese prefer to use the Chinese yuan. That means the yuan is now accepted as hard currency at most sightseeing spots in North Korea.
• North Korea Wounds Temporarily Shorthanded U.S. Team
  By JERÉ LONGMAN TAGS: NORTH KOREA WOMENS TEAM, US WOMENS TEAM, WOMENS WORLD CUP
  SEPTEMBER 11, 2007,  8:37 AM In the post-Mia Hamm era, the United States women’s soccer team is being billed by Nike, its corporate sponsor, as “the best team you never heard of.”
  On second thought, that distinction might belong to North Korea
• Some Stitches in Time Help Americans Gain a Tie
  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: September 12, 2007 CHENGDU, China, Sept. 11 (AP) - Blood streaming from a gash on the top of her head, Abby Wambach came off the field. For 10 minutes, the United States played short-handed while she got stitches. North Korea did not waste its opportunity. The United States allowed two goals with Wambach off the field - one on a mistake by goalkeeper Hope Solo - and then rallied for a 2-2 tie Tuesday in its opener at the Women's World Cup.
• U.S. Team Is Ready for the World
  By Steven Goff Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, September 10, 2007; Page E04 CHENGDU, China, Sept. 9 -- The U.S. women's national soccer team has been in China for almost two weeks adjusting to the time difference and climate. The players have practiced without distraction and studied film. They've explored Shanghai, visited a panda reserve here in Sichuan province -- "they were cute," team captain Kristine Lilly confirmed -- and seen a towering statue of Mao Zedong presiding over Tianfu Square in the heart of this southern city. So now what?     "We just want to play," striker Abby Wambach said Sunday following an hour-long training session at Chengdu Sports Center Stadium. "We're so ready. We've been ready for a long time." For Wambach and the Americans, the wait will finally end Tuesday (5 a.m. Eastern) when they open their Women's World Cup schedule against North Korea, the first of three potentially troublesome Group B matches.
• DPRK Women's Football Team Attracts World's Attention
  Pyongyang, September 6 (KCNA) -- The DPRK women's football team has attracted the world's attention by establishing a new record at the Asian regional qualifier for the 29th Olympics. The DPRK team won all the six games in the Group B. It netted 51 goals in the matches, thus becoming the top goal-scorer among all the eight teams of Asia. It exceeded the 45 goals the four teams of the Group A made in 12 matches. It was 24 more than those of the Japanese team and 11 more than those of the Australian team.
• Air Koryo
  Passenger comments
• How to get there
  The overwhelming majority of foreigners travel to North Korea via China. The North Korean national airline, Air Koryo, has three regular flights per week linking Beijing and Pyongyang.
• North Korean taekwondo team to tour U.S. in October
    A North Korean taekwondo team will visit the United States for the first time in October for a goodwill tour in major cities, an Internet web site said Friday. Taekwondo Times, a magazine on martial arts, said about 20 performers and masters will arrive in the U.S. on Oct. 4. They will perform first in Los Angeles on Oct. 6 and travel on to San Francisco; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Louisville, Kentucky. The tour ends in Atlanta on Oct. 14. The Los Angeles performance is expected to be aired on U.S. television.

 
• South Koreans now spectators
  United States, North Korea advance to round of 16 in tournament August 27, 2007
    The South Korean team, acknowledging fans in Ulsan Friday after beating Togo 2-1, has been eliminated. [YONHAP] In the end, winning just one game in the group stage wasn't enough to get South Korea into the round of 16 at the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The host country did its part to stay alive in the tournament, beating Togo 2-1 Friday and securing third place in Group A with three points. South Korea was hoping to take one of four wild card spots, awarded to the top-four third-place teams from six groups.
  On Wednesday, Spain faces North Korea in Ulsan; Tunisia plays France in Changwon, South Gyeongsang; Peru meets Tajikistan in Suwon, Gyeonggi; and Brazil battles Ghana in Gwangyang, South Jeolla. On Thursday, Argentina meets Costa Rica in Goyang, Gyeonggi; Nigeria faces North Korea in Gwangyang; England plays Syria on Jeju Island and Germany faces the United States in Cheonan, South Chungcheong. On Wednesday, Spain faces North Korea in Ulsan; Tunisia plays France in Changwon, South Gyeongsang; Peru meets Tajikistan in Suwon, Gyeonggi; and Brazil battles Ghana in Gwangyang, South Jeolla. On Thursday, Argentina meets Costa Rica in Goyang, Gyeonggi; Nigeria faces North Korea in Gwangyang; England plays Syria on Jeju Island and Germany faces the United States in Cheonan, South Chungcheong.
• DPRK Women's Football Team Places First at 24th Universiad
  Pyongyang, August 18 (KCNA) -- The DPRK women's football team placed first by trouncing its Russian rival 1-0 in the finals of the 24th Universiad held in Bangkok on August 17. In the preceding matches Korean girls won overwhelming victories over its Irish, Thai, German and south Korean rivals and beat its Brazilian rival, supposed to be a winner, 4-3.
• North Korea Meets England
  By Kang Seung-woo Staff Reporter The Opener between dark horses at the FIFA U-17 World Cup will draw world football fans' attention to South Korea. Mysterious North Korean U-17 football squad, who was veiled but has shown up on the world football stage recently will take on powerhouse England in the first preliminary match of Group B at Seogwipo World Cup Stadium in Jeju at 2:00 p.m. The young North Koreans, led by manager An Ye-gun, arrived in South Korea on August 7, becoming the first visitor among participants and have trained in secret including two closed-door friendly games.
  England defeated South Korea 4-0 in a closed-door match last Saturday and it will go all-out against North Korea assuming it will have an easy win over New Zealand in that the Korean side had a 4-0 win over the Oceanian country.
  In addition, Jeju citizens' rooting will be an x-factor to the North Korean players in facing England. ``The players are excited because it's their first World Cup. ``They are very, very proud to represent their country and needless to say, all the people back home are eagerly looking forward to the team's triumphant return. ``So far, the players have been preparing well. I am very confident that we will qualify from the group and that we will defeat England in the opening game. I am hoping that we qualify for the semi-finals,'' North Korean manager An said. Meanwhile, the opening match will be aired to North Korea live.
• Korea goes from military barracks to tourism complexes
  By Yusof Sulaiman l eTN Asia
  Is North Korea on track to become the next Communist country to emerge from its troubles to tourism? A company based in South Korea has announced plans to turn North Korea's east coast into a major tourist destination.
  Hyundai Asan, the South Korean operator of privatized tours in North Korea, has announced its plans to spend US$3 billion by 2025 to develop its tourism complexes in the North's east coast into a major tourist destination.
  The company said it plans to develop the coastal area from North Korea's eastern port city of Wonsan to Haegeumgang, near Mount Geumgang, where it has built a mountain resort. Mt. Geumgang, divided into three parts--Naegeumgang (inner, western part), Oegeumgang (outer, eastern part) and Haegeumgang (seashore), has long held a spiritual allure for Koreans and will now be accessible daily starting this summer season, instead of three times a week in the past. Located just north of the border between the two Korea's east coast, the complex has attracted 1.5 million visitors since 1998, up to now mostly consisting of South Koreans. Official records show 8,000 other visitors came from 48 countries. "This year we are targeting 400,000 visitors," said Yoon Man-joon, CEO of Hyundai Asan. "We are expecting a large number of visitors to go camping at the resort complex since inter-Korean ties are good,” he added. "Since campers are not allowed to cook due to environmental and safety reasons, they can have their meals at the hotels and restaurants." Part of Hyundai Asan's marketing strategy is to develop new tour programs to the other side of the mountain, in addition to water sports activities. The company said it is expecting increased tourist arrivals following restoration of the railway services linking South Korea to the north. "First they came by ship, then by road and now by train," remarked a tourist guide from the North. "We hope South Koreans will come to experience a taste of the future, undivided Korea." North Korea has also opened a new hiking trail at the Diamond Mountain resort, run by South Korea's Hyundai, in a further proof of its openness to the world. Hyundai is now waiting for approval from North Korea's environmental experts, expected to be confirmed by September, said the CEO for the South Korea-based group.
• North Korean youth soccer players arive
  North Korean youth soccer players arrive yesterday at Incheon International Airport. The North Korean team will participate in the U-17 World Cup organized by FIFA in South Korea from Aug. 18 through Sept. 9. [Photo]

• War Museum Visited by at least 550,000 Foreigners
  Pyongyang, July 27 (KCNA) -- At least 550,000 foreigners visited the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum over the past more than 50 years since it was opened to visitors in Juche 42(1953). Exhibited at the museum are materials and evidence proving that the army and people of the DPRK heroically defeated the armed invasion of the U.S.-led imperialist allied forces under the leadership of President Kim Il Sung in the Fatherland Liberation War. [Statistics]
• Unification Politics of the Olympics
  by Victor Cha
  What happened to Pyeongchang's failed bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics? Hosting the games would have been a major achievement for the ROK. Not only would it have marked the second time that Korea hosted the world for the Olympics, but also the first time the Winter Games would have been held in Asia outside of Japan (the previous two occasions were Nagano in 1998 and Sapporo in 1972), and collectively only the sixth time since 1896 that the Games would have been held in Asia.
  There is no reason that a better, stronger South Korean athlete should give up her place on the team to an inferior DPRK athlete. The ROK bid for 2014 Pyeongchang was well done in the end. But next time, don't play the unification card again. It doesn't work anymore. Victor Cha served as a White House advisor on Asia from 2004 to 2007. He is now a professor at Georgetown writing a book on Sports Diplomacy and the Beijing Olympics.
• Buddhist group to organize regular monthly tours to Kaesong temple
    South Korea has authorized regular monthly pilgrimages to a Buddhist temple in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, government officials said Sunday. The first regular visit to Ryongthong Temple organized by the Cheontae Order is to take place on July 26, with one 500-person pilgrimage to be allowed per month, the Ministry of Unification said. Each trip to the temple, originally built in 11th century, will cost 170,000 won per person (US$185), with North Korea receiving $50 from each payment. [Religion]
• Roh Expects Unified Korean Team If PyeongChang Wins
  President Roh Moo-hyun said Sunday that he would seek a unified Korean team in the 2014 Winter Olympics if PyeongChang wins the bid to be decided in Guatemala on July 4, the Associated Press reported. [Joint Korean]

• PyeongChang: Melted dreams
  By James Card
  PYEONGCHANG - I've been visiting PyeongChang county in south central Gangwon province for the past eight years. I sometimes go in the winter but not for the skiing. I quit skiing in South Korea a year ago, frustrated with the mediocre slopes and poor quality snow. I come to the region for a few trout streams that tend to fish well during the dry, semi-snowless winter months.
  Yes, semi-snowless could be an adjective to describe the countryside of PyeongChang county. Most sorely lacking is snow, and snow is needed to make a mountain town that people want to visit. South Korean winters are dry and precipitation is scarce. Snow comes in spurts and there are a few good dumpings a year and then the white stuff quickly melts off.
  In many ways these small details are linked to South Korea's massive tourism deficit, with huge numbers of Koreans traveling overseas and few foreign visitors coming into the country.
• Implications of Inner Geumgang Tourism
  By Tong Kim
  Last week I had the rare opportunity to join a group of prominent citizens and celebrities from South Korea to visit Geumgangsan (Mt. Diamond) known to be the most beautiful mountain in Korea. Although I visited Pyongyang 17 times, I had never been to Geumgangsan before.
  I do not question that the tourism of Inner Geumgang was made possible by the gutsy, bold decision on the part of the North Korean leader, whose motive must have been a complicated combination of military, economic and political considerations. Hyundai CEO Yoon Man-jun said, ``The North made a big decision to show its master bedroom, which is shown only to close, trustful friends.’’ After crossing back to the south, I started seeing familiar junky concrete structures and disorderly commercial signs, obstructing the views of the mountains and the fields. The South is 20 to 40 times better off economically than the North. But the underdevelopment in the North seems to have better preserved the traditional Korean landscape. Along with the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the Geumgang tourist project no doubt has positive military implications. I want to believe that the security issues, including North Korean nuclear weapons, will be resolved soon to the benefit of all concerned. What’s your take? [Kumgangsan]

• PATA: Officials a bigger threat than terrorists to US tourism
  By eTN Staff Writer A Pacific Asia travel organization says US government officials as a reason not to visit. Citing a presentation by the executive director of the Discover America Partnership (DAP), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has put the blame for the decline in US tourism blame on officials. PATA yesterday said in its official newsletter, stringent entry policies and procedures since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 have created perceptions of a paranoid and unwelcoming US in the minds of prospective travelers, leading to a decline in the US' share of global travel; from 7.5 percent in 2000 to 6.1 percent in 2006, PATA based these facts from a presentation by DAP executive director Geoff Freeman at PATA’s 56th annual general meeting held in Vancouver, Canada on April 22. Freeman told PATA, more travelers see US government officials as a reason not to visit (70 percent) compared to the threat of terrorism or crime (54 percent).
• Korea Unpopular Tour Destination in Asia
  By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter
  South Korea is not as attractive as Thailand, Japan and most of other Asian countries as a tourist destination, a survey showed. According to an online survey of 5,050 tourists from the United States, Japan, China, the United Kingdom and six other nations, South Korea ranked 10th among 14 Asian nations in the category of the most favored places to travel in the near future.

• Hyundai Asan to start tours of western side of Mt. Geumgang in June
  Hyundai Asan Co., an affiliate of South Korean conglomerate Hyundai Group, said Wednesday it will begin tours of the western side of Mt. Geumgang on the eastern coast of North Korea in June. The company has conducted tours of the mountain's eastern side, which faces the East Sea, since 1998 but the other side has been closed to outsiders so far for security reasons. [Kumgangsan]
• Americans Get Tough World Cup Draw
  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: April 22, 2007 Filed at 3:26 p.m. ET WUHAN, China (AP) -- The top-ranked United States got a tough draw Sunday for this year's women's World Cup, placed in Group B with Sweden, North Korea and Nigeria. Sweden was runner-up at the 2003 World Cup and is ranked No. 4 by world governing body FIFA. North Korea is ranked No. 5, Asia's top team. The United States, one of the four seeded teams this year, has won the World Cup twice -- the inaugural tournament in 1991 and again in '99. Norway won in 1995 and Germany is the defending champion. The Americans, who were knocked out in the semifinals by Germany in 2003, will open against North Korea on Sept. 11 in the western city of Chengdu.
• 20 Questions From North Korea's Young Football Aces
  "Why are so many crosses out there?" "Why do most children wear glasses?" "Can I see your mobile phone?" These were just a few of the many questions North Korea's youth football squad had over the weekend. On the pitch, they are not different from young South Korean players. But moving around by bus or train, they were full of curiosity about the things they saw. Twenty-three members of the under-17 football team have been staying in South Korea for 20 days.
  The North Korean under-17 football squad take a rest at the Suwon World Cup Stadium in the morning on Thursday watching North and South Korean officials kick a ball around.
  The lobby of the Suncheon Royal Tourist Hotel at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The North Korean soccer squad look trim in their black uniform, shoes in hand. They had countless questions for the South Korean officials of the Sports Exchange Association accompanying them. "What is the cross for?", one asks, and when told asks again, "What is a church?" The answer seemed to baffle them. When an official explained that many young South Koreans wear glasses because they use computers a lot, one team member said, "In North Korea, only few children and scholars who read lots of books wear glasses." The players were particularly taken by mobile phones. They wondered how people could make calls without lines and play games or take pictures with their phones. Whenever officials from the association used their mobile phones, the North Korean youngsters gathered to see their phones. When shown magazine photos and asked to pick the most beautiful among actresses, Jeon Ji-hyun, Song Hye-gyo and Beyonce Knowles, they chose Beyonce Knowles, still insisted they didn't care.
• DPRK Team Defeats Taiwan of China Team
  Pyongyang, April 7 (KCNA) -- A match between the DPRK and Taiwan of China teams was held at Kim Il Sung Stadium here on Saturday as part of the Asian regional women's football games (Group B) to obtain the qualification for the 29th Olympiad. The host team beat the other side 8-0.
• 1st Meeting of Taekwon-Do Integration Coordinating Committee Held
  Pyongyang, April 7 (KCNA) -- The first meeting of the Taekwon-Do integration coordinating committee was held in Beijing on Mar. 31. The meeting formally organized the Taekwon-Do integration coordinating committee. Ryu Song Il, chairman of the integration policy of the side of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, and Ri Tae Sun, vice-president of the World Taekwon-Do Federation, were appointed as co-chairmen of the coordinating committee.
• N. Korean IOC member hopes Pyeongchang will host 2014 Winter Olympics
  North Korea's only member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Saturday he hopes that Pyeongchang will host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, and that this weekend's North Korean taekwondo demonstration will help unify the two Koreas.
• N. Korean IOC member in Seoul for taekwondo merger talks
  North Korea's only member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) flew here Friday to discuss a possible merger of the South Korean and North Korean-led world governing bodies of Korea's traditional martial art taekwondo. Chang Ung, concurrently head of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), arrived on a direct flight from the North's capital Pyongyang. "I have just come here to celebrate the inauguration of the ITF office in Seoul," Chang told reporters as he went out of the airport terminal. "Please don't push me. I have much time to talk because I will stay here for three days."
• North, South plan merger of taekwondo headquarters
  April 06, 2007 The heads of the two world federations that govern taekwondo, one based in North Korea and the other in South Korea, plan to meet in Seoul today to talk about merging. Chang Ung, the head of the North Korea-based International Taekwondo Foundation, is due to arrive in Seoul this morning on a direct flight from Pyongyang, leading a 47-member delegation including 30 North Korean taekwondo athletes, an official of the ITF Korea Corp. said.
• DPRK Beats India in Soccer Match
  New Delhi, March 28 (KCNA) -- The DPRK beat India 2:0 in the Asian regional men's football second-round qualifier (group e) held in India on Wednesday to obtain qualification for the 29th Olympic Games. The two teams will compete with each other again in Pyongyang on April 18.

 
• Lotte Tour cancels application to visit North for tourism talks
  Tourism company was competing with Hyundai Asan for right to run tours to ancient city of Gaeseong
  Lotte Tour, a subsidiary of Lotte Group, withdrew its application for permission to visit North Korea to have consultations regarding running tours to the ancient capital city of Gaeseong (Kaesong), the Unification Ministry said on March 22. Until Lotte Tour cancelled its planned visit, the Ministry of Unification reportedly had mulled over how to address Lotte Tour's application - either an approval of the visit but a disapproval for Lotte Tour to gain the rights to Gaeseong, or disapproval on both counts. The government reportedly favors Hyundai Asan, the North's original choice, as the tour operator.
• Lotte plans visit to N.K. to push for tourism deal
  Visit part of Lotte Tour's battle with Hyundai Asan over who will lead Gaeseong tours Sources confirmed on March 18 that Lotte Tour is trying to visit with North Korean authorities next week, part of the tourist company's ongoing fight with Hyundai Asan over the business rights for the tours of Gaeseong (Kaesong) in North Korea, which was the capital of the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392 AD). The management of Lotte Tours, including its chairman Kim Ki-byung, has submitted applications for a March 25-31 visit to North Korea through the Ministry of Unification's Web site. On the application, Lotte Tour wrote that the purpose of its visit is to "discuss the Gaeseong historical site tours." Lotte Tour is an affiliate of Lotte Group, one of Korea's large-scale conglomerates.
• N. Korea's taekwondo chief due in Seoul on unification of world taekwondo bodies
  The head of the world taekwondo body led by North Korea will come to Seoul next month to discuss uniting the two world governing bodies of the traditional Korean martial art run separately by the two Koreas, officials here said Wednesday.
• Lotte plans visit to N.K. to push for tourism deal
  Visit part of Lotte Tour's battle with Hyundai Asan over who will lead Gaeseong tours
  Sources confirmed on March 18 that Lotte Tour is trying to visit with North Korean authorities next week, part of the tourist company's ongoing fight with Hyundai Asan over the business rights for the tours of Gaeseong (Kaesong) in North Korea, which was the capital of the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392 AD). The management of Lotte Tours, including its chairman Kim Ki-byung, has submitted applications for a March 25-31 visit to North Korea through the Ministry of Unification's Web site. On the application, Lotte Tour wrote that the purpose of its visit is to "discuss the Gaeseong historical site tours."   [Kaesong]
• N.Korean Champ Becomes S. Korean
  Hong Chang-soo, the former World Boxing Council Super Flyweight champion, has acquired South Korea citizenship. In a media interview, Hong, a pro-North Korean resident in Japan, said, ``Once I was a North Korean but I am a South Korean now because I got citizenship last month.'' Asked about the reason he changed his nationality,
• Vice-President of IIHF and His Party Arrive Here
  Pyongyang, March 15 (KCNA) -- Vice-President of the International Ice Hockey Federation Kalervo Kummola and his party came here today for the 2007 World Women's Ice Hockey Championships (B class) to be held in the DPRK. Hockey teams from Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia arrived to participated in the championships.
• DPRK-Iraq Football Match Held
  Pyongyang, March 14 (KCNA) -- A football match between the DPRK and Iraqi teams was held at Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang today as one of the Asian regional preliminaries to obtain the qualification for the men's football matches of the 29th Olympic Games. The match drew 2-2. Earlier, the DPRK footballers played with the Thai team in Thailand on February 28 and won the game with the score of 1-0.
• DPRK Girls Overwhelm Thai Team at AFC U-16 Women's Championship
  Pyongyang, March 12 (KCNA) -- DPRK girls trounced the Thai team 7:1 on March 10 at the First AFC U-16 Women's Championship which is now under way in Malaysia. They beat the Japanese team 1:0 in the first game of the group round robin. Finishing on top of the round robin, they have secured the berth in the semi-finals.
• Ex-PM Asks N.Korea to Co-Host Pyeongchang Olympics
  Former prime minister Lee Hae-chan asked North Korea to co-host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang if it wins the bid. Lee on Saturday said the North had been "positive" about the idea.
• Preparations for WWIHC Completed in DPRK
  Pyongyang, March 10 (KCNA) -- Full preparations for the 2007 World Women's Ice Hockey Championships (B Class) to be opened in the DPRK on March 17 have been completed.
• DPRK Girls Football Team Beats Japanese Rival
  Pyongyang, March 9 (KCNA) -- Preliminary round of group league matches of the First U-16 Asian Women's Soccer Championships is now under way in Kuala Lumpur among teams belonging to Groups A and B. The DPRK team belonging to Group B trounced its Japanese rival 1:0 on March 8. Korean girls will play its last match with the Thai eleven on March 10.
• North Korean Youth Football Team is Expected to Visit South Korea for Training
  North Korean under-17 football team is expected to visit South Korea from March 20 to April 20, 2007 for training. They are likely to train in Jeju Island, Suwon, and Seoul, etc. The team will participate in the 2007 FIFA World Youth Championship, which is held in eight cities including Seoul from August 18 to September 9, 2007. Their visit is the result of the invitation by the Inter-Korean Sports Exchange Association.
• US tourists set to invade North Korea.
  Rare access for US citizens to visit the most spectacular human performance on earth- 100,000 performers in North Korea’s socialist realism spectacular
  Press release from Koryo Tours in Beijing
• Koryo Tours newsletter
• Queensland keen on attracting young and wealthy Indian tourists
  By eTN Staff writer India is among priority countries as Queensland develops future profitable markets. On a tourism trade mission led by Queensland Tourism Minister Margaret Keech, the authorities made it clear that they are eyeing “young and wealthy Indian holidaymakers” to Queensland. Keech said that visitor expenditure from India to Australia grew 23.6 percent for year ending September 2006 while 31 percent of Indian visitors to Australia visit Queensland.
• China vs India – the heavyweight championship of Asia
  It’s no rumble in the jungle, but rest assured this battle will be watched with more interest and by many more people than any Ali versus Foreman fight ever was. Not only are India and China expected to dominate the Asian travel market place, but  perhaps even the world if current trends are any indication.
• Buoyant India to Drive 10% Outbound Growth to 2009
  By PATA COMMUNICATIONS BANGKOK, THAILAND, February 28, 2007 – A strong, consumption-driven economy, a large and increasingly affluent middle class, and the on-going liberalisation of air transport will contribute to a 10 per cent annual growth in Indian outbound travellers to Asia Pacific over the next three years, according to a new report released last week. Titled 'Total Tourism India', the 280-page report is a comprehensive, independent and authoritative analysis on India’s tourism sector released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Visa International. The report reviews all aspects of India’s inbound, outbound and domestic tourism flows, and outlines a seven-point action plan to advance India’s tourism development in achieving the sector’s full potential. PATA President and CEO Mr Peter de Jong said: “With India being one of the fastest growing markets in our region, the eyes of the travel industry are turning to this country of 1.1 billion residents, and its rapidly expanding middle class.“ The report shows that international outbound trips by resident nationals peaked at around 8.3 million in 2006. Close to three million arrivals were to Asia Pacific destinations, making India the region’s fourth largest source market behind China, Japan and Korea. This is expected to rise to over 3.6 million in 2007 and then increase by more than 10 percent each year to 2009. The top five destinations by percentage growth to 2009 will be Macau, Papua New Guinea, China, Cambodia and Malaysia. For volume growth over the same period, the top five will be Singapore, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the USA.

• Tourists will soon be able to visit inner Kumgang
  February 26, 2007 Hyundai Asan Co., an exclusive operator of tour packages between South and North Korea, said yesterday tourists will be allowed to travel to the inner part of scenic Mount Kumgang in the North, an area that has been off-limits, as early as April. Assisted by the recent agreement on the North's nuclear issue , Hyundai and North Korea discussed the further opening of the mountain last week. "The two sides have the same opinion about allowing tourists into inner Mount Kumgang," said a Hyundai Asan spokesman. "The tour will be possible around early April."
• Tours of N.K. peak pick up after a sluggish '06
  In the wake of thawed North-South relations, Mt. Geumgang tourism business sees increasing numbers
  Mt. Geumgang (Kumgang) tourism, which was in jeopardy last year due to decreased popularity in the face of North Korea's missile launches and nuclear test, has picked up again this year. An official of Hyundai Asan - the company largely running the tours - said on February 22, "During the Lunar New Year, the number of visitors to the scenic North Korean mountain increased more than two times from last year's figures." Up to 855 tourists visited Mt. Geumgang this year during the Lunar New Year's holiday, compared with 418 last year and 530 in 2005. {Kumgangsan]
• 'PyeongChang Olympics Will Bring Peace'
  By Yoon Won-sup Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun President Roh Moo-hyun said on Saturday that if the 2014 Winter Olympic Games take place in PyeongChang, Kangwon Province, Korea will make it a grand festival aimed at creating inter-Korean harmony and regional peace and prosperity.
• North Korea Is a New Summer Destination
  By JENNIFER CONLIN Published: February 18, 2007 Axis of Evil travelers take note, a British company, Steppes Travel (www.steppestravel.co.uk) is offering to take Americans to North Korea this summer and even secure them hard-to-obtain visas.
• Hyundai Asan Targets W300 Bil. in Sale on Mt. Kumgang Tours
  Hyundai Asan, the company specializing in inter-Korean business cooperation, Monday marked its eighth anniversary. The affiliate under the Hyundai Group, led by Hyun Jung-eun, the widow of Chung Mong-hun, the successor of the group founder Chung Ju-yung, said that this year it plans to attract 400,000 tourists to Mt. Kumgang, the North Korean scenic mountain on the East Coast. Hyundai Asan also said that it also will push ahead with tours of Kaesong, a historic North Korean city near the inter-Korean border that is home to a South Korean-invested industrial complex, this year so as to meet its sales target of 300 billion won.
• North Korea Struggles in Winter Sports
  By Kang Seung-woo Staff Reporter Former winter sports power North Korea is sinking, taking no medals at the Winter Asian Games, which ended Sunday. The Stalinist state has not picked up a gold medal since the Sapporo Winter Asian Games in 1990, when it earned one gold, two silvers and five bronzes.

• China Projects Bullish Demand in 2007
  China (PRC)'s tourism industry should see record revenues of CNY1 trillion (US$128.6 billion) in 2007, up 10% from 2006, if China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) projections prove correct. Foreigners are expected to contribute US$37 billion of that, also 10% more than 2006. The mainland is expected to welcome 129 million inbound visitors in 2007, including 24 million foreigners, and host 1.5 billion domestic trips. China's more than 22 million foreign arrivals in 2006 was 10% higher than 2005. Chinese travellers will make 37.4 million trips outside the mainland in 2007, up 10% from 2006, according to the CNTA. Fifteen new destinations were approved in 2006, bringing to 132 the number of destinations with Approved Destination Status (ADS). In 2006, 86 ADS destinations received Chinese tourist groups. China is increasingly the focus of the North American hospitality industry. Industry leaders told the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) they were rushing to maximise opportunities in the emerging mega-markets of China and India. PATA is planning a Total Tourism China report for publication in 2008, the year Beijing will host the Olympics.
• Another Record Year for World Tourism
  Madrid, 29 January 2007/eTN - With 842 million arrivals and a 4.5% growth rate, 2006 exceeded expectations as the tourism sector continued to enjoy above average results, making it a new record year for the industry. The latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer figures suggest that 2007 will consolidate this performance and turn into the fourth year of sustained growth.
• UNWTO: China set to surpass Spain by 2010
  By Yusof Sulaiman l eTN Asia asianinfo.org The latest forecast from United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has projected that China is poised to surpass Spain as the world's second most popular destination after France. "With its great tourist capacity it could surpass Spain by 2010," said UNWTO secretary-general Francesco Frangialli. "As well as sending millions of tourists abroad in recent years, China is set to receive more visitors."
• India steps up game to avoid complacency
  By Satish Gupta nepal-safari.com MUMBAI, India (eTN) -- Sustaining its growth in the tourism industry, India witnessed an increment in foreign tourist arrivals from 3.92 million in 2005 to 4.43 million in 2006. Foreign exchange earnings from tourism have also shown a phenomenal growth from US$5730.86 million in 2005 to US$6569.34 million in 2006, achieving an increase of 14.6 percent, according to an official release from the Indian Ministry of Tourism (INM).
• Asia’s Travel Industry Charges into 2007
  2006 was a special year in the evolution of the Asian travel industry. The region continued steaming along with record growth figures, surpassing all other major regions and forging a strong position in the global game. However the big question is “will this momentum be carried over to 2007”? So far the overwhelmingly popular answer has been “yes”! For the most part inbound visitor numbers across the region rose dramatically. The few countries that did not were generally those suffering from exceptional circumstances such as terrorist bombings or natural disasters. Hong Kong enjoyed an 8.1% visitor increase in 2006, and with the recent launch of low cost carrier Oasis Hong Kong, linking London and Hong Kong on a budget, look for this figure to climb even further in 2007. But Hong Kong was hardly the tip of the ice berg when you consider visitor increases for other nations ranged from 11.9% in South Korea, to 16.1% in the Philippines. Following the Oasis Hong Kong lead, AirAsia and Jetstar have recently introduced low cost long haul routes of their own, and now suddenly the number of ingredients in the recipe has tripled. Look for demand for this style of budget long haul flying to give rise to further route openings in 2007, and consequently further increases to regional visitor numbers.
• Inter-Korean Tourism
  Transparent Cash Flow Is Key for Peace Project North Korea’s re-selection of Hyundai Asan as its partner for the Kaesong tourism project suggests much in future inter-Korean ties. Pyongyang had tried to break up Hyundai’s business monopoly in the North by playing it against another South Korean conglomerate, Lotte Group, but recently gave up in the face of Seoul’s adherence to original agreement. This is a rare example of the South’s principles winning over the North’s arbitrariness. We’d like to see similar cases in other areas, too. [Diversion]
• N.Korea Denies Making Up With Hyundai
  North Korea on Wednesday denied it has reconciled with Hyundai Asan, which was to operate package tours to the ancient city of Kaesong on the inter-Korean border, after inviting Lotte Tours instead. A spokesman for the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee (KAPPC) told the official Korea Central News Agency that Pyongyang “has no formal agreement with Hyundai Asan over Kaesong tours” and never negotiated the issue with the South Korean firm. Government officials and Hyundai Asan staffers had earlier been quoted as saying North Korea was willing to settle the Kaesong tour issue with Hyundai Asan. Observers see the denial as North Korea’s attempt to gain an advantage over Asan, its long-term partner in tours to Mt.Kumgang, in negotiations.
• KAPPC on Its Stand on Tour of Kaesong
  Pyongyang, January 24 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee (KAPPC) gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA Wednesday as regards south Korean media's misinformation about the issue of tour of Kaesong: South Korean media released misinformation that the KAPPC withdrew its policy of dealing with Lotte tourist business over the issue of tour of Kaesong and took the stand of dealing with Hyundai Asan over the tour of Kaesong. In an effort to make this sound plausible the media reported that the KAPPC informed the former minister of Unification on a visit to the Kaesong Industrial Zone on December 8 last year of this and gave Hyundai Asan "a positive message over the issue of tour of Kaesong" at a meeting with it at Mt. Kumgang Resort. This is a false report that does not deserve even a passing note. But the KAPPC is compelled to clarify its stand as they are engrossed in the smear campaign against the north. The above-said misinformation released by south Korean media all at once cannot be interpreted otherwise than a mean diatribe made by the authorities in collusion with high fliers and tricksters of Hyundai Asan who stoop to any infamy to meet their business interests. The KAPPC has remained true to the bilateral good faith, invariably considering national reconciliation and unity as the basic purpose of inter-Korean economic cooperation undertakings including the dealing with Hyundai Asan.
• Unification Ministry Not to Meddle in Kaesong Tour
  By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung The Ministry of Unification has decided to stay away from a dispute between North Korea and Hyundai Asan over the long-delayed Kaesong tourism project, a top ministry official said Thursday.
• Inter-Korean Tourism
  Transparent Cash Flow Is Key for Peace Project North Korea’s re-selection of Hyundai Asan as its partner for the Kaesong tourism project suggests much in future inter-Korean ties. Pyongyang had tried to break up Hyundai’s business monopoly in the North by playing it against another South Korean conglomerate, Lotte Group, but recently gave up in the face of Seoul’s adherence to original agreement. This is a rare example of the South’s principles winning over the North’s arbitrariness. We’d like to see similar cases in other areas, too.
• Hyundai Asan Awarded N.Korea Tour Rights
  North Korea has selected long-time business partner Hyundai Asan of South Korea to operate tours to Kaesong, an ancient city in North Korea, as initially agreed between the two parties. The North had earlier considered changing the operator to South Korean travel agency Lotte Tours. With the recent decision, Hyundai Asan has begun preparing for working-level negotiations on the Kaesong project with the North.
• Chinese Allowed to Visit N.Korea via South
  Chinese tourists can now visit the North Korean mountain resort of Kumgang via South Korea. China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported Saturday that China Youth Travel Service signed a contract with Hyundai Asan for the exclusive rights to bring Chinese tourists across the border to Mt. Kumgang. This marks the first opportunity for Chinese tourists to visit the North via the South. Officials at the China Youth Travel said the first group of Chinese tourists will depart for the scenic mountain area from South Korea around next month's Lunar New Year holidays.
  As China has not designated North Korea a tourist destination for its people, Chinese travelers could only visit a few sites in North Korea via Dandong, a Chinese border town in the Yalu River area. Those visits were limited to a restricted period and according to quotas assigned by Pyongyang.
• A dismal year at Kumgang, but tour firm still hopeful
  January 22, 2007 Buses carrying tourists to the scenic Mount Kumgang resort entering North Korea via a road alongside the East Sea. By Kim Choon-sik Last year was a nightmare for Hyundai Asan Co., the sole domestic operator of inter-Korean businesses. But the Hyundai Group affiliate sees brighter days ahead for its tourism program at Mount Kumgang, a scenic North Korean resort, this year, and is stepping up marketing efforts. Earlier this month the company launched a radio ad campaign featuring a decades-old Korean children¡¯s song including the lyric, ¡°Let¡¯s go to Mount Kumgang.¡± The commercial does not identify Hyundai Asan as the tour operator, and Hyundai Asan said the broadcast was aimed at promoting the destination among tourists.
• N. Korea Picks Hyundai as Partner for Kaesong Tour
  By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter North Korea has hinted that it is willing to start the long-delayed Kaesong tourism project with Hyundai Asan instead of Lotte, a Unification Ministry official said on Sunday. ``When former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok visited the Kaesong industrial complex on Dec. 8, North Korean officials said they have finalized their decision to carry out the project with Hyundai,'' said the official on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

• DPRK Soccer Teams Prove Fruitful
  Pyongyang, December 25 (KCNA) -- The DPRK has made a signal success in the football development this year. The DPRK team participated in the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Championship for the first time, but it made a great sensation in the football world with its well-arranged tactics, strong offensive, stubborn fighting spirit and collectivism. It defeated all the strong teams from Europe, America and Asia, scoring eighteen goals, record in the history of the championship.
• North Korea Backs Bid by PyeongChang
  By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter In a letter soon to be sent to the International Olympic Committee, North Korea will officially support South Korea’s bid to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics, representatives of the host city, PyeongChang, announced.
• DPRK Women's Football Team Wins Gold Medal In 15th Asiad
  Pyongyang, December 15 (KCNA) -- The DPRK team won the gold medal in the women's football tournament of the 15th Asiad. The DPRK team won all the matches it played in the preliminary round and semi-finals. And it defeated Japan 4:2 on penalties after drawing 0:0 in the first and second halves and even in extra time in the finals on Wednesday. The DPRK team won the Asiad title in the wake of its victory in the 14th Asiad in 2002.
• North Korean women down Japan for gold
  December 15, 2006 ? North Korea retained the Asian Games women's soccer title early yesterday with a 4-2 penalty kick shootout win over Japan. The defending champions, Asia's highest-ranked team, enjoyed the better chances throughout the match and held their nerve at the end with goalkeeper Jon Myong-hui saving two Japan kicks.
• South, North Korea march together at opening ceremony of Doha Asiad
  South and North Korean athletes marched together at the opening ceremony of the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, on Friday as Asia geared up for its greatest sporting event. The two Koreas entered the 50,000-seat Khalifa Stadium under the single country name of "Korea" and flying the blue and white "unification flag," symbolizing unity and the Korean Peninsula.
• Two Koreas March Together During Asian Games Opening
  Athletes from South and North Korea marched together into Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, during the gala opening ceremony of the 15th Asian Games on Friday. They entered the stadium carrying a blue and white unification flag showing the Korean Peninsular. They became the 16th team to enter the 50,000-seat stadium as the procession was arranged in alphabetical order. The show of unity marked the eighth time that the two Koreas have joined hands in an international sports event.
• Developing DPRK Women's Football
      Pyongyang, November 30 (KCNA) -- The history of women's football in the DPRK is not long. Since a measure was taken in Juche 74(1985) to organize women's football teams, teenage girls began to play football with a dream of displaying the honor of the country. It was the South Phyongan Provincial Sports Group (at that time) that organized the women's football team, the first of its kind in the country.     There was the first training football match of female footballers of the first generation at Kim Il Sung Stadium on May 19, 1986.     Recollecting those days, female footballer Kye Yong Sun, 35, told KCNA that the football teams, which came into being amid interests of the country, made match tours to accumulate experience and intensified training to compete with the world strong teams.     The DPRK women's football team displayed its ability to the full at the 7th Asian Women's Football Championship in 1988.     At the 13th Asian Women's Football Championship (2001), the DPRK team defeated all the opponents by manifesting the firm faith in sure victory, stubborn fighting sprit and a high degree of sports technique, thus wining the championship in the new century. This year the DPRK women's football team won all the six matches at the 3rd FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship to become the strongest in the world. Promising is the DPRK women's football team with a large number of reserves.

• Mun Jae Dok and DPRK Team Leave
     Pyongyang, November 28 (KCNA) -- Chairman of the Korean Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission Mun Jae Dok who is chairman of the Olympic Committee of the DPRK and the DPRK team left here today to participate in the 15th Asian Games in Qatar.
• North Vows Support for PyeongChang Bid
  By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter On his return from a visit to Pyongyang, the top official from Kangwon Province said in Seoul on Tuesday that North Korea would support an effort by Kangwon city PyeongChang to play host to the 2014 Winter Olympics.
• DPRK Footballers Win at AFC Soccer Championship
     Pyongyang, November 13 (KCNA) -- The DPRK team won at the AFC Under-19 Soccer Championship held in India. The DPRK team beat the Japanese 6:4 on 11m kick in the finals on November 12.     The Asian Football Confederation gave award for a fair play to the DPRK team and award for best player to Kim Kum Il.     The DPRK team is qualified to participate in the World under-20 Soccer Championship to be held in Canada in 2007.
• Pyongyang proposes joint sports team talks
  November 17, 2006 ? North Korea has proposed holding talks with South Korea on ways of sending unified delegations to international sporting events, including the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Unification Ministry said yesterday.
• Folk Street Built at Foot of Mt. Kyongam
  Pyongyang, November 8 (KCNA) -- A folk street has been built at the foot of Mt. Kyongam in Sariwon City, North Hwanghae Province, the DPRK. The Kyongam Lake consists of three small lakes along which two roads stretch out 1,000-odd meters each. The city has constructed various shapes of the traditional buildings tinged with national character in the vast areas along the roads. The buildings of the street present an ancient picture for their varied colors and decorations in bold relief. There are buildings with hip-saddle roofs including the Mokran Pavilion, Hana Pavilion, Kyongamsan Hotel and History Museum and a gate at an end of the street. A merrymaking ground covering more than 5,000 square meters has been built in the street with the Kyongam Pavilion, historical relic belonging to the 15th century, as its center. In the ground, people can conduct art activities and play sports and amusement games.
• North, South in Under-19 Football Semis
  By Kang Seung-woo Staff Reporter South and North Korea advanced Monday to the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Youth Championship in India after defeating Australia 2-1 and Iraq 2-0, respectively, and making possible an all-Korean final. South Korea’s under–19 squad, which aims to win the confederation trophy for the third in a row, now must beat Japan to reach the final. North Korea faces Jordan in the other semifinal match. If the Korean sides face each other in the final, it will be second time. In 1990, two Koreas faced each other in the final in Indonesia and the South beat the North 4-3 in a penalty shootout.
• DPRK Footballers to Advance into Quarter-Finals at AFC under-19 Soccer Championship
  Pyongyang, November 3 (KCNA) -- The DPRK team belonging to Group C of the AFC Under-19 Soccer Championship beat the Iranian team 5:0 and the Tajik team 1:0 and finished runner-up in the league matches to advance into quarter-finals.
• North Korean tourism overshadowed by its missiles
  By Yusof Sulaiman l eTN Asia
  phillyburbs.com North Korean tourism is now a major issue between the two Koreas.  Pyongyang has warned Seoul not to join the international move to slap sanctions on the North following UN sanctions over its October 9 nuclear test. The tourism project at Mount Kumgang is one of a number of joint initiatives by the two Koreas to promote economic cooperation in the North, whose economy is dependent on tourism.
• GNP Campaign for Suspending Tour of Mt. Kumgang under Fire
  Pyongyang, November 1 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee issued a statement Wednesday to accuse the Grand National Party of south Korea of kicking up a row demanding a halt to the tour of Mt. Kumgang. The statement said: The GNP is becoming evermore undisguised in its moves to totally block the tour of Mt. Kumgang, a symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation. The GNP gentry at a press conference held on October 29 groundlessly asserted that there was a suspicion of the diversion of the payment for the tour of the mountain to the purpose of "arms race" and recklessly demanded a halt to the tour.
• NK Opposes Changes on Kumgang Tours
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ North Korea on Wednesday said it would take ``stern measures'' against South Korea following any changes to a tourism program to the North's Mt. Kumgang, a South Korean project recently accused of funneling hard currency to the communist state.

 
• At Hyundai Group, the North is a matter of money and blood
    October 13, 2006 ? Hyun Jeong-eun, the Hyundai Group chairwoman, may face a serious problem soon: If tourist departures for the North Korean resort area of Mount Kumgang continue in their slump, should she end the operation? And if she does, what happens to the Hyundai Group's leading role in developing business ties with North Korea, including its exclusive right to conduct tours there for South Koreans? Hyundai Asan, the group subsidiary that operates the tours, said yesterday that only 549 tourists traveled to the mountain area, now ablaze in fall colors. A day earlier, the number was 788. The company said that 4 percent of its travelers canceled on Monday, when the North announced that it had conducted a nuclear test; yesterday, 65 percent of those who had signed up for the trip cancelled.
• Home-stay Facilities Built in Mt. Chilbo
  Pyongyang, October 11 (KCNA) -- Mt. Chilbo, one of the celebrated mountains in Korea, has turned into a tourist resort with the Inner Chilbo and Outer Chilbo Hotels and the home-stay facilities built in the Sea Chilbo. What attracts the eyes of tourists is the home-stay facilities. They are private dwelling houses where tourists can board and lodge along with the owners. Twenty blocks have been constructed. They consist of one or two storied Korean style houses and two-storied European style houses, which can accommodate 40-100 tourists. Each house has a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and sanitary room for the owner, a bedroom, bathroom and sanitary room for guests, and a reception room where the owner and guests can enjoy meals and tea and cake. There is in the center of the houses a restaurant for those who want only to lodge in the houses. The buildings have been constructed near the sea swimming beach for the convenience of the tourists. The buildings have Korean-style and European-style inner structures in accordance with their outer forms. In the DPRK, foreign tourists lodged in private houses for the first time during the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students held in Pyongyang in Juche 78 (1989).
• Tourism implications of the North Korean nuclear test
  By David Beirman globalsecurity.org The reported test of a nuclear bomb in North Korea this week should come as no surprise to the world. The North Korean regime has flagged its intentions to develop a nuclear weapons capability for well over a decade.
• Mt. Paektu Tour Impossible Before June
  By Kim Yon-se Staff Reporter A tour to Mt. Paektu via North Korean territory for South Koreans has become virtually impossible this year even though Hyundai Asan, the inter-Korean tourism operator, has pushed the project for more than a year. Should Hyundai Asan reach a final agreement with the North to open tours soon, bad weather conditions on the mountain will make it impossible for tourists to travel to Mt. Paektu, located on the border of the North and China. ``Because of early snowfall and chilly weather there, ordinary tourists are not allowed to climb Mt. Paektu after September,'' a spokeswoman of the Hyundai Group said yesterday.
  Apart from political setbacks, involving the United States' unfavorable views toward inter-Korean businesses, the spokeswoman attributed the continuous delay to unfinished construction of a link between the mountain entrance and Mt. Paektu Airport [Sanctions]
• "Grand Bull Prize" Winner
  Pyongyang, October 2 (KCNA) -- The 4th National Korean Wrestling Tournament for "Grand Bull Prize" was closed on Monday amid interest of the people throughout the country. Pak Chun Min from Pyongyang was crowned with the "Grand Bull Prize." He met with Ri Jo Won from North Phyongan Province at the final of the individual event without weight distinction held in the afternoon. The final match between the two wrestlers, who were physically well prepared and had diverse skills, made the spectators feel a thrill. When Pak Chun Min beat down his opponent by making best use of the latter's technique and weak points, the spectators burst forth cheers. At the awarding ceremony, he was honored with the grand bull weighing nearly one ton, gold bell, gold medal and diploma. Spectators put the floral garland around his neck and presented bouquets to him. He expressed thanks to Kim Jong Il who values and encourages the folk traditions.
• Protocol for 2007 Sports Exchange between DPRK and China Signed
  Pyongyang, September 28 (KCNA) -- A protocol for sports exchange for 2007 between the DPRK Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission and the General Administration of Sports of China was signed here Thursday. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were Kim Jang San, vice-chairman of the commission, and officials concerned and from the Chinese side members of the delegation of the general administration headed by its Vice-Minister Xiao Tian and Zhang Yongwen, cultural councilor of the Chinese embassy here. The protocol was signed by Kim Jang San and Xiao Tian.

• World Tourism Day Observed in DPRK
  Pyongyang, September 27 (KCNA) -- Sept. 27 is the World Tourism Day. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) has advanced the slogan for the year "Tourism Enriches". On the occasion of the day, Kim To Jun, director of the State General Bureau of Tourism, had an interview with KCNA. He said to the following effect: A lot of countries are encouraging tourism on the principle of promoting the development of national economy, peace and prosperity, improving the people's health and respecting their freedom and human rights. The DPRK, which has many tourist resorts famous in the world, has also directed proper attention to developing the sightseeing. Hundreds of picturesque sites in Pyongyang, Kaesong, Nampho and other main cities and Mts. Paektu, Kumgang, Myohyang, Chilbo and Kuwol have been built as tourist resorts. In recent years servicepersons and people of the country have discovered a lot of scenic spots such as Ullim Falls and Songam Cavern for more cultured future. And they have turned them into wonderful recreation and tourist resorts along with the existing ones. The government devotes profound attention to developing tourism. The bureau, in close contact with the WTO and other international organizations, has organized several working-level training courses on tourism and exchanged experience with Singapore, Malaysia and the like. It, at the same time, is striving to improve the management of tourism.
• More Foreigners Can Tour Mt. Kumgang
  By Kim Yon-se Staff Reporter Hyundai Asan will offer foreigners-only tour to Mt. Kumgang, North Korea, in cooperation with English-speaking tour operators from this weekend. The inter-Korean tourism operator said the product will provide foreigners with more convenient trips as they have experienced communication problems when accompanying South Korean tourists due to a shortage of English-speaking guides. Though the accumulated number of foreign tourists stood at 7,500 over the past eight years since the Mt. Kumgang tour began in November 1998, Korean tourists numbered 1.35 million.
• N.Korea's Dollar Profits from Asan Trips Soar 76 Percent
    Hyundai Asan, which organizes package tours to North Korea's Mt. Kumgang, has seen the fee it pays Pyongyang per visitor grow a whopping 78.3 percent over the last two years. It paid US$33.75 a head in 2004 but $59.50 now. Documents the Unification Ministry submitted to Grand National Party lawmaker Chin Young on Friday say Hyundai Asan agreed to pay an entrance fee to Mt.Kumgang according to the number of tour days as of July 1, 2004 and set the fee at $10 for a day trip, $25 for a two-day trip and $50 for a three-day trip. On May 1 last year, it agreed to raise it to $15 for a day trip, $35 for the two-day trip, and $70 for a three-day trip. On July 1 this year, after a fractious period in relations between Pyongyang and the firm, it agreed to another hike to $30 for the day trip, $48 for the two-day trip and $80 for the three-day trip.
• North Seeks New Partner for Golf Courses
  By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter North Korea is seeking a new partner for golf course construction projects in the inter-Korean industrial complex to replace Hyundai, a Unification Ministry official said yesterday. The North has already expressed its intention to choose Lotte as its partner for arranging tours of South Koreans to Kaesong, the capital of the Koryo Kingdom (918-1392) instead of Hyundai-Asan, the business arm of Hyundai Group that deals with North Korea. The official said a South Korean company named Unico has been in consultations with North Korea's Asia Pacific Peace Committee since last year. The company signed a letter of intention with the committee, promising to pay $30 million to $40 million to rent 4.9 million square meters of land in the complex for 50 years to develop three golf clubs in December last year.  
• DPRK Young Soccer Team Defeats Tajik Team
  Pyongyang, September 15 (KCNA) -- The DPRK young football team defeated the Tajik team 3:0 in the semi-finals to advance to the finals of the U-17 Asian Championships now under way in Singapore since Sept. 3. The DPRK team will face the Japanese team in the finals on Sept. 17.
• Kim Jong Il's Field Guidance to Mt. Kumgang Resort
  Pyongyang, September 14 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il provided field guidance to Mt. Kumgang resort on his way of inspection of the front. Mt. Kumgang covers a vast area of 530 square kilometers extending 60 km from south to north and 40 km from east to west including Kosong, Kumgang and Thongchon counties of Kangwon Province. It is known as a famous mountain of Korea and a world-famous mountain from old times as it presents a myriad of diverse, majestic and spectacular scenery.
• Kim Jong-il Visits Mt. Kumgang
  By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter North Korean leader Kim Jong-il recently made a visit to Mt. Kumgang, but the reclusive leader did not stop at a resort run by a South Korean company in the scenic area, the North's wire service reported Friday. According to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim advised related officials to further develop the mountain and prevent possible natural disasters during his inspection. The news agency reported Kim went all the way to the top of ``Piro,'' the highest peak on the mountain at 1,639 meters.  
• N. Korean U-17s Advance to Final
  North Korea under-17 football squad reached the final of AFC Championship, beating Tajikistan 3-0 in the match held in Singapore
• Peace marathon: Participants in the Chorwon DMZ International Peace Marathon
  start from a gateway in Chorwon, Kangwon Province, Sunday. The running event, organized by Chorwon County and Hankook Ilbo, a sister paper of The Korea Times, was held in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). [Photo]
• Young Korean Footballers Back from World Championship
  Pyongyang, September 7 (KCNA) -- Young women footballers of the DPRK returned home Thursday after participating in the FIFA U-20 World Women's Championship held in Russia from August 17 to September 3. They defeated all the strong rivals and came first, thus greatly delighting the Korean people on the threshold of the 58th birthday of the DPRK
  At least 100,000 Pyongyangites from all walks of life enthusiastically welcomed the players along the route from Ryonmot-dong, the gateway to the city, to Ryonghung Intersection, Kaeson Street, Sungri Street and Changjon Intersection. Citizens turned out to the festively bedecked streets with bouquets, slogans, national flags and drums and gongs in hands and lavished their praises on the players, greatly excited to welcome them. A lot of women artistes danced with fans and janggos to the tune of the band music, stirring up the festive atmosphere. Citizens threw confetti over the players from verandas and windows of high-rise apartment houses, institutions and enterprises.

 
• DPRK Gymnasts Prove Successful at Asian Championships
  Pyongyang, August 9 (KCNA) -- DPRK gymnasts captured three gold medals, three silver medals and four bronze medals at the 3rd Asian Gymnastic Championships held in India from July 30 to August 3. Ri Jong Song successfully carried out movements of highest technique in the men's floor exercises and pommel horse event to catch two gold medals and Hong Un Jong bagged a gold medal in the women's pommel horse event.  
• DPRK Shooters Proved Successful
  Pyongyang, August 8 (KCNA) -- DPRK shooters gave a good account of themselves at the 49th World Shooting Championships held in Zagreb, capital of Croatia, from July 23 to August 6. The championships drew sharpshooters from more than 100 countries. Jo Yong Chol displayed high skill and scored 392 points in the youth event of 50m-running game target, catching a gold medal. Jo Yong Chol, Pak Myong Won and Sim Chong Rim scored 1,156 points in the youth team event of 50m-running game target and took the first place.
• FIFA Rejects North-South Team
  Federation International de Football Association announced Monday that South and North Korea cannot co-host the U-17 World Championship, which will be played in the South from Aug. 18 to Sept. 9, 2007. At a press conference held at the headquarters of the Korea Football Association, Kim Dong-dae, secretary general of the organization committee, said that after talking with FIFA about the possibility of co-organizing the contest, the committee received a negative response because South Korea applied for it independently and an Organizing Association Agreement was signed on that basis. After FIFA's opposition, the organization committee gave up the plan. The general secretary said there is not much possibility of creating a united Korea team as North Korean youth football is at such a high level that the North does not want a united team.  
• North sends upbeat note on inter-Korean projects
    August 07, 2006 ? North Korea has reaffirmed its commitment toward inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, a South Korean operator of an inter-Korean business project said yesterday. "We are confident that ongoing inter-Korean economic cooperation projects such as the Mount Kumgang tours will produce new meaningful results," the North's Asia Pacific Peace Committee said in a letter to Hyundai Asan Corporation, the operator of a tour program to Mount Kumgang. The North sent the letter on Tuesday, marking the third anniversary on Friday of the death of Chung Mong-hun, the late chairman of Hyundai Asan, an arm of Hyundai Group in charge of various business projects in the communist country. Mr. Chung committed suicide in 2003 after being interrogated by prosecutors about slush funds he allegedly provided to politicians to promote his company's North Korea business projects, including an inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border town of Kaesong.
• DPRK Taekwon-Do Players Proved Successful
  Pyongyang, August 4 (KCNA) -- DPRK players won the cup for the first prize in total points, the cup for men's group and the cup for women's group by winning 19 gold medals, one silver medal and 4 bronze medals and coming first in country standings at the 7th World Junior Taekwon-Do Championships. And Choe Song Il and Ri Un Hyang each bagged the cups for the individual best players in total points. The championships held in Bulgaria from July 26 to 30 brought together hundreds of ace Taekwon-Do players from 67 countries including the DPRK, Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Greece and Argentina.
• North Korea cancels mass games show due to floods
  Reuters Sunday, July 30, 2006; 11:19 PM SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has canceled its mass games spectacle, where it celebrates its military might and communist ideology, because of flooding that hit the impoverished country this month, a South Korean official said on Monday. The 80-minute performances that are part rhythmic gymnastics floor show, part military parade and part circus act were scheduled to start on August 15 and run through mid-October.
  "The Arirang mass games have been canceled," a Unification Ministry official said by telephone. Leonid Petrov, who specializes in arranging tours to North Korea, said: "The official reasons named by the North Korean tourism authorities are the recent torrential rains and the planned joint military drill 'Ulchi Focus Lens', which will be performed by the U.S. and South Korean military forces." Petrov said the mass games festival will be moved to April. North Korea typically objects to the annual joint drills, but it has not previously canceled the mass games because of them. [Joint US military] [Media]
• IOC to Send Official Representative to Second International Martial Arts Games
  Pyongyang, July 31 (KCNA) -- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently made a decision to send an official representative to the Second International Martial Arts Games to be held in Pyongyang, the DPRK. President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) Jang Ung, member of the IOC and president of the International Martial Arts Games Committee, is the official representative.
• DPRK Team Qualified for 5th World Women's Football Championships
  Pyongyang, July 31 (KCNA) -- The 15th Asian Women's Football Championships were held in Australia from July 16 to 30. At the preliminaries the DPRK women's eleven beat Thai team 9:0 and Myanmar team 3:0 before drawing scoreless with the Australian team seeking the title of the championships. On July 24 it came first in Group B after trouncing the south Korean team 1:0 in the last match of preliminaries, thus becoming qualified for semi-finals.
  The DPRK team thus defeated the Japanese team 3:2 to be qualified for the 5th World Women's Football Championships to be held in China in 2007.
• Appropriate Measures against Partial Refereeing at Football Championships Demanded
  Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Su, secretary general of the Football Association of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Saturday sent a protest note to Poul Mony Samuel, first deputy secretary general of the Asian Football Confederation and the Organizing Committee of the 15th Asian Women's Football Championships in connection with the partial refereeing of the match between the DPRK and Chinese teams. The note recalled that there was a match between a DPRK team and a Chinese eleven, a semi-final of the championships, in Adelaide, Australia, on July 27 at which the former was declared to be beaten by the rival 0:1 due to the deliberate and undisguised partial refereeing

• N.Korean Players Mug Referee for Off-Side Call
  Members of the North Korean women's football team resorted to kicking and other physical attacks on a referee in the Women's Asian Cup semi-final on Thursday. Three of the players were barred from Sunday's match for third place against Japan as a result. The Asian Football Confederation website on Friday announced North Korea's Sun Son-kyong and Sun Song-jung and Goalkeeper Han Hye-yong are barred from the final, with further disciplinary measures will be discussed by the AFC's Disciplinary Committee. However, the North Korean team as a whole seems to have escaped punishment for the fracas.
  . The Chinese press conceded the violence was rooted in a clear mistake by the referee. During two minutes of extra time due to a second-half injury, North Korea scored a goal from the Chinese penalty area, but the line judge called the goal offside and the referee disallowed the goal. The slow-motion replay showed that to be a bad call, but the referee blew the whistle and called the game for China 1-0.
• DPRK Women Footballers Prove Successful
  Pyongyang, July 25 (KCNA) -- The DPRK women's eleven came first in group qualifying matches for the 15th Asian Women's Football Championships, which is under way in Australia, starting on July 16. Two winners and two runners-up of matches held by groups A and B will advance into semi-finals of the championships. The DPRK team beat the Thai team 9:0 and the Myanmar team 3:0 in group B matches. And it trounced the south Korean team 1:0 after drawing with the Australian team to be qualified for semi-finals.
• Pyongyang Wants Euro for Tours
  By Kim Yon-se Staff Reporter
  North Korea recently demanded Hyundai Asan to use euros in payment for Mt. Kumgang tours, sources said on Wednesday. Payments are currently made in dollars. Hyundai Asan, the operator of inter-Korean businesses, has remitted a portion of the fees it pays to the North in euros since February, according to sources. But a company spokesman neither confirmed nor denied this, a confidentiality clause in related contracts. The tourism unit of Hyundai Group is paying $15 per visitor for a one-day trip, $35 for a two-day and $70 for a three-day trip to North Korea _ a total of about $1 million a month. Asked whether the North's request is related to moves by the United States to put a stranglehold on Pyongyang's international cash flow, the spokesman only pointed out that North Korea changed its preferred currency for international settlements to the euro in 2002. [Counterfeiting] [USD_Euro]
• Koreas to Meet in Women's Football
  By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter Park Eun-jung, right, of South Korea, vies with Myanmar's Htwe Than Than during the Asian Cup women's football tournament in Adelaide in Australia, Saturday, in this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency. South Korea won 3-1. /AP-Yonhap The South and North Korean women's national football teams will engage in a life-and-death struggle as the two sides meets today at a must-win encounter for qualification for next year's World Cup
  The pre-game favorite is the North, who is stronger in terms of FIFA rankings and overall record. It marks seventh place in the world, 16 notches higher than the South. In seven previous showdowns, the North beat the South five times, losing one and drawing one.
• Two Koreas face off for World Cup place
    July 24, 2006 ? Both Koreas will face off today in a battle to gain a spot at FIFA's Women's World Cup scheduled to kick off next year in China. Playing in Australia at the 2006 AFC Women's Championship, which functions as a qualifier for the World Cup, South Korea, with a 2-1 record, has to beat the North, which with two wins and a draw tops group B, in order to have any chance of going to Beijing. Australia is currently tied for first with the North. For the Asian region, only the top two teams are assured a spot in the World Cup in addition to host, China. China, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Vietnam are Group A, while Australia, Thailand, Myanmar, South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea make up Group B. Since 1990, the South has lost five times and beat the North only once and drawn once in their history of encounters.
• North Stops Kaesong Tours
  By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter North Korea has banned South Koreans from visiting Kaesong, a city near the inter-Korean industrial complex claiming it wants to replace Hyundai by Lotte as a new partner for arranging tours of South Koreans to the capital of the ancient Korean kingdom. The Unification Ministry downplayed the shutdown, saying it is unreasonable to link the gridlock of the tourism project to the recent missile crisis. ``North Korea brought up the issue months ahead of the present disputes involving the missile launches on the Korean Peninsula,'' Kim Chun-sig of the ministry told reporters yesterday. He said Pyongyang has asked the South three times since May to accept Lotte in place of Hyundai Asan, a North Korea-related business arm of Hyundai Group.  
• N.Korea Digs In Heels Over Kaesong Tourism
    Never one to forgive and forget, North Korea has kept South Koreans out of Kaesong since July 1, insisting that it will work with Lotte Tours instead of its long-time original partner Hyundai Asan on a Kaesong tourism project. The Unification Ministry said Friday the North has been asking the government to change its Kaesong tourism project partner from Hyundai Asan to Lotte Tours since May. Seoul demurred, saying it cannot be a party to contract violation, and Pyongyang has to deal directly with Hyundai Asan. On June 22, the North avenged itself with a letter to Unification Minister Lee Jeong-sook notifying him that South Koreans are now barred from the North Korean border city.  
• Hyundai Asan Workers to Start Pulling Out from North Korea
  In protest against South Korea's halt of humanitarian aid to the North, Pyongyang has notified Seoul to stop all construction work at Mount Kumgang. South Korean workers there will soon start pulling out.
• Trailing North in Football, South's Women in 3rd Place
  By Kang Seung-woo Staff Reporter The South Korean women's national football team kept their hopes alive for qualification for the 2007 Women's World Cup in China with an 11-0 rout of Thailand, Wednesday, in the Asian Football Confederation qualifiers now under way in Adelaide, Australia. Thailand also suffered a 9-0 defeat against North Korea. After losing 4-0 on Sunday to Australia, South Korea is now 1-1 in matches and ranks third out of five countries in Group B behind co-leaders North Korea and Australia, which have six points each.
• Bid Involves Effort to Enlist North Korea in 'Dream Program' for Sports Solidarity
  By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter
  Kim Jin-sun, governor of Kangwon Province, talks about the province's efforts to successfully bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics. / Courtesy of 2014 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games Bid Committee PyeongChang is encouraging North Korea to participate in its ``Dream Program,'' an annual event to promote winter sports to young people who have difficulty training in their own countries. The PyeongChang 2014 Olympic Winter Games Bid Committee said Thursday its representatives will meet counterparts from the North perhaps as early as this month to confirm the North's participation in the program next year.  
• Korea, Japan, China to Promote Tourism
    SEOUL (Yonhap) _ Tourism ministers from South Korea, Japan, and China agreed Sunday to make efforts to raise the number of tourist visits among the three nations to 17 million in five years from the current 5 million, Japan's Kyodo News reported.

• IOC Leader Asks 2 Koreas to Form 1 Team for 2008
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge has urged South and North Korean leaders to form a unified team for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, according to government and sports officials here on Friday. On June 7, Rogge sent letters to both South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to the effect that he will do his best to help them field a single team for the quadrennial global sports event, they said. It marks the first time for the IOC president to ask the leaders of the two Koreas to cooperate in forming a unified team for the Olympic Games.
• AFC Gives Short Course to Football Coaches
  Pyongyang, June 8 (KCNA) -- A short course for football coaches was held at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, DPRK, under the management of the Asian Football Confederation. The course was attended by football coaches of various sports groups and football teachers of juvenile sports schools across the country. It dealt with issues of principle to be observed by coaches in football training and games and guiding methods of training. Also lectures on psychology, physiology and nutrition were given at the course. The participants in the course will obtain the B-class football coach qualification of the AFC.
• North Korea Issues World Cup Stamps
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ North Korea has published four kinds of stamps in commemoration of the 18th World Cup finals in Germany, according to the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 6. The stamps show football players from different countries who distinguished themselves in previous world soccer championships, the KCNA said.
• IVF Short Course for Referees Held
  Pyongyang, June 7 (KCNA) -- A short course for volleyball referees was held in Pyongyang under the sponsorship of the International Volleyball Federation (IVF). Participated in there were couches of sports groups, teachers of juvenile sports schools and researchers of the Institute for Sports Science in the DPRK. The short course was held, divided into theoretical and practical ones. It dealt with various issues to be applied to volleyball matches in the period from Juche95 (2006) to Juche97 (2008). They included the rules and refereeing gestures, principles that referees should observe before, during and after games, duty of recorders, activities of officials in organizing and operating games.
• FIFA should boot North from Cup play
  June 07, 2006 ? In this year's World Cup, North Korea failed to qualify. But there will be a day when it does, and then FIFA will have to make a decision. The right one, I hope. Should the North be allowed to participate in a world event despite its poor record on human rights? The decision should be easy. What if a unified inter-Korean team was to play at the World Cup? What would FIFA do, then? There is little doubt Seoul would bill the inter-Korean team as a sign of peace on the Korean Peninsula that should be embraced by the whole world. Already the countries are preparing to launch a joint inter-Korean team for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In the past, joint entrances by inter-Korean teams at international sports events have been hailed as a step forward in inter-Korean relations. But at what cost? Whenever I watch North Korean athletes, I always think of the privileges these athletes must have gotten. Food is said to be short in the North, especially in the countryside. Yet, the North Korean athletes are fed relatively well

• N. Koreans to Watch World Cup Games
  By Kim Hyun-cheol Staff Reporter The World Cup fever appears to have spread to North Korea. Officials in Pyongyang have asked the South Korean government for cooperation in receiving television broadcasts from World Cup games in Germany, the Ministry of Unification announced Tuesday. The North Korean Central Broadcasting Commission made an official request to the Korean Broadcasting Commission (KBC) in the South in late April, said Yang Chang-seok, spokesman at the ministry, in a briefing.
• Taekwondo Masters Try to Reunite Koreas
  By BURT HERMAN The Associated Press Friday, May 26, 2006; 3:00 PM PYONGYANG, North Korea -- With a smile and strong hands, Korean-American taekwondo grandmaster Woo Jin Jung shatters pine boards in hopes of breaking another solid barrier _ the 53 years of division between North and South on the Korean peninsula.
• Proposal for Restoring Tradition of "Seoul-Pyongyang Football Matches" Favored
  Pyongyang, May 19 (KCNA) -- Kang Kum Sil, Seoul mayoral candidate from the Uri Party of south Korea, formally proposed the issue of restoring the tradition of "Seoul-Pyongyang Football Matches" shortly ago. Sim Kyong Ok, vice-chairperson of the Pyongyang City People's Committee, answered the question put by KCNA on May 14 in this regard. Hailing the proposal as a good offer suited to the June 15 era of reunification, she noted: The "Seoul-Pyongyang Football Matches" began in 1929. It had been a long tradition for the Korean people to hold such matches demonstrating the spirit and dignity of the Korean nation in token of their resistance against the Japanese imperialists' colonial rule. Much upset by this, the Japanese imperialists suspended the football games in 1933 in a bid to tone down the anti-Japanese sentiment. The Korean people, however, did not abandon this national tradition despite the Japanese imperialists' suppression. In 1946, the year after the liberation of the country, they restored their national tradition and held a football match with splendor in Seoul in March. However, the U.S. troops occupied south Korea, dividing Korea into the north and the south and blocking free visits between them. This has prevented the "Seoul-Pyongyang Football Matches" from taking place for 60 years since 1946 and, accordingly, this tradition is recorded in history as a mere thing of the past.
• Inner Parts of Mt. Kumgang to Open
  By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter
  Tours to Mt. Kumgang in North Korea will be expanded around July or August, following the exploration of unopened areas of the scenic mountain by the tour operator Hyundai Asan at the end of this month. Hyundai Asan said on Friday that the two Koreas will jointly explore areas around Mt. Kumgang from May 27 in preparation for pilot trips there in the summer
• 40th Anniversary of ITF Marked
  Pyongyang, May 18 (KCNA) -- A function marking the 40th anniversary of the International Taekwon-Do Federation took place at the Taekwon-Do Hall here Thursday. The ITF was founded by Choe Hong Hui who was its organizer and first president on March 22, 1966 for the purpose of disseminating worldwide Taekwon-Do, the martial art of the Korean nation. It has grown strong to be an international organization having under it at least 120 national associations in various countries of the world that group tens of millions of Taekwon-Do players.
• Title of "World-crass Gymnast" Awarded to Gymnasts of DPRK
  The International Gymnastics Federation decided to confer the honorary title "World-class Gymnast" on female gymnasts Kang Yun Mi and Pyon Kwang Sun, the KCNA reported on March 9. Kang Yun Mi belongs to the Pyongyang City Sports Group and Pyon Kwang Sun is with the Kigwancha Sports Group of the DPRK.
• 2nd International Martial Arts Games to Be Held
  The 2nd International Martial Arts Games will be held from August 22 to 29 in Pyongyang, according to a report of the KCNA on March 13. amid great expectation and interest of the Korean people and martial art players. The event will be attended by players from the DPRK and tens of countries. The games will include Taekwon-Do, wushu, Karate, Paduk(go) and Sirum(Korean wrestling) and demonstration and exhibition of national martial arts of the various countries.
• Things Not Allowed at Mt. Kumgang
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter MT. KUMGANG, North Korea _ Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok's visit here over the weekend on the occasion of the Isang Yun concert revealed a few anecdotes illustrative of current inter-Korean relations. In his first trip to the scenic mountain resort since taking office in February, Lee made an inspection of newly emerged or sites under construction, some of which were unthinkable in the Cold War era like the South-North joint farms in North Korean villages and the construction site of a golf course looking over picturesque scenery. But during the minister's visit to the construction site of new buildings designed to host future reunion rounds of separated families from the two Koreas, the director of the construction work came up with an anecdote reminiscent of the ongoing tensions between the two Koreas. ``We South Korean workers, are staying here without our families who remain in the South,'' the director from Hyundai Asan, the South Korean company that operates the resort area for mainly South Korean tourists, said apologetically during a briefing on the construction.

• Koreas expand projects in tourism and culture
  March 29, 2006 ? Government agencies are getting more aggressive in integrating North Korean elements into their cultural programs. They are developing tour packages that include destinations in the North and the South, and exhibiting historical artifacts from the North. The Korea National Tourism Organization said yesterday that it was offering a 10-day tour of attractions in both the North and South. "We're mainly promoting to affluent Russian tourists, but the tourism packages are open to everyone," said Lim Jong-woo, a tourism agency official. The packages cost an average of $3,000 for a 10-day trip; sightseers can depart from Beijing, China, or Vladivostok, Russia. They first travel to Pyongyang, Mount Kumgang and Kaesong in North Korea and return to their starting point. They then travel to Seoul, Gyeongju and other sites in South Korea. There is no travel across the Demilitarized Zone. Also yesterday, the National Museum of Korea announced that it would stage a special exhibition of North Korean artifacts in June. This will be the first time North Korean cultural assets will be displayed here through a government agreement. At a press conference yesterday, the museum's curator, Lee Kun-moo, said 65 artifacts from the Stone Age through the Joseon Dynasty would be exhibited. Twenty-five paintings will also be on display. "The artifacts will be transported by land from Pyongyang through Mount Kumgang," Mr. Lee said, "where they will be unpacked and examined by North and South Korean authorities. They will then be moved to Seoul." He said many of the artifacts will be new to South Koreans; even their photographs have not been displayed here before. by Wohn Dong-hee
• NK Threatens South Over Tourism Business
  North Korea Tuesday warned the South of the possibility of stopping the vivists of Southern tourists to the North. According to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Rodong Shimmun said in an editorial that the South Korean government will not benefit from souring relations between the two Koreas, which it attributed to the annual joint military drills of South Korea and its ally United States that started last Saturday.
  The North has recently been stepping up its aggressive rhetoric against the weeklong ROK-US joint military exercises [Joint US military] [Spin] [Media]
• What Japanese Tourists Have Left
  By Kim Ki-tae Staff Reporter Since the 1990s, Japanese women have associated South Korea less with war and poverty and, instead, have begun to rush to the peninsula for cheap and safe shopping sprees. The file photo shows two Japanese tourists posing with Korean national flags with a group of Korean traditional performers in Insa-dong, central Seoul. /Korea Times file In the 1980s, Japanese females feared visiting South Korea. For them, the former colony was just too poor, full of violent demonstrations and hostile to Japan to travel around. Worse, the peninsula bore a high risk of war with the even more hostile North. The majority of Japanese tourists to South Korea at that time were middle-aged males in search of sex tourism in this ``cheap'' nation, or older groups who were born in South Korea during colonization and wanted to see their hometowns once again before their deaths. The nature of this tourism made relations between them and their hosts subordinate, post-colonial. In a new book ``Foreign Culture in Us,'' coauthor Moon Ok-pyo notes that concepts on Korea among the Japanese have drastically changed, especially since the 1990s. According to the anthropology professor at the Academy of Korean Studies, South Korea has shaken off its gloomy and dangerous images among the Japanese and begun to be recognized as a close, inexpensive, and safe holiday destination.
• Promising Female Footballer
  Pyongyang, March 22 (KCNA) -- FIFA (International Football Federation) made public the lists of ten best football players (men and women) of the year 2005 in October last year. Among the women players is Ho Sun Hui of the DPRK.
• Inter-Korean Travel Jumps This Year
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ The number of South and North Koreans traveling between the rival countries increased nearly 90 percent in the first two months of the year, the Unification Ministry said Thursday. The number rose to 12,849, an 89.3 percent increase from that of the same period last year, Vice Unification Minister Shin Un-sang said at a regular news briefing. The number of travelers crossing the inter-Korean border in February almost doubled to 7,129 from 3,423 a year ago, according to the vice minister. "The figure can be said to be proof of increased exchange and cooperation between the North and South," Shin said. The number of visitors, mostly businesspeople, between the rival Koreas reached its highest level of more than 88,000 last year, while more than 320,000 South Koreans traveled to the North's scenic Mount Geumgang resort, according to the ministry.
• International Figure Skating Festival Held in Pyongyang
  Four-times World Champion Participates in Festival
• Inter-Korean Travel Jumps This Year
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ The number of South and North Koreans traveling between the rival countries increased nearly 90 percent in the first two months of the year, the Unification Ministry said Thursday. The number rose to 12,849, an 89.3 percent increase from that of the same period last year, Vice Unification Minister Shin Un-sang said at a regular news briefing. The number of travelers crossing the inter-Korean border in February almost doubled to 7,129 from 3,423 a year ago, according to the vice minister. "The figure can be said to be proof of increased exchange and cooperation between the North and South," Shin said.
• Kumgang adopts identification cards
  March 02, 2006 ? Paper identification of tourist visiting Mount Kumkang will be replaced with electronic identification cards, the size of a credit card, starting this month, Hyundai Asan Corp. said yesterday. With the adoption of the electronic card, the long waits and inconvenience that tourists visiting North Korea have experienced will be reduced by up to 30 percent, the South Korean company said. The card will be initially provided to tourists staying in North Korea for three days and later will be gradually applied to two-day visitors. The company said that although the cards are currently limited to identifying the tourist and buying a few North Korean products, it would later be developed into a "master card" that will allow tourists to use all the facilities within the Kumkang tourist site.
• Kim Jong Il Sends Wedding Table to Kye Sun Hui
  Pyongyang, February 28 (KCNA) -- A wedding table sent by leader Kim Jong Il was Monday conveyed to triple world judo champion Kye Sun Hui who is a judoist of the Moranbong Sports Group and bridegroom Kim Chol, a coach of the Rimyongsu Sports Group. Kye Sun Hui won the first gold medal in the 48 kg division of women's judo at the 26th Olympic Games in Juche 85 (1996). She also won women's judo gold medals at the world judo championships in 2001, 2003 and 2005 to hold triple world judo champion, thus obtaining 10 gold medals in international matches. She won the "Kim Il Sung Prize" and was awarded the titles of Labour Hero and People's Sportswoman.
• North Korean judoka marries
  North Korean judoka marries: Kye Sun-hi, second from right, a North Korean judoka, receives a prize granted by leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang Monday as her husband Kim Chol, right, looks on. Kye, 26, won a gold medal in the women's 48-kilogram category at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and also won three World Championships including last year's. [photo]

• Chairman of Asian Football Confederation Here
  Pyongyang, January 29 (KCNA) -- Chairman of the Asian Football Confederation Mohamed Hammam Saad Al-Abdulla and his party arrived here today. They were greeted at the airport by Minister of Foreign Trade Rim Kyong Man who is chairman of the DPRK Football Association, Vice-Chairman of the Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission Jong In Chol, and officials concerned.
• APPLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE FOR DEEP 2006
  (DPRK Exposure and Education Program)
  NOTE: Deadline February 14th, 2006 (postmarked) Please respond to the email address below if you wish to apply. This year marks the 5th year of DEEP, which is an exposure program to our northern motherland. The program was developed by Nodutdol for Korean Community Development (NDD), a New York-based organization, as part of our efforts toward peace and reunification. This program works in parallel to its counterpart, KEEP, which visits the southern part of our motherland. DEEP will be an opportunity for participants, generally English- speaking 1.5 and 2nd generation Koreans in the U.S. to 1) learn about north Korean society, 2) help build relationships with people in the DPRK and 3) upon return, to share with the American public what they have learned.
• South spends double as North paves Paektu
  January 21, 2006 ? The Unification Ministry is again facing criticism over its laxness toward North Korea, after announcing yesterday it would provide 4.8 billion won ($4.8 million) to repair and complete a project on Mount Paektu on which it has already spent 4.98 billion won. Of that, 2 billion won is to repair faulty construction by North Korean workers, carried out without clear specifications of what the South expected for its contribution. According to the Unification Ministry yesterday, the Korea Tourism Organization and Hyundai Asan of South Korea agreed last July to provide financial support for a paving project on Mount Paektu, with their North Korean counterpart, the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee. The money was given on condition that North Korea allow South Korean tourists to twice a year visit the mountain on the Chinese border, which many Koreans value highly. The South Korean government used 4.98 billion won from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund and delivered 8,000 tons worth of pitch, or asphalt, to the North. However, the contract only stated the amount and timing of the financial support, without stating what was to be paved, or giving South Korea supervision rights. The Unification Ministry could only check on the construction last December, when it found a badly-constructed runway. A Unification Ministry official said, "As the runway has holes here and there, a plane bigger than middle-size cannot taxi on it." He added, "North Korea used the pitch provided by the South in building a taxiway, which it was supposed to use only in road construction, leading to the faulty construction." Some critics also suspect North Korea may have misappropriated the asphalt. South Korea, however, has no way to check that suspicion. As the contract was signed one month after then-Unification Minister Chung Dong-young met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, critics say the South Korean government was moving hastily without scrutinizing the contract to further greater inter-Korean exchange. by Chae Byung-gun
• North Botches Paving, Requests More Aid
  By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter North Korea's poor construction skills have seen up to 3,000 tons of asphalt pitch, provided by the South, being wasted, according to the Unification Minsitry. The waste comes after South Korea's hasty provision of 8,000 tons of the pitch _ worth some $4.8 million (5 billion won) _ to the North, the ministry said. In an effort to pave roads and an airport landing strip at Mt. Paektu, located on the North's border with China, South Korea supplied the asphalt last year out of its state fund for inter-Korean cooperation The provision was decided upon last July, 15 days after the government-run Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Hyundai Asan Corp. signed a contract with the North's Asia Pacific Peace Committee to initiate a pilot tourism program by the end of last year. The North claimed the asphalt, 5,000 tons for roads on the Paektu Plateau and 3,000 tons for the reconstruction of airstrips, was necessary to help establish tourism-based infrastructure at the highest mountain on the Korean Peninsula, which has great symbolic meaning to both South and North Koreans. On Thursday, the KTO once again accepted the North's request to provide the same amount of asphalt, including 3,500 tons for paving the landing strip again, as the construction work done by the North on the airstrip has been found to be insufficient and problematic, said Kim Chun-sig, head of the ministry's inter-Korean exchange and cooperation bureau. The ministry added it plans to this time provide the North with technical support to make sure the materials would not be wasted again. However, the ministry flatly denied suspicions that the North has diverted some asphalt for different purposes, saying ``Given that the length and width of the road and the provided amount of pitch, the North must have needed more asphalt (than what we supplied to them).'' Experts say it is uncertain whether the pilot tourism project to the mountain could start within this year as the reconstruction will take more than two months once the spring comes to the mountainous region and the two Koreas plan to renegotiate the travel issue after repair are done.
• NK Seeks to Exclude Hyundai From New Tour Projects
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ North Korea may be seeking a new South Korean partner for tours that will take South Koreans to new destinations in the communist state, including Mt. Paektu, the highest peak in both Koreas, officials close to inter-Korean dialogue said Friday. The North said it will not do "any other business with Hyundai" except their existing tourism program to the country's scenic mountain resort of Kumgang, the officials said on condition of anonymity. The declaration came at a recent meeting between the North's Asia Pacific Peace Committee, Hyundai's business partner, and the South's government- run Korea Tourism Organization to discuss the launch of tours to Mt. Paektu, according to the officials. The meeting was held from Jan. 9 through 11 at the request of the North Korean committee, but the North insisted the meeting be held only between the two sides, leaving out its business partner Hyundai Asan, they said. The latest development follows the North's attempt late last year to find a new South Korean partner for the new tourism programs, including one to the ancient Korean capital of Kaesong.
• Hyundai to Spruce Up Mt. Kumgang
  Cable Cars, Electronic Tourist ID Cards, Golf Course Among New Features
  By Kim Yon-se Staff Reporter Hyundai Asan plans to operate cable cars on Mt. Kumgang beginning in 2007 to increase the site's attractiveness to South Korean tourists. A company official said on Thursday it will soon start negotiating with North Korea to run cable cars on part of the mountain. ``It will take about one year or more to complete the construction of cable car system,'' he said, suggesting that tourists could enjoy the service as early as the first half of 2007.
• Incheon Seeks to Hire NK Footballer
  By Kim Hyun-cheol Staff Reporter
  North Korea's national football team midfielder An Yong-hak Local football fans might see a North Korean playing in the K-League as Incheon United, last season's runner-up, is eyeing on An Yong-hak, a Japanese-born North Korean player. An, 28, is a pivotal member of the North Korean national team and currently playing for the Japanese league club Nagoya Grampers. The midfielder scored two goals in the Asian qualification of the German World Cup, in which North Korea failed to reach the finals. Incheon confirmed the club's low-profile interest in signing the player. "We've long been interested in An and recently our general manager Ahn Jong-bok has been to Japan to check him out, but it still might take some time 'till we see some real progress on that," Kim Seok-hyun, Incheon's PR director, told The Korea Times on Thursday.
  An has North Korean citizenship as a member of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, which supports North Korea. There were two more Japanese-based North Koreans who played in the Korean professional football league. Ryang Kyu-sa played for Ulsan Tigers in 2001 and Kim Myong-hwi was with Seongnam Chunma the next year.
• North's Compensation Demand Principles of Balance Ought to Be Observed
  Hyundai Asan Corp., the leisure arm of the Hyundai Group, is confronted with a new obstacle to its Mt. Kumgang tour project over the amount of compensation for the death of a North Korean soldier and injuries to two other soldiers in a car accident in the mountain resort in the North. It is reported that the Northern authorities demanded $1 million in redemption for the casualties in the traffic mishap that occurred late last month. Naturally, Hyundai turned down the request in light of an incredibly enormous amount when taking into account the extremely poor living standards in the North. However, Hyundai is deeply concerned with the adverse impact its refusal may have on the Mt. Kumgang tour program.

• N. Korean Killed in Traffic Accident at Mt. Kumgang
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter One North Korean soldier was killed and two others injured Tuesday after being run over by a car driven by a South Korean worker at Mt. Kumgang in the North, a Unification Ministry official said Thursday. The driver, identified only by his family name Chung, apparently failed to see the soldiers who were standing guard at a post in the scenic mountain area, Yang Chang-seok, spokesman of the ministry, said. It is the first-ever traffic accident since Hyundai Asan, a subsidiary of the South's Hyundai Group for businesses with North Korea, started the tourism business at Mt. Kumgang.
• Cross-Border Visitors Open New Era
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Even though the Korean Peninsula is divided and the two sides are still technically at war, the inter-Korean relations turned a corner in 2005 with the largest number of visitors ever crossing the heavily-fortified demilitarized border in one year.
  As of November, around 80,000 Koreans, mostly traveling from South to North, visited each other and the number is expected to swell to 87,000 by year-end. It is a three-fold increase from 2004 when 26,534 people had a look at the other side. A total of 1,272 South Koreans visited Pyongyang in October, mostly to see the Arirang festival, and 1,634 toured Kaesong, a capital of the 918-1392 Koryo Kingdom where a joint industrial complex is under construction. The number of visitors to the North does not include tourists to Mt. Kumgang, North Korea's southeastern tourism spot where people can enjoy beautiful mountainous areas located next to the East Sea. A total of 284,502 South Koreans toured Mt. Kumgang, meaning diamond mountain, as of November. The ministry expects the number could surpass 300,000 by the end of December [Statistics]
• Tours to North Korea to Enjoy Boom
  By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter It has been eight years since South Koreans started visiting Mt. Kumgang, a scenic attraction in North Korea on a cruise program organized by Hyundai Asan. Hopes and doubts about the success of the trips continue, as the tour program is strongly influenced by international and local developments. And many ups and downs have occurred over the past eight years. The number of visitors plummeted during difficult times such as when a South Korean woman visitor was detained in 1999, when former Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-hun committed suicide in 2003, and when the North cut the quota of daily visitors by 50 percent last year. Numbers rose when the government subsidized costs for students, the disabled and dispersed families in 2002, and when an overland bus route was developed in 2003. Despite obstacles, the number of South Korean visitors to the scenic mountain resort passed the million mark last June. Moreover, the communist country plans to open more tourist attractions to South Korea. Kaesong, the capital of the ancient Koryo Kingdom, Mt. Paektu on the border of North Korea and China, and maybe even the North Korean capital Pyongyang are on a possible list of tourist attractions for South Korean travelers.
• Mt. Kumgang Tour Makes Profit
  By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter The number of South Korean visitors to North Korea's Mt. Kumgang has reached a record total this year due to expansion of resort facilities, despite obstacles such as a quota cut. The tour operator Hyundai Asan is also expecting to break even on its inter-Korean business for the first time. The number of visitors to the scenic mountain in the North Korean territory this year was 294,986 as of Dec. 22, according to Hyundai on Monday. As more than 6,000 people have made reservations for the tour program until Dec. 31, the total number of South Korean tourists to Mt. Kumgang in 2005 is expected to surpass 300,000. The rise is quite significant, as the quota of daily visitors had been cut to 600 for about two months, about half of then-number of daily tourists, following disputes between Hyundai and the North regarding the dismissal of former Hyundai vice chairman Kim Yoon-kyu.
• Kim Gwang Ok and Ryu Myong Ok Defend their Championships
  WBCF Championships Held in Pyongyang Matches for winning and defending WBCF championships were held at Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnsium in Pyongyang on October 21.
• Kim Gwang Ok defended her championship of WBCF bantamweight.
• Interview with Chief Manager and Players of DPRK U-17
  The DPRK young men's soccer team advanced to the best 8 at the FIFA U-17 soccer championships. The Choson Sinbo Company interviewed Jo Dong Sop, the chief manager of the team, and three players - Choe Myong Ho, Ri Hung Ryong and Jong Gwang I - about their experience in the championships and their future aims. I Have Confidence in Korea's Future Soccer What is the cause of the team's advance to the best 8?
  We prepared ourselves to play fine games very strong teams of the world. So, the team was confident of showing their ability and achieving fine results, said the chief manager, and continued: At the championships, we declared our aim was to advance to the best 8. Though we accomplished this original aim, we feel that if we had played better, the results would have been different. The cause of our advance to the best 8 was, above all, the high mental strength of our players. Our team was filled with moral strength and the players, the manager and officials were united and determined to show our Korean soccer all over the world. Our players were in high spirits consistently and persistently in all the scenes of the games. I think our special technique of moving from mass defense to fast attack functioned well. In the game against the Ivory Coast, we goaled in the early phase of the game, and won two more points, and our victory became decisive in the first half. In the game with Italy, we also got a goal early, and we won an advantage over the opponent. Overcoming our weakness in the preliminary round, we were able to strengthen our team's unity. The advance to the best 8 at the championships is one of the brilliant successes which Korean soccer teams have recently achieved. It is a very meaningful result for the development of Korean soccer.
  How do you sum up the championships? Ri: I felt that our level was as high as other teams' physically and technically. I have a lot of confidence in our ability to rank high in the world. Now I am sorry for our failure to win a higher place rather than filled with the joy of advance to the best 8, our target. Our team had been organized long before the games. There was no player in our team who had exceptionally high technical talent. Our wins were due to our group power. Jong: I tried to learn what world soccer was.
• Mass Games 2006
  The DPRK tourism authority has told Koryo Tours that they are planning to run the Arirang festival again in 2006 between the dates of August 10th and October 10th, in addition to this we were informed that US citizens will most likely be allowed into the country at that time. Please see the tours and tour dates page for dates and prices. Arirang 2005 was the biggest festival ever to have taken place in the DPRK and '06 may be bigger yet so no time to waste, book early and be sure of being there at the largest and most elaborate performance in the world, 100,000 people perfectly synchronised in a socialist realism spectacular that can only be seen in North Korea. Really the chance of a lifetime!
• North-South Talks on Sports
  Kaesong, December 8 (KCNA) -- North-south talks on sports were held in Kaesong today. At the talks both sides shared the understanding that it conforms with the basic spirit of the June 15 joint declaration for the north and the south to form a unified team to participate in major international games to be held in future on the principle of contributing to national reconciliation, unity and reunification in the idea of "By our nation itself" and had sincere discussions about it. They agreed to continue discussing technical issues related to the formation of the unified team.
• North, South Korea Hold Half-Marathon
  By JAE-SOON CHANG The Associated Press Thursday, November 24, 2005; 3:42 PM
  PYONGYANG, North Korea -- Never did Bae Young-kyu think he would be running over this stretch of land. Bae, the deputy municipal chief of the South Korean town of Inje, is a longtime marathoner. He would have thought it inconceivable he could enjoy a run in North Korea, where his mother was born. She died two years ago, having never seen her hometown since the 1950-53 Korean War.
  On Thursday, Bae ran through dense morning fog in Pyongyang with about 140 other South Koreans as the two Koreas held a half-marathon for civilians for the first time in their 60 years of division. [Joint Korean]
• DPRK-Hong Kong Football Match Held
  Pyongyang, November 18 (KCNA) -- A football match between the team of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the team of Hong Kong, China, which belong to the group "N" for the 12th Asian Youth (under-17) Football Championships was held at Yanggakdo Football Stadium in Pyongyang on November 18. The DPRK team scored the first goal at around 10 minutes in the first half of the game. The DPRK team beat off the Hong Kong team with the score of 4:0. The DPRK team won the two matches in the group "N" to be qualified for the championships to be held next year. Earlier on Nov. 16, there was a match between the teams of Hong Kong, China and Guam, which drew 2:2.

• DPRK-Guam Football Match Held
  Pyongyang, November 14 (KCNA) -- A football match between the team of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the team of Guam which belong to the group "N" in the preliminaries for the 12th Asian Youth (under- 17) Football Championships was held at Yanggakdo Football Stadium on November 14. The DPRK team scored the first goal at around 15 minutes in the first half of the game. The DPRK players netted 4 goals in the first half of the game and 13 goals in the latter half, winning the game with the score of 17:2. The DPRK team will meet with the Hong Kong team of China on Nov. 18.
• Pusan Bids to Co-Host Olympics With NK
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter PUSAN _ Pusan (Busan) Mayor Huh Nam-sik Tuesday announced the city's bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, expressing hope to co-host the global sporting event with Pyongyang. In a press conference at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) here, Huh officially announced the port city's ``ambition'' to be an Olympic host, reiterating its capability of accumulated experience and infrastructure suitable for sporting events.
  Asked for a possibility of forming a united team of South and North Korea in the 2020 Olympics, Huh said he is willing to make utmost efforts to realize that goal. ``It depends on, I think, the progress of inter-Korean relations,'' Huh said. ``But if really happens, that will be a significantly meaningful step toward peace on the Korean Peninsula and world peace.'' However, he said the city has not any detailed plan for the co-hosting issue or any contact with North Korean authorities. Earlier this month, the two Koreas agreed to field a united team for the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a symbolic step toward inter-Korean reconciliation. The two sides marched together under one banner in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics opening ceremonies of the games. [Joint Korean]
• KNTO sets sights on Paekdu tours
  November 15, 2005 ? Korea's tourism promotion agency said yesterday it plans to launch a pilot tourism project next year for South Koreans to visit Mount Paekdu on the North's border with China. "Along with Hyundai Asan Corp., we will visit Mount Paekdu around April to explore a tourism project there," said Shin Hee-su, the head of the inter-Korean tourism project at the state- run Korea National Tourism Organization, or KNTO. Hyundai Asan and the KNTO had originally planned to launch the Paekdu tourism project this year, but the plan was delayed by a recent dispute between Hyundai and Pyongyang over the dismissal of Kim Yoon-kyu, who was the Hyundai Asan chief executive officer.
• Agreement on Normalizing Tour of Mt. Kumgang Reached
  Kaesong, November 11 (KCNA) -- The Korea Asia- Pacific Peace Committee and Hyundai Group of south Korea had a contact in Kaesong from Nov. 10 to 11 at which a joint press release was issued. According the joint press release, the north and the south agreed to put the tour of Mt. Kumgang on a normal footing. At the contact Ri Jong Hyok, vice-chairman of the Committee, and Hyon Jong Un, chairwoman of Hyundai Group, shared the understanding that they started cooperation and have steadily developed it on the basis of compatriotism and trust over the last years, guided by the spirit of the June 15 joint declaration, thereby making a positive contribution to national reconciliation and unity, and decided on this basis to take necessary measures according to what was discussed on settling the abnormal situation created in the bilateral relations recently and building confidence. It was pointed out in the joint press release that both sides would hold at Mt. Kumgang resort joint celebrations of the 7th anniversary of the start of the tour of Mt. Kumgang which will fall on Nov. 19 and put the tour on a normal footing on this occasion on the premise that the bilateral good faith is kept. It was also agreed to continue consultations on other pending issues between the two sides in the future.
• Hyundai takes on the North
  [EDITORIALS] A three-month struggle between Hyundai and North Korea has come to an end, and the Mount Kumgang tours that were operated by Hyundai are to be resumed. If the stand-off between the two sides had continued, not only would the economic losses have been heavy on both sides, but it would have also cast a shadow over inter-Korean relations. But it is how Hyundai conducted the negotiations with the North this time that is most telling. The North tried to pressure Hyundai by arguing that the company should reinstate Kim Yoon-kyu, who headed Hyundai's tourism department but was fired on embezzlement charges. North Korea reduced the allowable number of tourists to Mount Kumgang and then threatened to halt all business with Hyundai. The North then used the strategy of offering the business of conducting tours to Kaesong to another company, in another bid to pressure Hyundai. The judgment by the North was that Hyundai, which had invested a great deal in the North, would in the end yield to pressure.
• Hyundai mending fences in 2 Koreas
  November 08, 2005 ? Faced with ill will in both Pyongyang and Seoul, Hyun Jeong-eun, the chairwoman of Hyundai Asan, met Unification Minister Chung Dong-young yesterday to soothe ruffled feathers before Ms. Hyun's trip to North Korea on Thursday. The government here, especially the Unification Ministry, is upset with Ms. Hyun because of an internal Hyundai Group report on financial irregularities in its North Korean tour program
• Hyundai Group Chairwoman to Visit N. Korea
  SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The chairwoman of South Korean conglomerate Hyundai Group, North Korea's biggest business partner here, is scheduled to visit the communist state on Thursday, an official of the group's affiliate, Hyundai Asan, said Monday. During her visit, Hyun Jeong-eun is expected to meet Lee Jong-hyeok, vice chairman of the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee at the North Korean border city of Kaesong, the official said.
• Reunification through games?
  [LETTERS to the editor] It would be farfetched to suggest that during the next Asian Games, which will held Dec. 1 to 15, 2006 in Doha, Qatar, the following announcement will be made over the public address system: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Korean Peninsula has now been peacefully reunified." Yet Shane Berg (letters, JoongAng Daily, Nov. 4, 2005) wrote that "Seoul's hosting of the '86 Asian Games led to the Olympics, '02 FIFA World Cup and Busan Asian Games and numerous other world-class events." Can't we hope for the eventual reunification of North and South Korea in conjunction with the sporting event of the 21st century, i.e., the Doha Asian Games 2006? by Richard Thompson [Bizarre]
• 2 Koreas Write New Chapter of Concord Through Sports
  By Kim Hyun-cheol Staff Reporter Li Bun-hui of North Korea, left, reacts after winning a point with Hyun Jung-hwa of South Korea during a women's doubles match at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan. At the event where South and North Korea participated in a joint team, Li and Hyun contributed to winning the women's team event over China. /Korea Times File The agreement between South and North Koreas to form a joint team for the 2006 Asian Games and the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics is a dramatic breakthrough in their histories of sports, as well as of diplomacy. The announcement on Tuesday has great significance in terms of bringing the two Koreas closer together. Earlier, Kim Jung-kil, president of the Korea Sports Council and the Korean Olympic Committee, met with his North Korean counterpart Mun Jae-dok in Gwangzhou, China, in September, where they verbally agreed on the joint team issue. Athletes and coaches of both Koreas at the East Asian Games didn't hide their expectation that a joint team can build a synergy effect for both sides.

• N.K. approves mass student visit to Mount Geumgang
  Pyongyang has approved a visit by 1,600 South Korean college students to Mount Geumgang amid its protest to Hyundai Group to halve daily South Korean visitors there, a local civic group said yesterday. "About 1,600 students from 12 different universities will visit Mount Geumgang to attend a three-day event to promote unification in October and November," posted on its Web site of Jiudau, the civic group which organized a gathering of South and North Korean college students early last year. For the first round meeting from Oct. 28-30, 800 students will visit Mount Geumgang, the symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement, and another 800 will go during Nov. 4-6 and hold discussions on unification. About 1,300 freshmen - 1,100 from the South and 200 from the North - met to promote unification in the scenic resort mountain of Geumgang in March 2004. (aibang@heraldm.com) By Annie I. Bang
• Aide says Hyundai, North to meet
  October 26, 2005 ? North Korea and Hyundai Asan agreed yesterday to hold talks to cool their dispute over inter-Korean tour programs, raising hopes here that the problems in their business relations would be ironed out. "The vice chairman of North Korea's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, Ri Jong-hyok, who is in charge of the Mount Kumgang tour business, contacted Hyundai Asan this morning proposing talks," Unification Mister Chung Dong-young told the National Assembly yesterday.
• North Korea, Hyundai to Discuss Normalizing Business Relations
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter
  North Korea has accepted Hyundai Group's proposal for a bilateral meeting to discuss normalizing their soured business relations, officials at the group and the Unification Ministry said Tuesday. Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of the conglomerate, and Ri Jong-hyuk, vice chairman of the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee that overseas the inter-Korean business, will meet in the near future apparently in an attempt to recover their strained ties, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told the National Assembly.
• Ex-Hyundai aide shows the same old loyalties
  October 24, 2005 ? Despite having been called a "corrupt businessman" by his former boss, Kim Yoon-kyu sounded like a Hyundai loyalist when he met the press Saturday on his return from an extended trip to China. Mr. Kim, fired as the Hyundai Group's vice chairman and president of its North Korean tourism arm, defended the group's right to an exclusive franchise for North Korean tours. He was answering questions about the flirtation between North Korea and Lotte Tour over a new partnership to bring South Korean tourists to Kaesong, an ancient royal capital just across the Demilitarized Zone north of Seoul. Mr. Kim had been accused by Hyun Jeong-eun, the group's chairwoman, of embezzling corporate and government funds used in the course of Hyundai Asan tours to the Kumgang Mountains on North Korea's east coast. His firing raised North Korean hackles, as did speculation here that some of the allegedly missing cash may have found its way into North Korean pockets. But Saturday, Mr. Kim said stoutly, "No one but Hyundai Group should conduct tourism business with the North." Mr. Kim said he would like to get back into North-South Korea business matters, but would not do so unless he were to do it for Hyundai. If that hint was not broad enough, he sounded more sad than angry about the charges that brought about his dismissal. "[Hyundai's audit work] is something that should have remained inside the group," he said. "I am baffled that the results were leaked to the public." Indeed, they were posted by the group's chairwoman on Hyundai's Web site. Hyundai Group has not responded, but one source close to the group said its leaders hoped that Mr. Kim could somehow help ease tensions between Hyundai and the North. by Lee Chul-jae, Yoo Jee-ho
• Hyundai Group Under Pressure to Reinstate Kim
  By Kim Yon-se Staff Reporter The Hyundai Group is likely to decide on whether it will reinstate former Hyundai Asan CEO Kim Yoon-kyu as early as this week. Kim was ousted against the wishes of North Korea for alleged embezzlement of corporate funds after he clashed with the group's chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun. Though the Hyundai Group says it is not reconsidering its decision to dismiss Kim, the possibility of reversing the decision is looming. At a meeting with reporters last Saturday, Kim said Hyundai should continuously take on the North Korean projects, stressing, ``I signed the contact on the Kaesong tourism in person.''
• KAPPC on Case of Hyundai Group in S. Korea
  Pyongyang, October 20 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee Thursday released a statement in connection with the fact that Hyundai Group of south Korea recently divested Kim Yun Gyu, chief director and vice- president of Hyundai Asan who has been a key player in the undertakings for economic cooperation with the north, of all his posts on charge of his alleged "involvement in a scandal," triggering off public furor. The statement said the case is a serious matter as it adversely affects not only the relations between Hyundai and the north but overall north- south economic cooperation, adding that yet Hyundai Group side totally dismissed Kim Yun Gyu from his office, inviting strong criticism of the public at home and abroad.
• NK Rejects Hyundai Asan Visit
  North Korea has rejected a request by three officials of Hyundai Asan to visit the communist country, darkening hopes of reviving their fraught business partnership. The officials had sought to visit the North for four days starting Saturday as part of a larger South Korean delegation to see the choreographed stadium performance of Arirang in Pyongyang. However, sources said North Korea rejected their application. Pyongyang has been threatening to cut ties with Hyundai Asan, including a joint tourism project taking South Koreans to visit the North Korean resort of Mt. Kumgang. Sources said the three officials had hoped to discuss problems in the business partnership, which stem from the firm's firing of an executive who had close ties with Pyongyang.
• Seoul must confront North
  [EDITORIALS]
  North Korea threatened it would reconsider all its business with the Hyundai Group if the South Korean firm does not reinstate its former vice chairman, Kim Yoon-kyu. That ultimatum is simply nonsense. How can the North so badly treat its business partner, which provided it with cattle and allowed it to earn foreign currency through the Mount Kumgang tour? It is a problem that the North wants to influence the personnel affairs of its business partner. It is an even more serious problem that the North thinks it can simply revoke a deal with no reservations. The core issue in the dispute between the North and Hyundai Asan is Mr. Kim's corruption. He committed various irregularities, including stashing away slash funds, that a businessman shouldn't do. It is absolutely natural for a company to fire such a corrupt businessman. And yet, why does North Korea try to protect Mr. Kim at all costs? Why is it claiming his corruption charges were fabricated? The answer is simple. We must say that North Korea is linked to Mr. Kim's acts of corruption. The South Korean government is largely responsible for the North's unreasonable stance. Mr. Kim's corruption would likely have eventually lead to his diversion and embezzlement of the state-financed inter-Korea exchange cooperation funds, but Seoul pressured Hyundai to not make such charges public. That is why the North believes the South Korean government will listen to its demands even if it is acting totally unreasonably. Why does the South Korean government remain silent about such disgraceful behavior by the North? Does it have a weak point regarding the North? The contract between Hyundai Asan and North Korea must be respected. North Korea must not intervene in the personnel decisions of a private enterprise in South Korea. Seoul must tell Pyongyang directly and clearly these two points. If such principles are not respected, no inter-Korean business will ever work, South Korea must tell the North. Even at the cost of sacrificing the Mount Kumgang tour program, this is the opportunity to teach the North the lesson that it must not act as a superior partner in any inter-Korean business.
• Hyundai's grip on tours fades
  October 21, 2005 ? North Korea upped the pressure on Hyundai Asan yesterday with an ultimatum to the tour company to reinstate its former president or lose its monopoly rights to conduct tours to the Stalinist state. "We have no choice but reconsidering and readjusting all business relations with Hyundai," a spokesman for North Korea's Asia- Pacific Peace Committee said. The committee runs civilian exchanges with South Korea and is the formal partner of Hyundai Asan in running tours to the Mount Kumgang scenic area on the North's east coast.
• North Korea Threatens to Break Up With Hyundai
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter North Korea Thursday warned Hyundai Group that it could review all of its ongoing businesses with the South Korean conglomerate, saying the group ``ungratefully and rashly'' ousted Kim Yoon-kyu, former vice chairman of the group, from his position. ``Now that Hyundai has lost its original identity and betrayed all the faithfulness, we cannot but raise a doubt as to whether we should continue to cooperate with them,'' the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee said in a statement. The committee, which oversees North Korea's business with the South, issued the statement through the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
• N. Korea to reconsider business with Hyundai
  North Korea will reconsider all its business ventures with Hyundai Group if the conglomerate does not resolve troubles involving the group's former pointman on business with the North, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday. The North's Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee said the dismissal of Kim Yoon-kyu, Hyundai Asan's vice chairman who was the leading figure for the cross-border tourism business, has caused distrust among Hyundai and its country, and that the action was "ingratitude" toward to its leader Kim Jong-il. "It is inevitable to think and consider that we cannot now cooperate with Hyundai, which is not faithful any more," a spokesman of the committee was quoted by KCNA. He spoke about Hyundai's Gaeseong tour project as well, saying Pyongyang "cannot but discuss the business with another company." He said the 7-point agreement for business cooperation in August 2000, which guaranteed the privilege to Hyundai on cross-border tour project, can be amended any time.
  The Korea Tourism Organization and Hyundai Asan had agreed with their North Korean counterparts in July to operate tours around Mount. Baekdu at least twice a year. (angiely@heraldm.com) (aibang@heraldm.com) By Lee Joo-hee and Annie I. Bang
• India Promotes Buddhism to Attract Korean Tourists
  By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter India plans to promote Buddhism and culture to attract more Korean tourists with the slogan ``Bring India to Korea and Bring Korea to India.''
• North kicks segment off its Arirang show
  October 14, 2005 ? After South Korean media complained about a segment in North Korea's Arirang Festival performance, North Korea cut the offending part from the 80-minute performance, an official here said yesterday. "We confirmed through several channels that part of the performance disappeared from the show on Monday," the government source said. In one segment of the show, three North Korean martial arts specialists kicked, punched and subdued 30 unnamed enemies. But there was a clue: the "enemies" were dressed in uniforms identical to those worn by the South Korean military before 1990. Unification Ministry and intelligence sources said the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il watched the show Sunday and that his "on-the-scene inspection" may have triggered the cut. [Peace efforts]
• Hyundai still in saddle in North, official says
  October 13, 2005 ? Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo told a radio interviewer yesterday that Hyundai Asan continues to be the designated business partner of North Korea in seven broad fields, as Hyundai agreed five years ago with authorities in the North. "The government must honor the agreement," Mr. Rhee told CBS Radio. Hyundai paid North Korea $500 million for rights to run tours there. Lotte Tour recently declined a North Korean offer to bring tourists to Kaesong. That was prudent, Mr. Rhee said. "If the North tries to sign a contract with another South Korean business partner concerning a project that has already been given to someone else, we would have to handle the case under South Korean laws that were intended to prevent conflicts and disputes in business with North Korea," he said.
• Hyundai's NK Business Rights Still Valid'
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo said Wednesday that the contract Hyundai Group signed with North Korea five years ago on its exclusive rights to operate certain kinds of businesses in the North is still valid. The government would respect it, he added. ``It is true that Hyundai obtained exclusive rights on seven economic programs in a deal signed with the North's Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee in 2000, and it's still valid as there has been no discussion on possible changes to the bilateral agreement,'' Rhee told a radio interview.
• Dancing to Kim's tune
  By Choe Sang-Hun International Herald Tribune MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2005
  PYONGYANG, North Korea The authorities here call the extravaganza the greatest show on earth. After five months of training, 20,000 schoolchildren filling the side of one of the world's largest stadiums flip giant cards with such synchronicity that they form a gigantic screen flashing picture-quality images and communist slogans. [Media]
• Lotte says 'no' to tours in the North
  October 11, 2005 ? North Korea's hunt for a new tour business partner may have been derailed. Lotte Tour said yesterday that it had rejected Pyongyang's overtures to begin running tours to the ancient capital city of Kaesong. "Until the current conditions improve, we will not engage in an independent North Korea business," Lee Sun-nam, an executive with Lotte Tour Co., told a news conference. "It is difficult to conduct a tour business with the North without following market principles and with unreasonable demands attached. Conditions are not ripe yet."
• Lotte Stops Tourism Talks With NK
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter Lotte Tours said Monday it would not negotiate with North Korea on replacing Hyundai Asan to pursue the inter-Korean tourism project. The announcement came as opposition lawmakers criticized North Korea's recent move to break away from Hyundai Asan, the North's original tourism business partner and a business arm of the Hyundai Group.
• North and Lotte set to talk tours
  October 10, 2005 ? North Korea has upped the ante in its spat with Hyundai Asan over tourism in the reclusive country. It has invited Lotte Tour Co. to bring South Korean tourists to Kaesong. But the price tag would be stiff. Lotte Tour officials said the price for the tourist concession would be $10-million worth of fertilizer and construction material and a fee of $150 per tourist to visit the capital of the ancient Goryeo kingdom.
• Ideological business: Asan in the North
  October 10, 2005 ? Doing capitalist-style business with a communist partner is risky, of course, but Hyundai Asan jumped into it with both feet in the late 1990s. The tour business arm of the Hyundai Group was supported by the nostalgia that the group's founder, the late Chung Ju-yung, had for his home town in the North. Hyundai Asan's story demonstrates what North Korea, in an unwittingly revealing turn of phrase, has called "the peculiar nature of North-South business dealings." It all began with an 82-year-old man's long cherished dream of going home. On June 16, 1998, Mr. Chung returned to his hometown in North Korea herding 500 cattle in an $8.5 million aid package for the famine-stricken nation. He had left in 1933, intending to become a lawyer. When the two Koreas were separated by the civil war in 1950-53, Mr. Chung remained in the South and never got his law degree. But when he did finally return to his home town, he was one of the richest men in South Korea. On his return from the North eight days later, Mr. Chung announced a business coup, the first inter-Korean business project. Hyundai was to operate a tour program to the North's scenic Mount Kumgang. "I have signed a contract with North Korea to begin the tours starting this fall," Mr. Chung said proudly. The first tourist ship, with 883 South Koreans aboard, sailed to the mountain resort on Nov. 18 that year. Since then, Hyundai Asan has shepherded nearly 1.12 million tourists to Mount Kumgang.
• Lotte Swoops on Hyundai's NK Tours
  By Reuben Staines Staff Reporter
  The tourism arm of the Lotte Group is ready to take over from rival conglomerate Hyundai in running tours to the North Korean border city of Kaesong if Pyongyang decides to dump its long-term business partner, company executives said over the weekend. ``We plan to actively discuss it if the North contacts us again,'' an executive at Lotte Tours said on condition of anonymity, referring to the troubled tour project currently headed by Hyundai Asan. The announcement comes after Lotte Tours revealed last month it received a fax from North Korea inviting it to run the Kaesong tour project.
• N.K. gains $439m windfall from tours
  Hyundai Group has paid approximately $439 million to Pyongyang for its cross-border tourism programs to Mount Geumgang since it launched travel there in 1999, official figures here show. Payments by Hyundai Asan Corp., the group subsidiary that is the dominant operator of tour programs to the North, include $260 million in 1999 and $136 million in 2000, according to the data released by the Unification Ministry for the annual parliamentary audit. The ministry said Hyundai Group agreed with the North in October 1998 to pay about $924 million over six years and three months as compensation for permission to run the tours. But after some difficulties such as a decline in the number of tourists, Hyundai signed a new contract with the North in June 2001 agreeing to pay $100 per tourist. When the travel programs via the overland route to Mount Geumgang began in 2003 and the number of tourists increased, Hyundai started paying $50 per tourist for a two-night stay and $25 per tourist for a one-night stay. Since the end of May, the payment has increased to $70 and $35 each, according to the ministry data. The number of visitors to Mount Geumgang from the South since the tours began reached the one-million mark in June. (aibang@heraldm.com) By Annie I. Bang
• Lotte Tours considers entering Gaeseong tour program, replacing Hyundai Asan
  Lotte Tours Co. is positively considering accepting North Korea's offer to operate a tour program to the ancient city of Gaeseong, a company official said Saturday. According to the official, North Korea suggested in a Sept. 13 fax meeting with the South Korean company to discuss the possibility of cooperating in a tour program to the North Korean city near the inter-Korean border. "If the North contacts us again, we plan to meet and actively discuss (the matter)," the official, who requested anonymity, said. Lotte Tours, South Korea's third largest travel company, has been sparing words about the North's proposal in an apparent consideration for the Hyundai Group, which has exclusively led North Korean tourism projects until now.
• After Seoul fumes, Hyundai apologizes
  October 07, 2005 ? The government was livid, and Hyundai Asan quickly fell into line yesterday by apologizing for its earlier charges that government money was involved in a financial scandal at the tour operator. After the group went public with accusations that Kim Yoon-kyu, once the president of Hyundai Asan, had misappropriated $500,000 of government money intended to support inter-Korean projects, the Ministry of Unification came under a drumbeat of media attacks for sloppy oversight of tax money. In all, Hyundai Group charged, Mr. Kim made off with about $700,000 in total, including corporate funds. Mr. Kim was fired this week as the Hyundai Group's vice chairman; he had earlier been eased out of the presidency of the tour subsidiary. The ministry continued to insist yesterday that no government funds had been misused, noting that the specific Hyundai allegation was that Mr. Kim absconded with government funds earmarked for construction works at Mount Kumgang, a North Korean resort area. [Corruption]
• Communist salespeople show capitalist leanings
  October 07, 2005 ? PYONGYANG ? North Koreans in the communist country's capital have been bustling with capitalist enthusiasm this month as they greet more than 600 South Korean tourists a day. The North has been in festive mood for next Monday's 60th anniversary of the founding of the governing Workers' Party. It is the first time South Koreans have attended the long-running Arirang Festival, which includes mass gymnastics and arts performances every night. Street vendors, souvenir shops and restaurants have been competing for the dollars of their South Korean neighbors as the tourists visit Pyongyang's landmarks en masse. A group of 233 South Korean tourists who landed at Pyongyang's Sunan Airport on Monday said once off their Korean Air charter flight, the first North Koreans they met were souvenir salespeople. "There are many other places to buy souvenirs, so let's hurry and go," a North Korean tour guide told the group. A sales representative then entreated them, "We are selling goods at the lowest price, so please buy your souvenirs here." At the Yangkakdo Hotel's souvenir shop, Han Jong- ae, a sales representative, tried to persuade a customer in search of wild ginseng. "We will give you a bargain if you buy in bulk," Ms. Han said. "It's a stereotype that hotel shops are expensive," Pak Hye-rim, a cashier at the shop, said. "Our price is the lowest." The shop usually closes at 9 p.m. but will remain open 24 hours a day until Oct. 17, the last day of the Arirang festival. At Minjok restaurant in a busy area of Pyongyang, only drinks made by an operator of the restaurant were available. "After a July 2002 economic reform measure was announced, the government allowed each company to be financially independent and provided incentives for those with high sales," a North Korean official said, adding that restaurants then began pushing their operators' goods in order to boost sales. Despite the country's energy crisis, at least seven out of 10 apartments were lit up in the evening, plus new neon shop signs that brightened the main roads. "East Pyongyang Power Plant has been fully operating after repairs were recently completed," a North Korean official said. [Economic reforms]
• 'Kim Yoon-kyu Did Not Misappropriate State Fund'
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter The Unification Ministry Thursday denied media reports that some state funds for inter-Korean cooperation were included in money allegedly embezzled by a former chief executive officer of Hyundai Asan. [Corruption]
• North piqued as Hyundai ousts executive
  October 06, 2005 ? The Hyundai Group dismissed former Hyundai Asan chief executive Kim Yoon-kyu as its vice chairman yesterday over charges of misappropriation of company and state funds. Meanwhile, North Korean officials continue to express their dismay at the public disclosure of the charges against Mr. Kim, who was an instrumental figure in Hyundai's business dealings with the North. In yesterday's board meeting, the Hyundai Group discharged Mr. Kim as its vice chairman, and it will vote on his total dismissal at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting scheduled for Nov. 22. The latest chapter in the Hyundai saga comes hot on the heels of North Korea's apparent resentment of the group's handling of the charges against Mr. Kim. Bang Jong-sam, head of the Mount Kumgang International Tourism Company, reportedly told a South Korean press member covering the Arirang Concert in Pyongyang on Tuesday he was unhappy with the Hyundai Group making the charges public.
• Hyundai's NK Tours Fuel Political Spat
  By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter
  Will Hyundai Group be able to get its troubled tour projects with North Korea back on track? As long as the North doesn't accept Hyundai's plan to make the projects more transparent, the answer is no. As twist followed twist, the stalled inter-Korean project has become the bone in a political dogfight between rival parties, with the former CEO of Hyundai's North Korean business unit suspected of having bribed North Korean officials and South Korean politicians. Hyundai said Kim stashed slush funds ``for his private interests,'' but some suggest Kim may have handed a part of the diverted money to North Korean officials. According to many businessmen participating in the South-North business projects, it is impossible to advance deals with Pyongyang without bribes, and Kim might not have been free from pressure. The South Korean government also faces calls to come clean after Hyundai said it has hard evidence that shows Kim diverted some $500,000 of the money he received from the government to facilitate the inter-Korean projects. [Corruption]
• In North Korea's isolated tourist zone, a temple rises
  Its funders say it will offer cultural exchange, but its overseer admits that no North Koreans may visit.
  By Donald Kirk
  - - As they lead visitors along a trail below craggy rocks inscribed with praise for the late "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung, young North Korean guides offer a carefully crafted narrative. They criticize President Bush. They take on US policy. And last weekend, they appeared eager to denounce the dismissal of Kim Yoon Kyu, who is currently under investigation for fraud. The South Korean executive worked for more than 10 years to develop this unusual tourist zone on the east coast several miles above the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea. "We are willing to reduce the number of tourists coming here as an expression of our confidence in him," says Koo Eun Hyun, a smiling 20-year-old, repeating the North's demand for reinstatement of Mr. Kim as president of Hyundai Asan, part of the Hyundai group, which is investing $1 billion in building the complex.
  Perhaps as a result, Kim Young Hyun, a Hyundai Asan vice president, prefers to talk about a $10 million project, largely funded by South Korea and Hyundai Asan, to rebuild a Buddhist temple complex inside the zone that was largely destroyed in the Korean War. "Buddhism is traditionally the religion for Koreans," he says. "Cultural exchange can be the foundation of economic exchange."
  n the meantime, the temple serves as a monument to North Korean propaganda. A plaque in front of the skeletal outlines of new buildings says that Kim Il Sung and his wife, the mother of current leader Kim Jong Il, visited on Sept. 28, 1947. The plaque blames the leveling of the complex on US bombing. [Korean War events] [Media]
• Propagandistic gymnastics
  [Photo] October 05, 2005 ? A North Korean Army soldier after a martial arts performance in which he vanquished his nation's enemies. [YONHAP]
• Propaganda, true, but on a huge scale
  October 05, 2005 ? PYONGYANG ? The capital city of North Korea has emerged from its customary lethargy again for the nation's Arirang Festival. The show is the talk of North Koreans and North Korean "guides," a combination of watchdog and tour conductors without whom no foreigner can venture outside his hotel, touted "must-see" events to their charges. Television sets in the rooms of the Yangkakdo Hotel broadcast nothing but pitches for the big show. The North Korean government invited the JoongAng Ilbo to this year's festival, performances reinforcing the personality cult that surrounds the late Kim Il Sung and his son and the country's leader, Kim Jong-il. The show stresses the Kims' brilliant and benevolent leadership since the end of the Japanese colonial era. More than 100,000 soldiers, students and children performed mass gymnastics, danced and sang. As a group of South Korean tourists entered the Neungrado Stadium to see Monday night's performance, vendors began to smile and tout their $2 programs, DVDs, video tapes, beer and pizzas with the enthusiasm of any of their capitalist counterparts.
• Hyundai Asan Vice Chairman Faces Dismissal
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ Hyundai Asan, Hyundai Group's subsidiary in charge of North Korean business, plans to dismiss vice chairman Kim Yoon-kyu at a board meeting slated for Wednesday, a company official said Tuesday. The agenda at the board meeting also includes the calling of an extraordinary shareholder's meeting and reshuffling of top managerial posts, the official said on condition of anonymity. ``Kim is scheduled to be dismissed from his post,'' the source added. The 61-year old Kim was sacked from the company's chief executive officer position in late August for purportedly embezzling 1.12 billion won ($1.08 million) in company and state funds. [Corruption]
• Pyongyang International Bowling Tournament Closes
  Pyongyang, October 1 (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang International Invitational Bowling Tournament that was opened on Sept. 28 closed on Sept. 30. Results of the tournament were made public at a closing ceremony held at Pyongyang Gold Lane. Sin Tae Jin (male) from DPRK Group A and Xu Lan (female) from China came first at the individual competition, Chinese male and female players at double matches and male players from China and female players of the DPRK Group A at three- person matches. Yi Jing (male) from China and O Kum Ok (female) from the DPRK Group A placed first at top notch event.

• South Koreans' Tour of Pyongyang Begins
  Pyongyang, September 26 (KCNA) -- There has begun south Koreans' tour of Pyongyang. The first visiting group of the Headquarters of the Movement for Reunified Korea arrived here by air Monday. The members of the group will tour various parts of the city and appreciate the grand gymnastic and artistic performance "Arirang".
• S. Korean Authorities' Moves for International Tourism of Tunnel under Fire
  Pyongyang, September 24 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland in a statement on Sept. 23 denounced the south Korean authorities' recent moves for international tourism of tunnels as a blatant challenge to the sincere efforts of the DPRK for peace and reunification of the country and as a traitorous act to make money by abusing national division. It is self-evident that the authorities' moves to make the tunnels, which they have long used for an anti-north smear campaign, an object of international tourism is aimed to create international public opinion in a bid to tarnish the authority of the dignified DPRK and perpetuate the division of the country into the north and the south, the statement said, and went on:
• Southerners jostle to view North's gala
  September 24, 2005 ? About 10,000 South Koreans from 22 civic groups have said they want to travel to North Korea between now and Oct. 20. North Korea will stage its annual Arirang festival during that period and, unlike in past years, Seoul will not bar its nationals from attending the event. The festival is a celebration of the North Korean ideology and leaders heavy on mass gymnastics and huge choral and other artistic performances. "No civic group has officially applied for permission to visit the North yet, but the ministry understands that there are such plans," Ko Gyoung-bin, the director-general of the Social and Cultural Exchanges Bureau at the Unification Ministry, said at his regular press briefing yesterday.
  Fifty thousand South Koreans have visited North Korea in the first eight months of this year, excluding tourists who visited Mount Kumgang. That is an increase of 2.5 times the 20,600 persons who visited destinations other than Mount Kumgang in all of 2004.
• Unification Minister to Meet Hyundai Chairwoman
  By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun is expected to meet with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young to find a solution to the stalled inter-Korean tourism projects, Hyundai officials said Friday.
• Hyundai Asan May Call Back Disgraced CEO
  By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter When Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun sacked Kim Yoon-kyu as CEO of Hyundai Asan, Hyundai's North Korean business arm, she labeled him as a corrupt businessman who diverted corporate funds. Hyun indicated that she would keep Kim away from the inter-Korean tour projects that the conglomerate is carrying out in the North, saying she believes his wrongdoings have put Hyundai and the inter-Korean projects into serious trouble. But with the North's demands for Kim's reinstatement, analysts say the chairwoman may bring Kim to the fore of management to avoid a deadlock in the tour projects, in which Hyundai invested millions of dollars since 1998. According to Hyundai officials, Hyun will discuss the matter when she meets Ri Jong-hyuk, vice chairman of the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which oversees the tourism business with the South.
• US Tourists Can Visit N. Korea for Mass Games
  By Reuben Staines Staff Reporter U.S. citizens will be allowed to visit North Korea as tourists next month to attend the communist country's famed Arirang Mass Games, the organizer of the tours said Thursday. Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based firm specializing in travel within North Korea, said Pyongyang has granted it permission to take American citizens into the country for the first time in three years. U.S. nationals are usually not granted tourist visas due to animosity between the two nations.
• First American tourists in 3 years raise the curtain on North Korea's Mass Games.
  Press release - from Koryo Tours , Beijing 21 September 2005
  Due to 13 years of running tours to North Korea (DPRK) Koryo Tours have been given exclusive access for US citizens (American passport holders) to visit North Korea for this year's mass games Arirang festival. The festival began on August 16th and its finish date has been extended to Oct 17th. US citizens will be allowed into the country for October only and only for a limited period. There have only been two opportunities for US citizens to visit North Korea as tourists, (1995 and 2002 for mass game festivals when Koryo took over 100 US tourists to DPRK). After Oct 17th US citizens will once again be unable to obtain DPRK visas.
  This is an opportunity to see the least visited country on earth and experience Arirang Mass Games - the biggest choreographed socialist realism spectacular on earth. Arirang 2005 has been performed in the May Day stadium (capacity 150,000) every night since August 16th and know one knows when the next one will be...
• Kim Hye Song Win First Prize in Girls' Individual Matches
  The 14th East Asia Grand Prix Hopes Table Tennis Championships were held on Aug. 23 and 24 in Osaka. Participating in the championships were boys and girls under 12 years old from the DPRK, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Mongolia and Japan.
• Two Korean High-School Students Get Medals at Inter-High Boxing Events
  The Inter- High-School Athletic Meeting, an annual sports event for high-school students in Japan, was held at Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture from Aug 1 to 7. Ri Yong Haeng took second place in the middleweight division. Two Korean high-school students got medals at the 59th All Japan High-School Boxing Championship, the Inter-High boxing events.
• DPRK's Men's and Women's Teams Score Victories in East Asian Soccer Championships
  The East Asian soccer championship games were held from July 31 to August 7 at Chonju World Cup Stadium in South Korea.
• North agrees to make peace with Hyundai
  September 16, 2005 ? Seoul's chief delegate to North-South Korean ministerial talks now going on in Pyongyang may have seen his agenda hijacked by a business dispute over tours to the North, but he was at least able to announce what appears to be a cease-fire in those hostilities. "North Korea made it clear that the [Mount Kumgang] project will go smoothly in the future," he told the South Korean press contingent with his delegation. The business rights to run tours of the scenic area and other parts of North Korea became a war of words between the North and Hyundai Asan, which has the concession now. "North Korea said the tours will not be stopped," press reports quoted him as saying. "Hyundai Group's chairwoman, Hyun Jeong-eun, and Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the North's Asia- Pacific Peace Committee, will soon meet to discuss the matter." He said Hyundai would continue to run tours to Mount Kumgang.
  Except for the Hyundai-North Korea spat, the ministerial has been almost devoid of news. The two delegations continued to exchange long- standing demands ? Seoul wants liaison offices in both capitals; Pyongyang wants an end to Seoul's National Security Law and to joint military exercises with U.S. troops. [Joint US military]
• N. Korea Pledges to Continue Tour Business With Hyundai
  By Seo Dong-shin & Joint Press Corps Staff Reporter PYONGYANG, North Korea _ North Korean officials pledged not to abandon the tourism business at Mt. Kumgang, which is run by Hyundai Asan from the South, according to Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who is visiting Pyongyang for the 16th round of inter-Korean Cabinet talks. Ri Jong-hyuk, vice chairman of the North's Asia- Pacific Peace Committee which oversees the tourism business with the South, will soon meet Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of the South's Hyundai Group, to resolve the frictions, Chung told reporters Thursday, quoting unnamed North Korean officials. Hyundai Asan, a business arm of the Hyundai Group, has had de facto exclusive rights to organize South Korean tourists' trips to the North, since the late Chung Ju-yung, founder of the group, initiated the project in 1998. But relations have turned sour recently after Hyun sacked Hyundai Asan CEO Kim Yoon-kyu for his alleged embezzlement.
• Kim Hopes to Contribute to S-N Cooperation
  By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter Former Hyundai Asan CEO Kim Yoon-kyu, who was fired by Hyundai for his alleged embezzlement, has expressed his willingness to continue to play a role in boosting economic cooperation between South and North Korea. ``The inter-Korean economic cooperation projects should continue to work toward the reunification of the separated Korea,'' Kim said in a meeting Wednesday with reporters in Los Angeles. ``If anyone wants to do business with the North, I may try to connect them (to the North).''
• Seoul steps in to mend tour business links
  September 15, 2005 ? Seoul's senior policymaker for North Korean matters said yesterday that the South Korean government would intervene to end the dispute over the operations of tours for South Koreans to the communist country's Kumgang mountain resort. Hyundai Asan, the tour operator, has been feuding with North Korean authorities since its parent Hyundai Group fired the tour arm's president. Chung Dong-young, the unification minister, was speaking to the South Korean press in Pyongyang, where he is chairing Seoul's delegation to ministerial talks with the North. "The government has responsibilities," pool press reports from Pyongyang quoted him as saying. "In principle, this is a business relationship between a private company and North Korea, but the project has cost our government sacrifices, assistance and tax money. We will have to raise the matter with the North Koreans." The spat began with the firing of Kim Yoon-kyu as president of Hyundai Asan last month, although he remains the group's vice chairman. To protest the action, North Korea slashed the number of tourists that Hyundai was allowed to bring to Mount Kumgang, considered by Koreans to boast the peninsula's most awe-inspiring mountain scenery. Hyun Jeong-eun, Hyundai Group's chairwoman, went public with her complaints earlier this week when she posted a letter on the group's Web site that referred to the ousted executive as "corrupt."
• Tours of North rouse Hyundai to new anger
  September 14, 2005 ? As its relations with Hyundai Asan sour, North Korea is looking for a new partner to offer tours to Kaesong, the capital of the ancient Goreyo dynasty and site of a new North-South industrial park. Lotte Tours of South Korea said yesterday that Pyongyang had proposed that it run the Kaesong tour program. Lotte said it is studying the idea seriously. Hyundai Asan, which had been promised the exclusive rights to the tour operations based partly on the warm ties between the Hyundai Group's founder and the former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, did not hide its anger yesterday. Hyundai, which now runs tours to Mount Kumgang on the North Korean east coast, has been bickering with its North Korean partner for some time. Last month, Pyongyang cut the number of tourists to be allowed to visit the scenic mountains to protest Hyundai management's decision to remove Kim Yoon-kyu as head of Hyundai Asan. Hyun Jeong-eun, Hyundai's chairwoman, called Mr. Kim "corrupt," but other sources describe him as having been on the losing end of a power struggle.
• N. Korea Hints at Replacing Hundai as Tour Partner
  N. Korea-Hyundai Ties Soured After Dismissal of Kim Yoon-kyu
  By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter North Korea has proposed that Lotte Tours, a tourism unit of South Korea's Lotte Group, participates in the joint tourism projects between the two Koreas, Lotte officials said Tuesday. The North's proposal comes amid the soured relationship with Hyundai Group, which has the exclusive rights to the South-North cooperation projects, over Hyundai chairwoman Hyun Jeong- eun's dismissal of a key pro-North Korean official last month.

• North may field team in South's K-League
  August 05, 2005 ? Kwak Jung-hwan, president of the Korean Professional Football League, told the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday that an agreement had been reached with North Korea to allow a soccer team from the North to compete in South Korea's professional league. Mr. Kwak said the agreement was reached after months of negotiations between Pyongyang and owners of the 13 professional teams in South Korea.
• DPRK Men and Women Footballers Beat Japanese Teams
  Pyongyang, August 2 (KCNA) -- DPRK men and women football teams trounced their Japanese rivals for the East Asian Cup 1-0 each.
• Football Comes First in S-N Match
  By Cho Jin-seo Staff Reporter South Korean football players watch as head coach Jo Bonfrere demonstrates a penalty kick during the team's training session in Taejon, Tuesday. South and North Korea will face each other tonight in Chonju, for the first time in 12 years. Yonhap For the first time in 12 years, the South Korean national team will play their Northern counterparts in the East Asian Football Championship tournament tonight. While a friendly atmosphere is expected on the stands of Chonju World Cup Stadium, the match will be nothing more or less than a football match to the players and coaching staff of both teams.
• Pyongyang and Inchon to Cooperate for Joint Bid for Asian Games
  Mayor of Inchon Visits North, Five-Point Agreement Made
  Photo shows An Sang Su, mayor of Inchon visiting Mangyongdae Students' and Children's Palace in Pyongyang.
  A delegation of Inchon, South Korea's western port city, paid an official visit to Pyongyang from May 30 to June 2. Finishing his four-day trip to North Korea, An Sang Su, mayor of Inchon city, held a press conference at Inchon Airport on June 2 and said that Inchon would discuss with Pyongyang to jointly hold the 2014 Asian Games and both sides agreed to promote the plan.
• North and South Korea Celebrate One Million Tourists to Mt. Kumgang
  North and South Korea jointly held an event at the Mt. Kumgang resort on June 8 to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration and a million South Korean tourists to Mt. Kumgang since the start of Mt.Kumgang tourism by South Korea's Hyundai group in 1998. This event-"Inter-Korean Public Concert"-- was produced by South Korean television station KBS. Ri Jong Hyok, vice-chairman of the Korea-Asia Pacific Peace Committee, said in opening the concert that it was the fruit of the idea of "By Our Nation Itself" in the June 15 era.
  Opening New History of Reunification Mt. Kumgang tourism started a result of the meeting between Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of Workers·Party of Korea, and Jong Ju Yong, honorary chairman of the Hyundai group, and a public visit to Mt. Kumgang opened in October 1998. With that as a start, the North and the South of Korea opened up a new history of mutual cooperative project such as the connection of the eastern and western coastal railways and the construction of the Kaesong industrial complex.
• S-N Korean Female Footballers Make Their Days
  By Kim Hyun-cheol Staff Reporter Both South and North Korea experienced an exciting opening day of the East Asian Football Federation Women's Cup, defeating China and Japan, respectively, in Chonju, North Cholla Province, Monday.
  In the next match, North Korea kept their advantage from Ri Un-suk's goal in the 38th minute for a 1-0 win over Japan. It was sweet revenge for the North Koreans after their campaign for the Athens Olympic was frustrated by losing 3-0 in the Olympic football tournament semifinals last year. Lee fired a right-footer in the right box from a Jo Yun-mi cross for the sole goal of the game
• W5 Bil. Allotted for Mt. Paektu Tourism Project
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter
  The government has decided to allocate about 5 billion won ($4.9 million) to the Mt. Paektu tourism project in promotion of inter-Korean cooperation, a Unification Ministry official said Tuesday. The money will be spent on materials needed for repairs and construction of the roads around the mountain, including 8,000 tons of pitch, which alone cost some 3 billion won. ``We decided to offer financial assistance to ensure its early success and also to secure the safety of our people when they go there as tourists,'' Kim Chun-sik, director of the ministry's Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Bureau, told reporters. The shipment of materials began yesterday from the South Korean port of Ulsan to the ports of Chongjin and Nampo in the North, according to the ministry.

• North Korean women footballers train in Seoul
  North Korean women footballers: The North Korean women's national team practice during a training session at Sangam World Cup Stadium in Seoul, Wednesday. They arrived here Tuesday to play in the East Asia Football Championship, which begins July 31. [photo]
• Int'l Boxing Contest Held in Pyongyang
  Pyongyang, July 24 (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang International Invitational Boxing Contest was held at the Wrestling Gymnasium in Chongchun Street from July 18 to 23. The contest brought together male and female boxers of the teams of Mongolia, India, DPRK teams A and B and Chongryon (General Association of Korean Residents in Japan).
• Opposition wants a vote on North tourism deal
  July 20, 2005 ? Responding to the newest agreement between Hyundai Group and North Korea to run tour packages in the North, a Grand National Party lawmaker said yesterday that the deal should face a vote in the National Assembly. "If tax money is to be used in the tour program to Mount Paektu, that is the equivalent of indirect government investment to the North," said Ko Heung-kil, head of public affairs for the opposition party. "Even if we take into account the peculiar nature of tourism programs in the North, a National Assembly approval is mandatory if state funds will be spent." Hyundai Asan, the Hyundai affiliate engaged in tourism in North Korea, announced earlier this week that it had reached a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il for tourism packages at Mount Paektu and in the city of Kaesong. It was revealed yesterday that Hyundai Asan and the Korea National Tourism Organization had reached an agreement to supply 8,000 tons of material needed to refurbish runways at Samjiyon Airport near Mount Paektu.
• Money for tourism
  It has been revealed that Hyundai Group and the Korean National Tourism Organization have agreed with North Korea on a plan to provide construction material for the repair of roads near Mount Paektu, to facilitate tourism at the mountain. The agreement was brought to light shortly after Hyundai said, "It is essential that the government support Mount Paektu tourism with repairs to the airport and by supplying electricity." The fact that this agreement was reached two days before Hyundai chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il makes it look especially suspicious. It is problematic that a public enterprise, relying on tax revenue, should be so intimately involved in North Korean tourism.
• Water Sports Activities Brisk in DPRK
  Pyongyang, July 18 (KCNA) -- Water sports activities are being conducted briskly in the July-August months of water sports in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Korea is surrounded by seas on three sides and has many streams and rivers. Indoor and open-air swimming pools and sea-bathing resorts have been built in different parts of the country. All these have provided favorable conditions for water sports activities to students, youth and other people.
• 2 Koreas Plan Liberation Day Football Match
  By Reuben Staines Staff Reporter South and North Korea have agreed to play a football match as part of joint Liberation Day celebrations in Seoul next month, the government said Monday.
• Chung Ji-yi Comes to Fore of Hyundai Group
  By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter
  Chung Ji-yi, a Hyundai Asan official and daughter of the late Hyundai Group chairman Chung Mong-hun, has come to the media spotlight with speculations abounding she may take the reigns of Hyundai's tourism ventures in North Korea. Chung, 29, accompanied by her mother, Hyundai chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun, to a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il last week, where he promised to expand inter-Korean tourism projects led by the conglomerate. It was Chung's first meeting with Kim, and she didn't have much time to talk. But she had a chance to exchange greetings with Kim and important North Korean officials, such as Lim Dong-ok, a senior official of the North's Communist Party, through the meeting. Later, Kim posed for pictures with her. Chung said after returning to Seoul that Kim tried to break the ice during the meeting, joking that Chung would have resembled her father if she wore glasses. Chung Mong-hun had bad eyesight and always wore glasses during official gatherings. ``Kim was friendly and acted in a comfortable matter,'' Chung told reporters on Saturday, arriving from her visit to Mt. Kumgang and Wonsan on the North's east coast, where she inspected Hyundai's tourism businesses. [Kim Jong Il]
• KNTO Teams Up With Hyundai for Mt. Paektu Tourism Project
  By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter The Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO) has pledged to launch pilot tours to Mt. Paektu at the border of North Korea and China next month in cooperation with Hyundai Asan. KNTO president Kim Jong-min said Tuesday that the tourism body, Hyundai Asan, the operator of the trip to the North, and the North's Asia Pacific Peace Committee agreed to allow South Koreans to visit Mt. Paektu on July 14, two days before Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun announced the result of a meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during her visit to the North. The three parties agreed on two issues: for at least two pilot tours to be made in August, and the KNTO and Hyundai Asan to provide the North with road construction at the mountain area.
• Kim Jong Il Receives S. Korean Business Persons
  Pyongyang, July 16 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, received Chairperson of Hyundai Group Hyon Jong Un and Vice-Chairman of Hyundai Asan Kim Yun Gyu of south Korea who are staying in Mt. Kumgang resort. Present there was Rim Tong Ok, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. Remembering with deep emotion the predecessors of Hyundai Group and Hyundai Asan, Kim Jong Il had a cordial conversation with them in an atmosphere overflowing with compatriotic feelings. He hosted a luncheon for Hyon Jong Un and Kim Yun Gyu.
• Expanding North Korean Tourism
  Wider Opening Should Lead to Settling Peace
  Following Pyongyang's scheduled return to the nuclear talks, the agreement to expand tourism is welcome news from the North. If the latest changes in the North Korean positions are genuine, they could turn tension into peace on the Korean Peninsula. Much of the credit should go to the Hyundai Group's untiring efforts and the isolationist country's bold turnaround toward an open-door policy. At stake is how to keep this momentum for peace and prosperity rolling despite challenges from within and without.
  The agreement between North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and visiting Hyundai officials signals the start of full-blown tourism in the North. Next month, South Koreans will be able to climb Mt. Paektu, the nation's spiritual headspring, from the North Korean side. They will also be able to explore in an hour's drive from Seoul the rich cultural heritage of Kaesong, old capital of Koryo Dynasty (A.D. 918-1392) from which the country's name originates. Mt. Kumgang will also open its inner sceneries to southerners.
  This "triangular tourism project" will sharply improve the North's tattered economy. North Korea's real GDP increased 2.2 percent last year, but that in the accommodation-catering sector jumped 16.3 percent, thanks largely to the Mt. Kumgang tourism business
• S. Koreans May Be Allowed to Visit Pyongyang
  Hyundai Group said yesterday it will develop a tourism program with North Korea that will enable South Koreans to visit Mt. Paektu at the border of North Korea and China via the North Korean capital of Pyongyang using a direct inter-Korean air route. North Korea has reacted positively to the idea, and its leader Kim Jong-il has promised to offer 20 houses at the foot of the mountain for free to South Korean tourists, the group said. "We hope North Korea will allow South Korean tourists to stay in Pyongyang before visiting Mt. Paektu and get a glimpse of the surrounding attractions. That will be a wonderful tourism package for South and North Korea," Yoon Man-joon, president and CEO of Hyundai Asan, said in a press briefing. Hyundai Asan is a subsidiary of Hyundai Group that leads inter-Korean tourism projects. 07-18-2005 22:14
• North signs off on Mt. Paektu, Kaesong tours
  July 18, 2005 ? North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met with Hyundai Group's chairwoman Saturday and offered to open up Mount Paektu and the historic city of Kaesong to South Korean tourists as soon as next month. "North Korean leader Kim Jong-il made a proposal that we carry out tour projects at Mount Paektu and Kaesong," Hyun Jeong-eun said yesterday upon her return from a six-day trip to the North. "Mr. Kim promised Hyundai Asan exclusive rights to tourism in those areas." Hyundai Asan is the Hyundai Group affiliate that handles the only South Korean tours in the North, to Mount Kumgang. Those tours began in 1998. Mount Paektu, a sacred place to many Koreans, is on the North Korean-Chinese border; it is the mythical birthplace of Dangun, said to have founded the ancient kingdom of Gojoseon more than 4,000 years ago. Currently, South Koreans can only visit it by way of China.
• NK Opens Mt. Paektu to S. Koreans
  By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun said Sunday she has agreed with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to develop Mt. Paekdu at the border of North Korea and China and the North Korean city of Kaesong as tourist venues for South Koreans. South Koreans will be able to visit the North Korean sites as early as next month, Hyun said, adding Kim also showed interest in opening the North Korean capital of Pyongyang for South Korean visitors.
• Uri Holds Workshop on Mt. Kumgang
  MT. KUMGANG, North Korea (Yonhap) _ The ruling Uri Party began a two-day workshop at the North's coastal resort of Mt. Kumgang early Monday, the first South Korean political party event held in the reclusive country. ``It took 60 years for a South Korean party to hold an event in the North,'' party chairman Moon Hee-sang told about 140 participants in the opening session. Uri Party members, including about a dozen lawmakers and scores of executive staff from across the country, left for Mt. Kumgang via an overland route on the east coast.
• Sports Games of School Youth and Children Close
  Pyongyang, July 5 (KCNA) -- The 31st National Sports Games of School Youth and Children for Jongilbong Cup which opened on June 21 at the Basketball Gymnasium in Chongchun Street in Pyongyang closed on Monday. More than 4,000 boys and girls selected in each province competed in 37 events of the games.
• Kumgang 'Windshield Tourism' Project Hits Legal Snags
  The Justice Ministry has described as "very problematic" a project by Hyundai Asan to let South Korean tourists drive their own car on visits to North Korea's Kumgang Mountains. The ministry found a welter of legal snags associated with the project since November and recently sent its report to the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee. It passed the report to the Unification Ministry on Friday.
• How All Blacks went back to their roots
  New Zealand have rejected the over-coaching culture and given power back to the players
  Robert Kitson Saturday July 2, 2005 The Guardian
• Talks Held between ITF and WTF
  Beijing, June 28 (KCNA) -- Talks between the International Taekwon-do Federation and the World Taekwon-do Federation were held in Beijing on June 27 and 28 for their merge. Discussed there were a series of issues arising in merging the ITF and WTF. At the talks both sides reaffirmed the common understanding that Taekwon-do should be one as an orthodox martial art of the Korean nation and agreed to set up a coordinating committee to unify Taekwon-do technique and strive to seek the way for Taekwon-do people under the two organizations to jointly participate in the next Olympic Games.
• Promoter Wants to Put the 'KO' in Korea
  By VICTORIA KIM The Associated Press Monday, June 27, 2005; 2:24 PM
  SEOUL, South Korea -- A sports promoter has a different idea about how North Korea and South Koreas should reconcile. He thinks they should use their fists. Female boxers from the two countries will fight each other for the first time Tuesday in the North's capital of Pyongyang in bouts sponsored by Park Sang-kwon's newly created World Boxing Council Female.
  "This is the power of sports bringing the North and South closer," Park told The Associated Press last week by fax from North Korea. But Park's ambitions to use boxing to improve relations between the Koreas are causing a tussle of their own in the world of women's boxing. The California-based International Female Boxers Association, one of the two main sanctioning bodies for women's boxing, said last week it would vacate the titles of two North Korean fighters set to box Tuesday: Kim Kwang Ok and Ryu Myung Ok. The IFBA has refused to sanction the Pyongyang matches.

• DPRK Female Pro Boxer Choe Un Sun Wins World Championship
  Pyongyang, June 28 (KCNA) -- Female pro boxer Choe Un Sun of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea captured the championship title of the WBCF in the women's light flyweight category (48.98 kg). Choe Un Sun settled the bout by a unanimous decision over Yvonne Caples of the United States. The champion belt, trophy and certificate were awarded to Choe. The match was held at the Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium in Pyongyang Tuesday.
  DPRK Female Pro Boxer Ryu Myong Ok Holds World Championship Pyongyang, June 28 (KCNA) -- Female pro boxer Ryu Myong Ok of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea won the championship title of the WBCF in the super fly category (52.16 kg) which took place at the Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium, Pyongyang Tuesday. She knocked down her Mexican opponent Elizabeth Sanchez at 50 seconds of the second round. She was awarded the champion belt, trophy and certificate.
  Kim Kwang Ok Wins Championship of WBCF Pyongyang, June 28 (KCNA) -- Kim Kwang Ok, a female pro boxer of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, won the championship title of the WBCF in the bantam category (53.52 kg) match at Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium in Pyongyang Tuesday. Kim Kwang Ok made the best use of her skills to dominate the match from the beginning and put her opponent Shiro Morimoto of Japan on the defence in succession. The Korean girl defeated the Japanese girl 3-0. The champion belt, trophy and certificate were bestowed on Kim Kwang Ok.
• Pyeonghwa Motors to host golf tourney
  June 28, 2005 ? Pyeonghwa Motors, an inter- Korean automotive joint venture, announced yesterday it will hold a golf tournament in Pyongyang in late August. South Korean professional golfers will take part in the competition, the company said. "We have already finished discussions with North Korean officials, and the golf event will take place in Pyongyang," said Park Sang-kwon, president of Pyeonghwa Motors. "South Korean professional players and businessmen will attend the event." North Korea approved the golf tournament three years ago, but the plan has been delayed, according to Mr. Park. Around 30 members from the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association will participate. Jeon Wuk-hyu, a professional golf player and an outside director of Pyeonghwa Motors, said, "We hope this event will contribute to peace between the two Koreas."
• DPRK Refutes FIFA's "Unreasonable Decision"
  "Cheyuk Sinmun" (sports newspaper of the DPRK) on May 6 in a commentary termed the "decision" taken by the Disciplinary Committee of the FIFA against the behaviors of spectators of the country in the game with Iran "an unreasonable one." The committee took a disciplinary step against the "behavior of spectators" after the matches between the DPRK and Bahrain and between the DPRK and Iran.

• North Korea accepts soccer match ruling
  May 18, 2005 ? In an interview Monday with a Japanese sports daily, a North Korean official said that Pyongyang would accept a ruling by the world's governing soccer body to play its World Cup qualifying match against Japan in Bangkok on June 8 behind closed doors. The ruling is the result of incidents in a game against Iran, in which North Korean players confronted the referee over a call, while fans showered the field with bottles and chairs. The Iranian players and the referees had to be escorted out of the stadium. The official, Ri Kang-hong, said North Korea would obey the ruling in order to mend ties with Japan. Japanese officials had expressed concern over the safety of their players in light of growing tension between Pyongyang and Tokyo over Japanese abductee and nuclear issues. The match was to have been played in Pyongyang. [Japan-NK relations]
• Is FIFA's Disciplinary Decision on NK Fair?
  By Leonid A. Petrov The recent riot at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang cost North Korea and its soccer fans dearly. During the game against Iran, angry North Korean players shoved the referee. Disappointed fans hurled bottles and rocks on the field after their appeals for a penalty were turned down. Soldiers and the public security forces moved in to suppress the public unrest so uncharacteristic of this communist state.
• Leaders of 2 Taekwondo Groups to Meet
  SEOUL (Yonhap) - Leaders from taekwondo's two world governing bodies are scheduled to meet in Switzerland in June, a senior official said Thursday. During the meeting, they will discuss ways of keeping taekwondo as an official competition sport in the Olympics and merging the two organizations, said Lee Ki-ha, vice president of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). Lee, a British national, is visiting South Korea after his weeklong trip to North Korea. Taekwondo is currently overseen by two organizations on a global level _ the World Taekwondo Federation led by Choue Chung-won of South Korea and the ITF headed by Chang Ung of North Korea, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The meeting is likely to come two months before the Lausanne-based IOC is scheduled to decide whether to keep the Korean martial art as an official Olympics sport at a general meeting in Singapore in July.
• FIFA orders the North to play in Thailand
  May 11, 2005 ? The world's governing soccer body has ruled that a World Cup qualifying match between North Korea and Japan will be played on June 8 in Bangkok. The decision details an earlier decision by the Federation of International Football Associations that the match be played behind closed doors at a neutral venue. The ruling is the result of an incident at a game against Iran, where North Korean players confronted the referee over a call and fans showered the field with bottles and chairs. FIFA also fined North Korea's soccer association 20,000 Swiss francs ($16,770). The Korea Football Association has said that it would help North Korea to appeal, saying that FIFA's rules do not state whether a three day appeal time refers to the date a document was sent or when it was received.
• DPRK-Iran Match Is Over 2-0
  Kim Yong Su (9), a forward player of the DPRK team, trying to break through the defensive line of Iranian team. A World Cup qualifying match between the DPRK and Iran took place at Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang on Mar. 30. The stadium was filled with about 60,000 spectators. Despite strong defense from the beginning, the DPRK was defeated by Iran 0-2.
• FIFA Disciplinary Committee's Unreasonable "Decision" Refuted
  Pyongyang, May 6 (KCNA) -- Cheyuk Sinmun (sports newspaper) of the DPRK Friday in a commentary termed the "decision" taken by the Disciplinary Committee of the FIFA against the behaviors of Korean spectators an unreasonable one. The commentary says: Recently the committee took a disciplinary step against behaviors of spectators after the matches between the DPRK team and the Bahraini team and between the DPRK team and the Iranian team. The "decision" calls for holding the match between the DPRK team and the Japanese team in a stadium without spectators in a third country, instead of having it in Pyongyang on June 8 as scheduled, and imposing a fine upon the DPRK team.
• ITF Delegation Here
  Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- A delegation of the International Taekwon-do Federation headed by Senior Vice-President Ri Ki Ha arrived here Tuesday. It was met at the airport by Ryu Song Il, vice-chairman of the Korean Taekwon-do Committee.
• FIFA Too Harsh on NK: Beckenbauer
  By Cho Jin-seo Staff Reporter German football legend Franz Beckenbauer said Monday he believed FIFA had acted harshly in ordering North Korea to play their next home match behind closed doors and on neutral ground. ``Maybe FIFA is overacting,'' Beckenbauer, who is chairman of the 2006 World Cup organizing committee, told reporters in Seoul, where he was attending a ceremony to mark a sponsorship deal between the Asian Football Confederation and Emirates Airline at the Millennium Hilton Hotel. ``The decision is made at the FIFA's headquarters in Zurich, so maybe they didn't know what exactly happened in North Korea,'' he said. ``I don't know if they reacted badly or maybe they'll overturn the decision. But in my private opinion, North Korea should have another chance.'' Last Friday, FIFA's disciplinary committee ordered North Korea to play their next World Cup qualifying game against Japan on June 8 at a neutral venue and behind closed doors after crowd trouble followed their 2-0 defeat by Iran on March 30 in Pyongyang. Plastic bottles and stadium seats were thrown onto the pitch and the Iranian players had to wait in their locker room after the game, waiting for riot police to clear a crowd that had gathered outside before boarding the team bus. Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a player in 1974 and as coach in 1990 with West Germany, was sympathetic but diplomatic. South Korean Chung Mong-joon, a vice-president of FIFA, was more aggressive on the issue and said he will do what he can to help North Korea. ``They just didn't have any experience of hosting such a major international sport event, and they didn't know the international standard,'' he said. ``So such a minor mistake, which became a major problem, happened even though they had prepared for the game for a long time.'' ``You should understand that the decision was from FIFA's disciplinary committee. It is their job to give punishments, not rewards. ``The North Korean football association is preparing to file an appeal, and we are giving assistance to them to find relevant precendents.''
• Asia's longest golf hole to be built in North Korea
  May 02, 2005 ? Rather than a "workers' paradise," North Korea may become known as a golf paradise when it opens a 7,600-yard (6,949 meters) course next April, featuring the longest hole in Asia. Built by South Korea's Emerson Pacific Corporation, the course near the Mount Kumgang resort will have a par-3 hole with two greens, one of which will be optimized for hole-in-one shots. The resort, at one of Korea's most famous mountains, is a joint venture with Hyundai and the North Korean government aimed at fostering tourism between the countries.[Kumgangsan]
• Italian Newspaper's False Report Refuted
  Pyongyang, April 29 (KCNA) -- "Cheyuk Sinmun" (sports newspaper) Friday carried the following commentary titled "Facts should not be falsified": Media should not falsify facts. There are publications which have become a laughing stock of the public for having made unreasonable comments on the basis of what their reporters heard from others or some scenes shown by television without witnessing what actually happened. The Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera is one of them. Its recent issue carried a report misrepresenting what spectators protested against the unfair refereeing at the end of the match held between the DPRK team and the Iranian team for Asian qualifier B of the 18th World Cup on March 30. This seriously hurt Koreans' feelings. A reporter of the newspaper wrote a story on the basis of his narrow-minded view without watching for himself the match held in Pyongyang. It was peppered with a lot of nonsensical assertions that "it was a product of popular commotion" and the match ended in the free-for- all on the field. This was a practice of mixing sports with politics. Then why is this newspaper free to use such nonsensical words as "commotion" or "disorder" without any ground? Every spectator is obliged to discern or watch if any match is underway according to the rules. This being a hard fact, how can the reasonable protest made by spectators against the unfair refereeing at the end of the match be interpreted as a "commotion" or "disorder"?
  The referees could not leave the stadium soon after the match was over entirely not because somebody stood in their way. This happened because extremely unfair refereeing made them feel guilty conscience.
  Worse still, this newspaper handles what Koreans did the same way as it does demonstrations and protests staged in other countries under the absolutely different political systems. This is nothing but a ridiculous and naive attempt of the political dwarfs. The newspaper should know that the so-called "commotion" and "disorder" did not happen in the DPRK as it is a society where the people are single-mindedly united. Our people do not allow anyone to falsify truth and facts or hurt their self-esteem. It is the hope of the Korean people and the world soccer fans that the prestigious FIFA will prevent referees' unfair refereeing of international matches and ensure impartiality in those games. [Bluster]

• Final Preliminary to 2006 World Cup
  DPRK Was Unable to Break Through Bahrain's Strong Defense

• Samsung Logo Adorns Football Stadium in Pyongyang
  By Kim Sung-jin Staff Reporter The Samsung logo on Friday adorned the Kim Il- sung stadium in Pyongyang, the venue for an Asian World Cup qualifying match between North Korea and Bahrain. It was the first time a corporate logo of a South Korean firm had been displayed for advertising purposes in the North Korean football stadium.
• Tourism Industry Likely to Be Hit by Tokto Issue
  By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter Airlines, hotels and travel agencies have expressed concern that they might bear the brunt of growing anti-Japanese sentiment following the Japanese provincial council's approval of a bill designating ``Takeshima Day.'' As the travel industry had great expectations for the joint tourism promotion of ``Visit Korea- Japan Year'' to boost exchanges between the two countries, they are closely watching the development of the Tokto issue
• Mt. Kumgang Changes Students' Opinions of NK
  South Korean students' views on North Korea could become more positive as a result of recent tours to Mt. Kumgang, North Korea, the Unification Ministry said Monday. According to a survey conducted by the ministry of 2,150 students and teachers, 51 percent of students said the tour program, sponsored by the government, improved their image of North Korea. In addition, 22.7 percent of the participants said their positive views on North Korea have been strengthened after visiting the tourist attraction. Nine out of 10 teachers said the government subsidies for the students' tour to Mt. Kumgang are necessary because the tour program was helpful in educating students on the necessity of unification. The ministry conducted the survey to examine whether it will continue the government- sponsored program. Tour agents in South Korea have strongly protested the program, arguing that it has affected their businesses. A total of 19,369 students and teachers participated in the three-month pilot program, which ended on Feb. 27. 03-14-2005 18:00 [SK attitude NK]
• Final Preliminary to 2006 World Cup
  DPRK Lose Game to Japan by 1-2
  The final preliminaries of the Asian area for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany were opened on February 9. The DPRK team lost a close game to the Japanese team by 1-2 at the opening game of Group B, but they showed a bright prospect to break through the preliminaries.
• Soccer Enjoys Public Concern in DPRK
  Interview with Ri Hi Yon, Vice-Director of Department of Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission
  Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency carried on January 29 an article on an interview with a senior official in charge of sports. Ri Hi Yon, vice-director of the Department of the Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission, said that interest in the football of the DPRK is growing at home and abroad with the approach of the final preliminaries of the Asian region for the 2006 World Cup.

• Kim Offers S-N Single Team for 2008 Beijing Olympics
  By Kim Hyun-cheol Staff Reporter New Korea Sports Council (KSC) President Kim Jung-kil, said Wednesday he plans to visit North Korea as a presidential envoy to sound out the possibility of forming a joint team between the two Koreas for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He made the remark after Kim, president of the Korea Taekwondo Association, was elected as the president of KSC and the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) in Seoul on Wednesday.
• Sportspersons Meets to Bring about New Turn in Physical Culture and Sports
  Sportspersons in the DPRK held a rally at the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium on Jan. 18 to vow to thoroughly implement the militant tasks set forth in the joint New Year editorial and bring about a new turn in physical culture and sports this year, the KCNA reported on Jan. 19.
• Osaka Korean School Place Among Top 16 Japanese National Highs in Rugby Championship

• An Win Bronze Medal in 52kg Class
  In 22nd Fukuoka International Female Judo Championships An Gum He plays an exciting game in 52kg class. The 22nd Fukuoka International Female Judo Championships was held at the Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, Japan, from December 11 to 12. This championship is an authoritative one sponsored by four organizations including the Japan Judo Association and the Fukuoka Municipal government. There were famous judoists such as Olympic champions among the participants from 24 countries and regions. The DPRK team was composed of 10 players and coaches, headed by Sok Yong Bom, 45, director of the Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Committee of the Cabinet. It was the first time that a national team of the DPRK participated in the championship, but Korean players in Japan had participated in the championship three times before. An Gum He, 24, won third place in the 52kg class. Hong Ok Song, 20, and Kim Myong Ok, 19, took fifth place in the 57kg and 48kg classes, respectively. Kim Ryon Mi, 21, was eliminated in the first match of the 70kg class.
• DPRK to Compete with Japan in Final Preliminary for 2006 FIFA World Cup
  The DPRK's national football squad will compete with Japan in the final qualifying rounds for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The draw for the final qualifying round of the Asian zone was held in Kuala Lumpur on December 9. The DPRK will also face Iran and Bahrain in Group B.
• Two Koreas and China meeting for Ping-Pong
  December 23, 2004 ? For two days, starting on Dec. 29, 15 table tennis athletes, five each from both Koreas and China will compete in Beijing in a three-way tournament, the first time such an event has been held. The athletes will compete in men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles events. The tournament is expected to act as a catalyst that could lead to further sports exchanges between South and North Korea. In 2000, the two held a table tennis competition in Pyeongyang.
• Defector and would-be Olympian
  December 15, 2004 ? Once an Olympic boxing hopeful in North Korea, a 14-year-old girl who came to Seoul in July along with 468 North Korean defectors is training in South Korea with the goal of representing her new country in 2008 in Beijing. To the sound of South Korean dance music, Choi Hyun-mi throws punches at a bag, sweating and breathing hard in a gym in Gwangjin district in Seoul. After finishing a three-month crash course at the Hanawon, a government facility educating North Korean defectors, Ms. Choi and her father Choi Cheol-soon located a gym to pick up where her training in North Korea had left off.
• Unified Korean team for 2006 on the table
  December 03, 2004 ? The prospect of fielding a joint South and North Korean soccer team for the 2006 World Cup in Germany will be discussed during a visit to Seoul later this month by Sepp Blatter, the president of the International Football Federation Association, or FIFA. Yun Jong-su, coach of the North Korean squad, hinted earlier this year that consolidating teams was possible. Both countries are vying for an Asia slot in the World Cup. But joining forces later is seen by some as a way to ensure the presence of both Koreas. The drawing for the final qualifying rounds in the Asian region is scheduled for Dec. 9 in Malaysia. "If we make it to Germany, the chances of a unified team succeeding are higher as we would have more players to substitute," said a Korea Football Association official. "But there are many issues to be resolved with FIFA first."
• First Female Pro-Boxing Champion Born in DPRK
  Kim Kwang Ok, Korean female pro boxer, won world championship. The world championship of the International Female Boxing Association (IFBA) was held in Shenyang, China, on October 29 and she captured the title knocking out a Japanese adversary in the 53.52kg category. She met with Japanese female boxer Toshie Suga to fill the vacancy of the IFBA Bantam class champion. She knocked out the desperately resisting Suga in the 36 seconds of the ninth round by a powerful blow. She is the first world female pro boxing champion of the DPRK.
• DPRK team Wins Gold Medal 15th International Amateur Go Championship
  Jo Se Pyol (left) and Ri Bong Il playing all rounds of games with calm deliberation. The 15th International Amateur Go Championship was held in Tokyo, Japan, from November 13 to 14. The DPRK's team-Jo Sae Byol and Ri Bong Il- won the championship without losing a single game. It was four years since the DPRK team won the championship for the first time and it was the second time that it won the championship. The South Korean team placed second and the Japanese team third.
• Aerial Stunt "Twin Swinging" Awarded "Yellow Crane Gold Prize"
  The Pyongyang Circus was awarded first prize at the 6th Wuhan International Acrobatics Festival held in China from October 29 to November 5. The aerial stunt "Twin Swinging" was awarded the "Yellow Crane Gold Prize," the first prize, and the "Balancing Stunt on the Rope" the "Yellow Crane Silver Prize," the second prize.
• Seoul Opens East Coast Road to Mt. Kumgang
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter South Korea has opened a 4.2-kilometer road from an observatory in Kosong, Kangwon Province, to the southern limit line of the heavily-fortified Demilitarized Zone Wednesday, the Construction and Transportation Ministry said. Seoul had hoped to open the East Coast Road, which is linked to Mt. Kumgang in North Korea, together with the Pyongyang government. But the North has not replied to any of the South's requests for a joint event, officials at the Unification Ministry said. ``The North hasn't officially opened the road on its side of the border,'' a Seoul official said. ``But I think there is no problem in saying that the full length of the road is now open to traffic because the North has almost finished its road construction too.''

• DPRK Go Players Win Title for 15th Int'l Amateur Mixed Go Championships
  Pyongyang, November 22 (KCNA) -- DPRK go players won the title for the 15th International Amateur Mixed Go Championships in Tokyo on Nov. 13 and 14. They brought together over 60 players of 32 teams from 22 countries. Ri Pong Il and Jo Saebyol of the Pyongyang City Sports Group placed first at the championships by beating all challengers with high skill.
• Kumgang Tours Celebrate 6th Anniversary
  By Reuben Staines Staff Reporter About 400 officials, politicians and businesspeople from the two Koreas gathered at the North's Mt. Kumgang yesterday to mark the anniversary of the inter-Korean business venture that began taking South Korean tourists to the scenic resort six years ago. The anniversary celebration also served as a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of two golf courses at Mt. Kumgang by South Korean tour operator Hyundai Asan. ``Today people will recognize Mt. Kumgang business as an economically viable and successful venture,'' Hyundai Asan president Kim Yoon-kyu said during the ceremony. ``This ceremony is not just to break the ground for golf courses.''
  Despite strained ties between Seoul and Pyongyang in recent months, tours to Mt. Kumgang have gone on uninterrupted.
  About 840,000 people have visited the mountain resort on the North's east coast since tours were launched under former President Kim Dae- jung's ``sunshine'' policy of engaging Pyongyang. The business venture has played an important role in easing tension and facilitating inter- Korean exchanges, Unification Ministry officials believe.
• Winter Sports Centre near Completion
  Pyongyang, November 17 (KCNA) -- A sports village, the nation's leading winter sports centre, has appeared in the area of Mt. Paektu, a holy mountain of the revolution. The village covering a total area of 248,000 square meters lies on a vast plateau of Pegae Peak 1,621 meters above the sea level in Samjiyon County, Ryanggang Province. This area is good for winter sports as it has long snowy winter, fresh air, clear water and a dense forest. When completed to meet the requirements of the new century, the sports village will be good enough to host international winter sports games. It looks like a satellite city as it has four large buildings of peculiar and elegant architectural style and at least 20 annexes and many other facilities.
• Subsidies for Mount Geumgang trips
  November 18, 2004 ? Using excess funds originally earmarked for contacts with North Korea, the Unification Ministry said yesterday that it would subsidize trips by students and teachers to North Korea's Mount Geumgang. However, the ministry's plans fly in the face of national policy, which halted subsidies last year over a lack of progress in nuclear weapons talks. The new proposal needs to be approved by the National Assembly. Under the plan, the ministry would set aside 4 billion won ($3.6 million) to subsidize a total of 18,500 middle and high school students and 1,500 teachers, starting in December. For a two- night, three-day trip, the government is scheduled to pick up the tab of 170,000 won for a student and 410,000 won to 480,000 won for an accompanying teacher. A ministry official said the purpose of the subsidy was to expose students to unification issues, while also making use of funds that have accumulated during the stall in inter-Korean relationship brought on by the suspension of the six-party talks. However, some experts have criticized the decision by the government as unnecessary, as monthly tourist traffic to Mount Geumgang has recently reached 30,000. Other analysts see the aim of the move as lifting some of the burden off Hyundai Asan, which is scheduled to pay $942 million to North Korea by February for the use of the Mount Geumgang area. From April until December of 2002, the government gave subsidies of 21.5 billion won to families and students out of fear that the tourism project might falter. Subsidies were halted last year over a lack of progress in resolving North Korea's nuclear arms ambitions. by Lee Young-jong [Kumgangsan]
• Youth Sports Championships Held
  Pyongyang, November 12 (KCNA) -- Youth sports championships took place in Pyongyang, Sariwon, Hamhung, Wonsan and other cities. The participants competed in over 30 events including football, basketball, volleyball, table tennis and shooting. The football title for boys under 23 went to boys of the Rimyongsu Sports Group, those for boys and girls under 20 to boys of the Pyongyang City Sports Group and girls of the Amnokgang Sports Group and the title for boys under 17 went to boys of the Kigwancha Sports Group.
• Road to 2006 Germany World Cup
  DPRK Breaks Through First Preliminaries Korean players fight with full of vigor. The DPRK national football team broke through the first preliminaries and will advance to the final preliminaries for the 18th World Cup to be held in Germany 2006. The second game between the DPRK and Yemen in the first preliminaries was held on October 13 at Yanggakdo Stadium in Pyongyang in which the DPRK defeated Yemen 2-1. Ri Han Jae, a Japanese-born Korean midfielder, who is a professional football player belonging to the Japanese football team "Sanfrecce Hiroshima," scored the first goal.

• DRPK Beats Yemen in Soccer Match
  Pyongyang, October 14 (KCNA) -- The second soccer match of the second-stage Asian regional preliminary round for the 18th World Cup took place between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Yemen at Yanggakdo Football Stadium in Pyongyang on Wednesday. The match, which started at 3:30 pm., was watched by a large number of soccer fans in the city. The DPRK boys beat their Yemeni counterpart 2:1 at the match. At the first match, held in Sana, the capital of Yemen, on February 18, the two teams tied 1:1.
• Tourists May Play Golf in Mt. Kumgang Next Year
  By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter South Korean foreign tourists who visit North Korea's Mt. Kumgang will likely be able to enjoy golf at the resort area from next year. South Korea's Unification Ministry has endorsed Hyundai Asan's application for the project to build two golf courses and other incidental facilities in the resort on the North's eastern coast, ministry officials said Wednesday.
• Mind over masses
  Lawrie Zion October 13, 2004 SOUTH Koreans love to see their stories on the screen. More than half of all cinema tickets sold in the country's cinemas this year have been for home-grown movies. And at the Pusan International Film Festival - which has rapidly become Asia's largest annual film event - local stars showing up at screenings are routinely besieged by armies of their eager fans. But in a country where neighbourly tensions mean the threat of conflict is more than merely theoretical, there is one group that has remained all but invisible in cinema - North Koreans. Until now. A new documentary about two North Korean girls called A State of Mind might not have any familiar faces in leading roles. Yet when it was screened to packed houses at Pusan during the weekend, its British director, Daniel Gordon, was mobbed for autographs and the film became the talking point of the festival.
• Russian Tourists Visit North Korea
  [KOTRA Vladivostok Branch] The Russian citizens in Khabarovsk have increasingly traveled abroad since 2003 because the age group who receive a pension has increased and traveling abroad costs them less than traveling within Russia. This group¡¯s primary travel targets include not only South Korea, various Southeast Asian countries and China, but North Korea as well.
  The North Korean merchants do not sell a variety of goods at the above mentioned stores, and there are many vendors at places located under the various river bridges or near the walls of the local parks. On the other hand, the deluxe restaurants have been crowded with high-ranking officials, added the Russian tourists. The Russians in Khabarovsk, who have traveled to North Korea, have said that even though North Korea is worth a visit and the North Koreans are friendly to the Russians, the travelers can not help feeling uneasy about the North Koreans¡¯ unnatural and over abundant preparedness in treating them. Plus, it is inconvenient for that all these foreign tourists should want to visit the late president Kim Il Sung¡¯s graveyard and his birth-home.
• 1st International Martial Art Games Held in Pyongyang
  Worlds' Martial Artists Deepen Exchange
• AFC U-17 Championship Japan 2004
  DPRK Finished Second and Got Ticket of World Championship The AFC (Asia Football Confederation) Under-17 Championship which qualifies players for FIFA Under-17 World Championship (2005 in Peru) was held from September 4 to 18 in Shizuoka and Fukuoka, Japan. In the championship, the DPRK accomplished the splendid feat of winning a silver medal and got a ticket for the World Championship.
• Road to 2006 Germany World Cup
  DPRK Beats Thailand, to Qualify for Final Preliminaries

• Judgement in Athens
  Give the Koreans Their Day in Court By MARK DONHAM August 26, 2004
  This has generated a controversy because one of the South Korean gymnasts has challenged Hamm's gold medal. Not withstanding the fact that Hamm fell badly during one of the events, the judges gave Hamm the gold medal based on his nearly flawless last performance. No doubt his last performance on the uneven bars was great, but unfortunately, issues of injustice don't seem to go away easily. [Friction] [Anti-Americanism]
• Korean Travel Agency in Canada Advertises for a Pyongyang Tour
  [Vancouver, KOTRA] It is known that a Korean travel agency in Vancouver has been advertising for a group of visitors to come to Pyongyang, North Korea. The Korea-Canada C&P travel agency, which is run by Kim Shin-kyu, the president of the company, born in Hamheung, Hamgyeongnam province, North Korea, has been advertising for the visitors and the departure date is scheduled to leave for Pyongyang around the middle of October of this year, 2004. The company had organized a trip to North Korea for a group of visitors to the 2002 Pyongyang Korean People¡¯s Festival and their major places to visit this time include Pyongyang, Gaeseong and the Myohyang mountain. They will be scheduled to depart Vancouver for Pyongyang by way of Incheon and Shenyang (returning itinerary is in reverse), and the applicants should be Korean who have acquired citizenship or be residents of Canada. About 20 people have applied for this trip so far, according to the company. The company plans to organize a group of visitors totaling 40 by advertising for 20 more visitors in Toronto, and it will not include the event of a home coming and reunion of separated families during the visiting schedule. (Aug. 27, 2004 KOTRA-North Korea Team, Koo Kyung-hee, Tel: 82-2-3460-7423)
• DPRK Athletes Got 4 Silver and One Bronze Medals in Athens Olympics "One Korea Team" Plan Discussed
  Meanwhile, the South Korean athletes got a total of 30 medals (9 gold, 12 silver and 9 bronze medals). North and South Korean athletes marched together at the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
• 13th East Asia Table Tennis Championships Held in Japan
  DPRK Player Win Male Singles Game
• Two Koreas Appeal for "One Nation"
  N-S Korean Athletes March Together in Athens Olympics
• Korean High School Student Won Boxing Champion
  The 58th National High School Boxing Championship was held from July 29 to August 3 in Hiroshima, Japan. Pak Chung Nam, a 3rd year student of Osaka Korea High School, won the lightweight championship.
• Duffers will join hikers at mountain in North
  Hyundai Asan, which operates tours to Mount Geumgang in North Korea, announced yesterday that it would build two golf courses near the mountain to attract more tourists to the area. Plans call for an 18-hole course near Goseong peak, and a par three, nine-hole course adjacent to Onjeonggak, a rest area at the foot of Mount Geumgang. An official with Hyundai Asan said that the company would build the smaller course itself and open it in September 2005, and that Emerson Pacific Inc., an investment company that specializes in golf courses, would invest in the 18-hole course, expected to open the following month. The official said Hyundai submitted its plans for approval yesterday to the Ministry of Unification. He added he expects the plan to be given the go-ahead by the ministry.
• 2006 World Cup Qualifying
  Round-up Chris Taylor Thursday September 9, 2004 North Korea replaced the Emirates at the top of the group after their 4-1 win over Thailand in Pyongyang.

• 18th International Invitational Table-Tennis Tournament Opens
  Pyongyang, August 26 (KCNA) -- The 18th Pyongyang International Invitational Table- Tennis Tournament opened here Thursday. An opening ceremony was held in the Table-Tennis Gymnasium in Chongchun Street. Present there were Jong In Chol, vice-chairman of the Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission, Kim Yu Ho, chairman of the DPRK Table-Tennis Association, and officials concerned. Sports teams of Singapore, Uzbekistan, China, Jilin Province of China, and teams A and B of the DPRK entered the gymnasium.
• South will pay to build roads at Geumgang
  With inter-Korean relations in a chill, the South Korean government said yesterday it would spend 3.1 billion won ($2.6 million) to build and repair roads in North Korea. Chung Dong-young, the unification minister, briefed lawmakers about Seoul's first investment in infrastructure in the North. The government, Mr. Chung said, would spend 2.7 billion won to pave a 13.4-kilometer dirt road to Mount Geumgang resort, located on the eastern coastline of the peninsula close to the border. Another 400 million won will go to repair existing roads, the minister told the National Assembly's unification and foreign affairs committee. Hyundai Asan, a debt-ridden South Korean company, manages the resort along with the South's state-run Korea National Tourism Organization. The Unification Ministry plans to use 27.3 billion won from inter-Korean cooperation funds, which includes a 24 billion won loan to the North Korean management of Gaeseong industrial complex, a report to legislators showed [Kumgangsan]
• Popularity of Mount Geumgang Tours Rising Among S. Koreans
  [Yonhap,Aug.22th] Despite the nuclear standoff and the chilling of relations with Pyongyang over a recent mass defection of North Koreans, the number of South Korean tourists visiting a scenic northern mountain is on the rise, according to a tour operator. Tours to Mount Geumgang, a scenic resort on North Korea's east coast, drew about 32,000 people in July, the largest monthly figure since they began in 1998. The tours are almost completely booked for September and October, said Hyundai Asan, the South Korean operator, reflecting South Koreans' newfound interest in the scenic mountain resort. The growing popularity is a sharp contrast from February when North Korea threatened to suspend the prominent tour project, complaining that the number of tourists was declining. The cross-border tour, launched by the Hyundai Group in late 1998, has so far drawn more than 729,000 South Koreans, according to Hyundai Asan.
• DPRK Players Prove Successful at 28th Olympic Games
  Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- DPRK table-tennis player Kim Hyang Mi finished second in the women's singles and Kim Jong Su came third in the finals of the men's 50m free pistol shooting event at the 28th Olympic Games in Athens. Kim Hyang Mi beat Hungarian 4:1, her Romanian rival, winner in the Europe Table-Tennis Championships, 4:2 and her Chinese rival 4:0 in the preliminary contests. On August 19 and 21 she trounced Singaporeans 4:2 and 4:3 in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals each before advancing into the finals. Kim came second in the finals of the women's table-tennis singles on August 22. On August 17 Kim Jong Su came third in the finals of the men's 50m free pistol shooting event.
• South Koreans Protest Gymnastics Mix - Up
  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: August 21, 2004 Filed at 12:55 p.m. ET SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Sports fans in South Korea already are protesting a scoring mistake that handed a gold medal to an American gymnast at the expense of a South Korean at the Athens Olympics. They've been through this before. In 2002, South Koreans fumed when South Korean skater Kim Dong-sung was disqualified from the Winter Olympics' 1,500-meter race, allowing American Apolo Anton Ohno to win the gold. In Athens, a judging error in the all-around gymnastics final cost Yang Tae-young the gold that went, instead, to Paul Hamm, the International Gymnastics Federation, or FIG, said Saturday. The South Korean got the bronze instead. The news was reported late in the evening in Seoul, but some protests were emerging. Pressian.com, an Internet-based newspaper in South Korea, urged ``a strong nationwide reaction to reclaim the gold medal that we have been robbed of.'' Internet surfers posted complaints and called for an online campaign to ``win back the lost gold.'' Naver.com, a major South Korean Internet portal, carried a series of protest messages. ``Let's flood the IOC web site with our protests, urging it to reverse the decision on the medals. We should ask IOC, 'What makes it so afraid of the United States?''' one person wrote.
  Judging by the upheaval over the Ohno affair in 2002, the South Korean protest against the Athens decision is just stirring. Many young South Koreans harbor particular resentment toward the United States because of the long- running U.S. military presence in their country, and feel Washington is disrupting their efforts to reconcile with communist North Korea.
• U.S. Gymnast Will Keep Gold Medal Awarded in Error
  By Liz Clarke Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, August 22, 2004; Page A01 ATHENS, Aug. 21 -- American gymnast Paul Hamm was erroneously awarded the gold medal in the men's all-around at the 2004 Olympics Wednesday night because of a scoring error that penalized bronze medal winner Yang Tae Young of South Korea, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) ruled Saturday. Hamm will be allowed to keep the gold medal, however, because the federation refused to change the results, saying that South Korean Olympic officials filed their complaint too late. Instead, the sport's governing body suspended the three judges involved. But that may not be enough to satisfy the disgruntled South Koreans, who are considering taking their grievance to a higher authority, the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), whose rulings on international sports are regarded as binding.
• An IATA Expert Assures the Safety of the Koryo Airlines
  [North Korea Team/KOTRA] At the luncheon meeting held on July 8, 2004, at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Hong Kong, Neil Jonasson, the Vice-director of the Asia Pacific Office of the IATA (International Air Transport Association), said that there are no safety problems concerning the North Korean Koryo Airlines. According to Jonasson¡¯s statement, the Koryo Airlines is in fair preservation even if the airplane is the old-fashioned Tupolev and Ilyshin model from the former Soviet Union. He added that the Koryo airlines is quite satisfied with the IATA safety standards. As a veteran of the aviation safety field, Vice-director Jonasson, has been working within this area for 30 years ever since he graduated from the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) in 1974. * Source: KBS publication of August 4, 2004
• N. Korea to Sell Advertisements at Upcoming Sports Event
  [Yonhap,Aug.16th] North Korea is planning to sell advertising boards in gymnasiums where an international martial arts competition is to be held next month, a Japanese newspaper reported Monday. North Korea will also give exclusive advertising rights to the event organizer if a deal is struck, the Tokyo Shimbun afternoon edition said. About 600 martial arts athletes from 50 countries will reportedly compete in the International Martial Art Games in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, from September 15 to 20. The North will put up advertising boards inside and outside the seven gymnasiums where the event will be held. The prices for the advertisements were set at US$800 to $1,500, according to their size in square meters. North Korea also planned to sell television broadcasting rights to the event to a foreign company and put an advertisement in leaflets that will be handed out to spectators, the newspaper said. For that promotion, multinational sportswear company Nike was reportedly interested, the paper said. [Opening]
• Olympic briefs
  Highlights from Day 6 Thursday August 19, 2004 The Guardian ·The Iraqi Najah Ali won in the first round of the boxing yesterday. His trainer Maurice "Termite" Watkins - who went to Iraq from Texas to kill insects and ended up taking over the national boxing team - watched from ringside when Ali outpointed North Korea's Kwak Hyok-Ju in the under-48kg category.
• DPRK Girls Prove Successful at 28th Olympic Games
  Pyongyang, August 18 (KCNA) -- DPRK girls Kye Sun Hui and Ri Song Hui gave a good account of themselves at the 28th Olympic Games in Athens. On August 16 Kye Sun Hui finished second in the finals of the women's judo 57 kg category. On the same day Ri Song Hui carried off a silver medal by coming second in total points in the 58 kg category of the women's weightlifting event. She lifted 232.5 kg in the total (102.5 kg in snatch and 130 kg in jerk).
• North Korea Harvest Pair of Silvers
  By Kim Hyun-cheol Staff Reporter Two North Korean gold medal hopefuls ended on step short on the podium at the Athens Olympics, instead earning the country a pair of silvers in Monday's competition.
• Joint Korean team to take field in Beijing
  ATHENS ? Both Koreas and the International Olympic Committee have agreed on efforts to field a united Korean team at the 2008 summer games in Beijing. IOC president Jacque Rogge, South Korean Olympic Committee head Lee Yun-taek and his North Korean counterpart, Mun Jae-dok, had a meeting at the Olympic Headquarters here Friday, local time, and agreed to finish discussions on the formation of a joint team around by early 2006.
• Athletes of North and South Jointly Enter Olympic Stadium
  Pyongyang, August 14 (KCNA) -- Athletes of the north and the south of Korea jointly entered the stadium to attend an opening ceremony of the 28th Olympic Games held in Athens Friday. As they marched hands in hands with two players holding a large white colour Korean peninsula flag in the van, many spectators rose up and warmly welcomed them with a long applause.
• Two Koreas Join First Table Tennis Practice
  By Choi Kyong-ae Staff Reporter South and North Korean table tennis players participated in a joint practice for the first time Thursday at the Athens Olympics, raising hopes for inter-Korean sports exchanges, the Korea Table Tennis Association said Friday.
• IOC Backs Unified Team Plan
  By Cho Jin-seo Staff Reporter The International Olympic Committee threw its support behind the two Koreas forming a unified team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the head of the Korean Olympic Committee said Friday. IOC president Jacques Rogge met with Lee Yun- taek, the president of the Korean Olympic Committee, and his North Korean counterpart Moon Jae-deok at the Divani Hotel in Athens on Friday morning and agreed that both countries should conclude all the necessary procedures before the start of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics, Lee told the media after the meeting.
• Two Koreas to Have Joint Training at Athens
  By Kim Hyun-cheol Staff Reporter The table tennis teams of South and North Korea will hold a joint training session at the Galatsi Olympic Hall in Athens on Thursday, for the first time at the Olympics. Nine players of the South's team are expected to have practice matches with an undetermined number of North Koreans at the venue of the table tennis events. The joint training has significance as the beginning of inter-Korean cooperation during the Athens Games. Lee Yun-taek, president of the Korean Olympic Committee, will meet his North counterpart Moon Jae-deok to begin discussions about forming a unified team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Table tennis has been a pioneer in regard to sports cooperation between the South and North. In 1991 the rival Koreas formed a joint team for the World Championships in Chiba, Japan, where the women's team stunned the great wall of China in the final to win the title.
• Pleasure Ground in Mt. Ryongak Undergoes Facelifting
  Pyongyang, August 5 (KCNA) -- Mt. Ryongak, which has been known as "Mt. Kumgang" of Pyongyang, is sprucing up as a pleasure ground of the people. It is about ten kilometers west of the centre of Pyongyang. A five-kilometer-long road is being built in the pleasure ground. It will be linked with the two main roads to form a loop. Driveways and sightseeing paths are also being laid. The total length of the three-forked paths from a parking place to Tae Peak is 1.5 kilometers. Resting places are being made in front of the Popun Temple, near the intersection of the Taebong loop and in other parts of the pleasure ground. 1,100 tables, chairs and dancing places and some 100 animal sculptures are appearing there. The facelifting project is near completion. In his childhood, President Kim Il Sung climbed Mt. Ryongak frequently. The mountain boasts of historical relics such as Ryonggok Auditorium, a private educational establishment built in the Ri Dynasty, and the Popun Temple, plants rare to be seen in the world and other natural products.
• Korean Schoolgirl Establishes New Record in Weightlifting
  Giving courage and power to Koreans in Japan
• Hong Chang Su Fails to Defend WBC Title
• Korean Residents of the US to Visit North Korean Cultural Heritage Areas
  [New York, KOTRA] A tour program for visiting North Korean cultural heritage areas will be open for young Korean residents of the United States this coming autumn. The upcoming cultural tour to North Korea, which is organized by the KANCC (Korean American National Coordinating Council), is scheduled to start from September 15 to 22, 2004, for 8 days and 7 nights. This program includes visit to such North Korean cultural heritage areas as Pyongyang city, the Daedong River, Moranbong, the DPRK National Museum of History, the Dangun tomb, the tomb of King Dongmyeong, a dolmen (called ¡°koindol¡± in Korean) historic site, Panmunjeon, Mt. Jeongbang and the Seongbul-sa (temple). Conversations with various North Korean historians, as well as, meetings with North Korean students, including ones from the Kim Il Sung University, are also being prepared for the tour applicants. The participants of this cultural event will be limited to 20 persons, who are in their 20s~40s, that gain their citizenship or become permanent residents of the United States.

• North Korean who aided joint sports dies
  Cho Sang-nam, 45, vice president of the North Korean National Olympic Committee and a key figure responsible for bringing North and South Korean athletes together for the opening ceremony at the upcoming Athens Olympics has died of a heart attack. The exact date of his death was uncertain. It was reported on the International Olympic Committee Web site.
• NK Tour Package Offered in Canada
  Package tours to North Korea via South Korea are on sale in Canada for the first time, the Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO) said Wednesday. Royal Scenic, a Canadian travel company specializing in tours to Asia, developed the travel program, which includes stops at Mt. Kumgang, Haegum River and hot springs, in cooperation with a Toronto branch of the KNTO. ``Sales are not very brisk due to the long distance,'' an official at the branch said. ``But as North Korea is very cooperative in terms of tourism sales, we are trying to attract more participants by promoting the program in the local media,'' the official added.
• North Korea Tries to Attract More Swedish Tourists
  [Stockholm, KOTRA] North Korea's effort to attract more tourists from Sweden has recently been activated. In the past, North Korea used to find Swedish travelers who wanted to visit North Korea via individual advertisements or through a travel agency in European nations such as Austria. These days, North Korean travel information has been provided not only by a website, but, also, through an advertisement in the periodical called Yeoboseyo (Hello), which is put out by the North Korea-Sweden Association.
• North and South Korean to March together in Athens Olympic
  Working Talks between N-S Olympic Committees Held in Beijing

• More Regulations on Operation of Mt. Kumgang Tourist Zone Adopted
  Pyongyang, May 29 (KCNA) -- The Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea adopted three more regulations related to the operation of the Mt. Kumgang tourist zone in May following April. "The Regulation on Establishing and Operating the Mt. Kumgang Tourist Zone Management Institution," "The Customs Regulation for the Mt. Kumgang Tourist Zone" and "The Regulation on Entry and Exit, Stay and Residence in the Mt. Kumgang Tourist Zone" were adopted according to the April 29 decisions.

• Minimum Wage Set $50 Inside Mt. Kumgang
  . By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter Those who seek to make money in the Mt. Kumgang tourist zone of North Korea are required to pay a minimum monthly wage of $50 to their employees under Pyongyang's new policies.
• Mt. Geumgang Tour Sees Profits in March, April
  [Kumgangsan]
• North Korea's Tour Agency Briefed Travel Guide in Shenzhen
  The ¡°Korea International Travel Agency,¡± the most famous travel agency in North Korea, reportedly held a North Korean sightseeing explanation meeting on May 12 for the travel agencies in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Guangdong areas with the expectation of attracting more tourists to North Korea.
• NK Eases Restriction on Mt. Kumgang Tour
  SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea welcomed the announcement of three basis operating guidelines by North Korea on the management of the Mt. Kumgang special tourism region. It said the rules, although coming later than expected, are needed to further develop the scenic site on North Korea's eastern coast for outside tourists and investors. The (North) Korean Central News Agency said earlier in the day that the Supreme People's Assembly accepted three basic provisions related to management, customs, and entry and residence in the special tourist zone.
• Mt. Kumgang Tour Project Turns Profitable
  The Mt. Kumgang tour project realized its first monthly profit in March and April as the number of tourists who visited the scenic resort area on North Korea's east coast surpassed 15,000. According to the Ministry of Unification (MOU), the tour, exclusively organized by Hyundai Asan (HA), profited from the increased number of tourists, recording 15,583 in March and 16,176 in April. Until March, the project had been in the red since its start in 1998. The total number of tourists who joined the tour was tallied at 634,480.
• North assigns guides for mountain resort
  Beginning June 1, tour guides will again assist visitors coming to Mount Geumgang, the North Korean resort enclave just over the Demilitarized Zone on the east coast of the peninsula. An official at the Unification Ministry said tourists will have the opportunity of taking a one-day tour of the area, known in English as Diamond Mountain, beginning mid-June. The new tour was set up to mark the fourth anniversary of the inter-Korean Summit. Female North Korean tour guides were posted at major locations around Mount Geumgang when Hyundai and North Korea started the tour in November 1998. The guides were pulled out the following January as North Korean authorities began to worry about their daily contact with South Korean visitors [Kumgangsan]
• German Travel Agency Sells a Tour Package for Railway Travel in North Korea
  It was alleged that Farrail Tours, a Berlin-based travel agency, introduced a North Korean railway tour package scheduled from December 12 to 21 of this year for 11 days and 10 nights, and they are now in the process of gathering tourists. The German agency has been designing this travel package since 2002 and they have sent travelers for the North Korean railway sightseeing tour three times already, in February and December of 2003 and one in January, 2004.

• Two Koreas Lose Out at Women's Football Event
  By Kim Hyun-cheol Staff Reporter The women's football team of South and North Korea failed to earn tickets to the Athens Olympics after being defeated in the semifinals at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Japan on Saturday.
• North Korea opens door to tourism
  04-20-2004 7:43 pm MANY may not be aware; the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) has welcomed tourists for many years, albeit the activity received minimal publicity. According to Neil Plimmer, the PATA DPR Korea Task Force chairman, the country offers intriguing holidays, rich in unique experience and a safe environment. He believes North Korea can achieve its full potential, given time, to grow in the Asia Pacific tourism field.
• PATA Reports on North Korean Tourism
  14 April 2004
• DPRK Tourism Task Force
  The chairman of the task force, Mr Neil Plimmer of New Zealand, said it was quite clear that North Korea is keen to receive more visitors than it does currently, and that it has the capacity to provide increased tourist arrivals with a fascinating holiday experience.
• Airlines eye more 'golden' China routes
  Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, as well as Chinese airlines, will have new opportunities ? and new competition ? on routes between the two countries. The Transportation Ministry said yesterday that negotiators from Seoul and Beijing had agreed on March 19 to increase the number of flights on routes between the two countries, and to relax the rule that allowed only one airline from each country to fly each of the routes between a Chinese city and a Korean one.
• Many Schoolgirls Trained as Footballers
  Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- Schoolchildren have been trained successfully at sports schools across the country. Outstanding among them is Phyongchon District Sports School, Pyongyang, which is well known in the country as it has trained schoolgirls as promising footballers. It is less than ten years ago that the school started football training.

• Number of Tourists to Mt. Kumkang Increasing
  By Shim Jae-yun Staff Reporter The number of South Korean tourists bounding for the scenic Mt. Kumgang in North Korea continued to increase to reach 8,263 people in February, up more than triple from last year's corresponding period.
• Korea to Host International Organization on Tourism
  By Byun Duk-kun Staff Reporter South Korea on Thursday agreed to host an international organization of tourism to help develop sustainable tourism and fight against international poverty, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced.
• Sports Contests among Students in Final Year at Middle Schools Held
  Pyongyang, March 15 (KCNA) -- Sports contests among students in the final year at middle schools were held in various provincial seats, cities and county seats on March 14 on the occasion of the Day of Sports in the DPRK. The contests included group forced march, bayonet charge, Taekwon-Do for health, flag signal, obstacle race, tug of war and other games.
• Winter Games of 10th People's Sports Contests Held
  Pyongyang, March 10 (KCNA) -- Winter games of the 10th People's Sports Contests took place in Pyongyang and Samjiyon of Ryanggang Province. They were divided into competitions among sports groups and those among players selected from among people. The men's team of the Sports Group of the Pyongyang Railway Bureau and the women's team of the Jagang Provincial Sports Group placed first in the ice hockey matches, men's and women's teams of the Wolmido Sports Group and the Pyongyang City Sports Group in the individual figure skating competitions and the Pyongyang City Sports Group in the pair figure skating contests and ice dancing competitions.

• Military Attaches Visit Ski Training Centre
  [role of NK military] Pyongyang, February 27 (KCNA) -- Members of the military attaches' corps here on Feb. 26 went round the all-round ski training centre built by the Korean People's Army The training centre built in the district of North Phothae Mountain of Mt. Paektu area, the holy land of revolution, is splendid in scale and facilities which are suitable for ski training and races and all kinds of amusement games. It is another creation of the Songun era.  There are several ski courses and cableways in the training center. It is fully equipped with modern facilities and apparatus necessary for ski training such as snow tamping cars, snow buses, snow motorcycles and snow sleighs.
• History by attrition
  David Horspool finds facts, facts and more facts in rough histories of Britain, Spain and the USA - some of them are even interesting Saturday February 28, 2004 The Guardian The fact that these are holiday destinations shouldn't bias us against them, or necessarily put the armchair traveller off (though their tiny format - about the size of an overstuffed rich tourist's wallet - is obviously designed for portability). Hardly anywhere isn't a holiday destination, after all, though the Rough Guide histories of North Korea or the Congo may have to wait a little.
• Korean Players Give Good Account of Themselves at 10th ASC
  Pyongyang, February 21 (KCNA) -- Korean players gave a good account of themselves at the 10th Asian Shooting Championships held in Malaysia from February 10 to 18.
• DMZ to Be Developed Into Ecological Tourist Attraction_
  By Kim Rahn The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 4-kilometer-wide buffer separating South and North Korea, is likely to be developed into an ecological tourist site, according to the Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO).
• 13th International Figure Skating Festival for Paektusan Cup in Pyongyang
• North and South Agree on Entry and Stay in Kaesong Industrial Zone and Mt. Kumgang Tourist Zone
• KAPPC Spokesman on Slump in Tour of Mt. Kumgang
  Pyongyang, February 4 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee (KAPPC) today in a statement issued as regards the unprecedented slump in the tour of Mt. Kumgang warned that if the tour is suspended, the U.S. and the south Korean authorities would be held wholly accountable for the consequences to be entailed by it.
  The north can not keep the road of tour open any longer now that the payment for the tour is being steadily delayed due to the south Korean authorities' indifference and tourists are no longer available due to the suspension of the tour by sea.
• N.K. to push Mt. Geumgang heritage site
  North Korea intends to recommend that Mount Geumgang, a scenic resort area where the two Koreas are jointly operating a tourism program, be named a World Heritage Site by 2014, a newspaper for ethnic Koreans in Japan reported Tuesday. Other historical sites for which it will seek recognition are Mount Myohyang in the northwestern part of the country and others in the border town Gaeseong and the capital Pyongyang, according to the Web site of the daily Choson Shinbo. As the first phase of the project, North Korea has started work on documents so Gaeseong can gain World Heritage status, it said. Gaeseong was the capital of the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) and has many ancient relics. 2004.02.04
• North Korea Hits a Snag in Constructing Mt. Baekdu Sightseeing Road

• North Korean road cycling plan

• Sports village to appear in Samjiyon
• Overland Tour to Mt. Geumgang Likely to Resume in Late March
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• 5th Winter Asian Games in Aomori DPRK Takes Part in Winter Asian Games, Wins Two Medals
  [Sport relations]
• Overland Tour to Mt. Geumgang Likely to be Held on Irregular Basis
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• Sports masters increase in Korea
• Korea's Tourism Deficit 5th Largest in World

• Hyundai's NK Projects in Jeopardy
  [Hyundai loan]
• Initial overland tour to Geumgang made
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• Hyundai, N. Korea Agree to Dedicate Pyongyang Gymnasium Next Month
  [Hyundai] [Sport relations]
• South Korean Tourists Travel Overland to Mt. Geumgang for 1st Time
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• Geumgang overland tour is postponed
  [Connections] [Kumgangsan]
• Trial overland tour of Mt. Kumgang begins
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• Canadian Company Promotes DPRK Marathon
  {Miranda Weingartner} [Sport relations] CanKor, 29 January 2003
• Pilot Tour Team Returns From Mt. Geumgang [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• South Koreans Visiting North, Despite Tensions
  [Peace efforts] [Kumgangsan] [Connections] [Joint Korean]
• DMZ Land Route Will Reopen for Family Reunion Next Week
  [Family reunions] [Connections]
• S. Koreans Depart for Mt. Geumgang via Overland Route
  [Kumgangsan] [Chung Mong-jun] [Connections]
• Mt. Paektu area takes new look
• Hyundai announces details of North tours
  [Kumgangsan]
• Tourists Taste The Tension At The 2 Koreas' Border
  {James Brooke } [Bizarre]American tourists at DMZ
• North Korean skaters to train, perform here
  [Sport relations]
• Korean Border Opens To Traffic As Bus Tour Leaves For The North
  [Connections][Kumgangsan]
• Overland Route to Mt. Kumgang Opens
  [Connections] [Kumgangsan]
• Experimental excursion made for overland tour of Mt. Kumgang
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• First Korean border crossing opens
  [Connections] [Kumgangsan] [US military dominance]
• North Korea Opens A Route Across Its Frontier
  [Connections] [Kumgangsan]
• Korean Teams Cross Sticks, Not Swords At Asian Games
  [Sport relations][SK attitude NK] [Joint Korean][Normalisation] [Spin] [Victim]
• Experimental overland excursion and tour of Mt. Kumgang to start
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• Hyundai team readies for cross-DMZ trip tomorrow
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections] [Hyundai] [Chung Mong-hun]
• P'yang Proposes Overland Tour of Mt. Kumgang Next Week
  [Kumgangsan][Connections] [Peace efforts] [Hyundai loan]
• DPRK circus successful at international acrobatics festival
  [Cultural relations]
• Mixed Emotions As Koreas Meet At Japan Games
  [Joint Korean] [Sports relations]

• Two Koreas Set to Face Off in Ice Hockey
  [Sports relations]
• After 13-Year Absence, N. Korea Returns to Winter Asiad
• Korea Aims to Attract 700,000 Chinese Tourists This Year
• S-N Women Footballers Set to Clash in April
  [Sport relations]
• Sports school
• Korean Visitors to Foreign Countries Top 7 Million Last Year
• Kim Yong Sun meets president of S. Korean Hyundai Asan
  [Hyundai]
• Tours in DMZ resume after mine clearing
• Duty Free Shops Hit Hard by NK Nuclear Crisis
  [Nuclear]
• Sportspersons honored

• Geumgang fund tapped out
  [Kumgangsan] [Statistics]
• Cycling in North Korea: hitchhikers, gaunt oxen, no famine
  [ewa] [Opening]
• NK Wants US$10 Million for Kumgang Land Route
  [Kumgansan]
• DPRK to Set Up Mt. Kumgang Tourist Zone
  [Kumgangsan] [Special Economic Zones]
• N.K. operates tour agency for sports
• Winter travel package to N.K. popular in China
• Decree of Mt. Geumgang Tourist Zone and related regulations (full text)
  [Kumgangsan] [Special Economic Zones]
• Land tour to Geumgang set to go
  [Kumgangsan]
• Two Koreas stuck at last minute talks for Geumgang overland route
  [Kumgangsan]
• Red lights flash on road to North's resort
  [Kumgangsan]

• N.K. to Exempt Developers of Int'l Tourist Zone From Taxes
  [Kumgangsan]
• N.K. Provides Legal Basis to Boost Lackluster Mt. Geumgang Project
  [Kumgangsan]
• Mount Geumgang Tour Celebrates Fourth Anniversary
  [Kumgangsan]
• Chinese Tourists Surge to North Korea During National Foundation Holidays
  [Tourism]
• No. of Tourists to Mt. Geumgang to Mark Record High of 500,000
  [Kumgangsan] [Statistics]
• Arirang Festival Film to be Shown in South Korea
• N.K. to allow S. Koreans to Tour Kaesong Early 2003
  [Kaesong] [Tourism] [Connections]
• N. Korea creates special tourism zone
  [Kumgangsan] [FDI]
• N.K. to lure Japanese tourists with stamps, winter trip package
• Geumgang to get first convenience store
  [Kumgangsan] [Economic reform]
• Japanese tourists allowed to ride Pyeongyang streetcars
  [Opening]
• Geumgang tourists to reach 500,000 within this year
  [Kumgangsan] [Statistics]
• Bicycle trip to forbidden regime
  [Spin] [Opening]
• Mount Geumgang officially designated Special Tourist Zone
  [Kumgangsan] [Special Economic Zones]

• North tourism cuts put Hyundai Asan in Danger
  [Hyundai] [Tourism]
• Mt. Kumgang Land Route Toll Set at $50 Per Tourist
  [Kumgangsan]
• Mt. Geumgang tourism fee to be set at $50 per person
  [Kumgangsan]
• Chinese woman derails North's hopes in judo
• South, North Face Off at Asian Games
• DPRK proves successful at Asiad
• Life on the North boat: 3 cheers and 3 squares
  [Daily life]
• KT Opens Asiad TV Link for North Koreans
  [Sport relations] [ICT]
• North Korean cheering squad steals Asian Games show
  [Sport relations] [SK attitude NK]
• North Korean weightlifter sets world record; China wins eight golds -AP
• Playing for regional peace
  [Sport relations]
• Television and unification
  [Partisan] [Sport relations]
• 14th Asian Games opens
  [Sport relations]
• Cable link across mine-strewn border to send TV signals to North Korea -AP
  [Sport relations] [ICT] [Communications] [Media]
• KT Opens Asiad TV Link for North Koreans
  [Sport relations] [Media]
• North Korea Woman's softball team: Female players enjoying their match with Japanese team on Monday September 30.
  [Sport relations] [photo]
• Six hundred South and North Korea athletes and officials march behind a white `unification flag' with a blue image of the Korean Peninsula, during ASIAD
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korea] [Photo]
• P'yang Active in Media Asiad
  [Sport relations] [media]
• Lee Receives Cold-Shoulder From NK's Athletics
  [Lee Hoi-chang] [Sport relations]
• Lee's visit to North Korean athletes called off
  [Lee Hoi-chang] [Sport relations]
• Two Koreas to discuss sports exchange
  [Sport relations]
• Korean athletes, seeking reconciliation, march together at Asian Games -AP
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean]
• Money, numbers, pomp in Busan
• North stresses tourism industry
  [Website]

• North Korea receives support like home team in South Korea
  [Sport relations] [SK attitude NK]
• Supporters From NK to Arrive in Busan on Eve of Asian Games
  [Sport relations]
• North Korean athletes arrive at Kimhae International Airport, Friday
  [Sport relations] [photo]
• Largest-Ever Travel Deficit Posted in August
• World Day of Tourism observed
• N.K. flag omitted from official homepage for Asian Games
  [National Security Law]
• North ferryboat to make historic port call in Busan
  [Sport relations]
• Supporters From NK to Arrive in Busan on Eve of Asian Games
  [Sport relations] [Border] [History]
• 'Asaid to Help Inter-Korean Rapprochement'
  [Sport relations]
• Nation's spirit demonstrated in international sports arena
  [Sport relations][Nationalism]
• Asian Games May Be Aired in NK
  [Sport relations]
• Maritime sports training center to be built
• ITF president elected
  [Sport relations]
• Hong Kong hotel operator considering Sinuiju casino
  [Sinuiju] [FDI] [Gambling]
• NK Anthem Played in South for 1st Time
  [Sport relations] [photo] [National Security Law] [Role of SK military]
• Asiad Ticket Sales Remain Sluggish
• North Korean Asiad Delegation Greeted With Cheers in Busan
  [Sport relations] [Arirang] [Motherland]
• North includes inter-Korean affairs team in Asian Games delegation
  [Sport relations
• Korean sportspersons in intensive training for Pusan Asian Games
  [Sport relations]
• South Korea prepares for biggest Asian Games of strained ties -AP
  [Sport relations]
• N. Korea Asks BAGOC to Provide Broadcasting Equipment
  [SK Aid]
• First group of N. Korean athletes to arrive in Busan next week
  [Sport relations]
• Juvenile sports encouraged in Korea
• Taekwon-do players of south side give exhibition performance
  [Sport relations]
• North Korea Eyes 4th Place
  [Sport relations]
• Overland Route to Mt. Kumgang to Open in Dec.
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• NK Gunning for Glory in Pusan
  [sport relations] [History]
• NK Flags Unfurled in Pusan Alongside 43 Others
  [National Security Act]
• Nation Ranks 28th in Overseas Tourists in 2000
• North taekwondo squad confirms visit to Seoul
  [Sport relations]
• Passage of the Asiad Sacred Flame
  [Joint Korean] [Sport relations] [Motherland]
• South side's Taekwon-do exhibition team here
  [Sport relations]
• Economic logic on Geumgang
  [Kumgangsan]
• NK Participation Expected to Boost Asiad Ticket Sales
  [Sport relations]
• Pusan Asian Games website
• Two Koreas Near Pact on Overland Route to Mt. Kumgang
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• N.K. to open overland route to Mt. Geumgang
  [Kumgangsan] [Connections]
• Money issue stalls Geumgang talks
  [Kumgangsan]
• Negotiations broke off for talks for Geumgang tours
  [Kumgansan]
• North agrees to start overland tours to Geumgang
  [Kumgangsan]
• Taekwondo exchange for two Koreas
  [Sport relations]
• Koreas Kick Off Talks on Mt. Kumgang Tourism
  [Kumgangsan]
• North Asks South to Send Taekwondo Demo Team
  [Sport relations]
• Football match for reunification takes place in Seoul
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean]
• North side's football team returns
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean]
• North invites South's taekwondo team to Pyeongyang
  [Sport relations]
• Chung says tourism zone to open by November
  [Chung Mong-hun] [Kumgangsan]
• Signal successes in sports
• Fan club site opened for N.K. soccer player
  [Website] [ICT] [Sport relations] [SK attitude NK] [National Security Act]
• Unification Football Proves Heart-Warmer
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean] [National Security Act] [Unification] [Japanese colonialism]
• NK Sends 318-Member Team to Asian Games
  [Sport relations]
• Torch lit for Asian Games
  [Sport relations] [Motherland]
• Third National Magic Festival closes
• Blue peninsula flag true hero of S-N Korean football friendly
  [US military dominance] [Sport relations] [Joint Korean]
• Soccer for national unity
  [Sport relations] [Unification]
• Friendly it was; kissing your sister is satisfying
  {Kim Ji-soo} [Sport relations] [Joint Korean]
• North invites South's taekwondo team to Pyeongyang
  [Sport relations]
• Unedited version of inter-Korean soccer match shown in North
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean]
• Chung says tourism zone to open by November
  [Kumgangsan] [Chung Mong-hun]
• In a "friendly", searching for a common goal -IHT
  [Sport relations]
• Footballs, political and otherwise
  {Kim Ji-soo} [Sport relations] [Sunshine policy]
• Sports diplomacy can unify us
  {Sohn Jang-hwan} [Sport relations]
• North Korean players hold a practice session Friday at the Paju Training Center in Kyonggi-do ahead of the inter-Korean football match today at Seoul World Cup Stadium
  [photo]
• N. Korea Bets on Women's Judo, Football in Asian Games
• Soccer's contribution to Korean unity has deep roots
  [Sport relations]
• Inter-Korean soccer could accelerate unification, says N.K. daily
  [Sport relations][Unification]
• NK Football Team Arrives for Friendly
  [sport relations]
• Asian Games Flame Lit in South and North Korea
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean] [Motherland]
• Koreas light torches for Asiad
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean] [Motherland]
• Use of peninsula flag stirs controversy
  [Partisan]
• Holiday resort on east coast of Korea
• North side's football team arrives in Seoul
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean]
• North Korean soccer team waving Korean Peninsula flags as they arrive in Incheon Airport on Thursday, September 5. The team will hold friendly inter-Korean match, Saturday.
  [photo] [Sport relations] [Joint Korean]
• Red devils vs. 'axis of evil'
  [Sport relations] [Defector report]
• A breakdown of the abilities of the men's and women's teams
• Two Koreas lit torch for 14th Busan Asiad
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean] [Motherland]
• No N.K. flag for citizens, says Unification Minister
  [National Security Act] [Sport relations]
• N.K. soccer team arrives
  [Sport relations]
• Cup hero Hiddink back in Seoul for Saturday's inter-Korean friendly
  [Sport relations]
• Koreas to hold friendly soccer match for reconciliation -AP
  [Sport relations]
• Resort damage halts North tours
• North to Participate in Pusan Asian Games; Two Teams to March Together under One "Korea" Flag
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean]
• WBC Champion Hong Chang Su Defends Title for Fifth Time
• Officials Plan S-N Taekwondo Exchanges
  [Sport relations]
• 'Street cheering' to get new twist for S-N soccer match
  [Joint Korean] [Sport relations] [Unification]
• Chung Mong-hun to visit N.K. to discuss tourism project
  [Hyundai] [Kumgangsan] [Chung Mong-hun]
• GNP accused of inciting inter-Korean confrontation in sports
  [Partisan] [Sport relations]
• Pyeongyang blasts GNP on games flag
  [Partisan] [Sport relations]
• Hyundai Asan chief to visit North
  [Hyundai] [Chung Mong-hun] [Kumgangsan]
• Chairman of Hyundai Asan to visit North for business projects
  [Hyundai] [FDI] [Joint venture] [Kumgangsan]
• North Korea sends list of players for soccer friendly with South Korea -AP
  [Sport relations] [Joint Korean]
• North Korean man's soccer team.
  [photo]
• Kim Yoon-kyu president of Hyundai Asan announced his plans to visit North Korea for Mt. Geumgang tour project at the press conference on Monday September 2
  [Hyundai] [photo]
• N.K. Asiad Team to Include 14 Chongryon Members
  [Chongryon] [Sport relations]
• Kim Jong-il said to consider visit to Busan games

• First excursion in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for Baekdu-daegan Mountain project
  [Stunning photos by New Zealander Roger Shepherd, on a visit to DPRK mountains for a forthcoming book. His visit was hosted by the Korea-NZ Friendship Society. He went where few, if any, foreigners have been in many decades.
  See Kiwi expedition captures N. Korean mountains ]
  On May 12 I travelled to Beijing where I picked up my visa for North Korea at their consulate. I admit that being a strange feeling, but perhaps not as strange for the consulate, when they have to deal with this foreigner loitering outside their front gates at 8am in the morning requesting entrance to the consulate but doesn't seem to understand that they're not open till 9am...I had forgotten to turn my watch an hour back and none of the Chinese guards had watches so to explan that to me in an illustrated way. Anyway, they let the curious foreigner in at 9.30am HIS TIME, and politely gave me my awaiting - bright orange coloured full page visa, and sent me on my way after it had dawned on me that I was still working in Roger Time? On May 14 I flew into Pyongyang where I was met by Hwang Sung Chol the Secretary General of the Korea-New Zealand Friendship Society. The society is an NGO that falls under the Committee for Cultural Relations with foreign countries, an extended arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that reaches out where state run relations fall short due to sanctions and embargoes placed on the DPRK. There were no serious delays at the airport apart from Mr Hwang having to explain to customs why his guest was carrying a total of 15 books on the Baekdu-daegan in South Korea and Mountain Spirits (David A. Mason). I guess there was always the potential that I was some kind of Mountain God evangalist, never mind the cameras, tripod, and drab coloured clothing. My week was spent travelling around Pyongyang visiting the important historical and cultural aspects of the North Korean people.
• Reclusive North Korea opens its door a crack for tourists
  View Photo Gallery — ?The normally closed, secretive country is trying to open its doors a crack to foreign tourists, particularly from China, as a way of earning hard currency. By Keith B. Richburg, Wednesday, November 16, 4:18 PM PYONGYANG, North Korea — This reclusive and secretive country is now officially open for business — the tourism business, that is. It has mountains, rivers, waterfalls and pine forests. Pyongyang, the capital, boasts 70 parks, water so clean you can drink from the tap, wide boulevards uncluttered by traffic or neon signs, beautiful traffic policewomen at nearly empty intersections, and a plethora of soaring monuments and memorials. Washington Post reporter Keith Richburg gives viewers a look inside one of the most secretive places in the world, Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. .Just don’t bring your cellphone or BlackBerry, don’t try to send an e-mail, don’t plan to stroll down a street, and never try to talk to strangers or take pictures of ordinary people. None of that is allowed. [Media]
• North Korea’s unusual experiment in tourism
  The normally closed, secretive country is trying to open its doors a crack to foreign tourists, particularly from China, as a way of earning hard currency. [Media]
• A glimpse of life in North Korea
  Washington Post reporter Keith Richburg gives viewers a look inside one of the most secretive places in the world, Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. (/Video by Keith Richburg/Edited by Kristen Boghosian/The Washington Post) [Media]
• Guest post: Teaching in the world’s most isolated classroom
  Last summer, I spent a month teaching academic English skills to North Korean university students at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, the country’s first privately funded university. My main reason for going was to learn as much as possible. Of course, I wanted to teach well, and I felt confident I could do that. But I had no idea what I would learn and how this experience would affect me. The conversations and interactions that occurred in the classroom, during meals, and while playing and observing sports games, influenced not only my understanding of North Korea but also about the art of teaching [Education]
• Discplomacy: The Ultimate Approach
  By Andray Abrahamian It’s February [2011] and I’m chatting with Karin Lee, the Executive Director of the National Committee on North Korea in her Washington, DC office. We’re ruminating on the usual things, I’m banging on about my Ph.D. research, talking about Choson Exchange, offering my cautious opinion on the Korea-watching scene, and general public opinion in the United States… when for some reason that memory can’t recall, it comes to light that we both play ultimate Frisbee. (Actually, sadly, “Frisbee” is a registered trademark. Even more unfortunately, this has left the sport officially called “ultimate.”) “You should totally organize an ultimate tournament in North Korea,” Karin says. “Right, that’s what I’m gonna do,” I say. Actually, that’s inner monologue. I really say something like, “that’s an interesting idea.” She says, “Get in touch with Simon at Koryo Tours,” whom we both know, “and see if he’s up for it.” [EWA]
• N. Korea in midst of change
  Walters Keats, president of Asia Pacific Travel Ltd. By Kim Young-jin Everyone seems to have a strong opinion about North Korea these days, with loaded words like “reform” and “collapse” on the tips of many tongues. Few, however, can speak of the secretive country from what they have seen with their own eyes. Walters Keats, president of Illinois-based Asia Pacific Travel LTD (APTL), can talk from experience -- the tour operator has visited the North some 25 times. The country, he finds, is in the midst of change [EWA] [Collapse]
• Inside North Korea
  Aug 2, 2011 | 199 Earlier this year, David Guttenfelder, chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, along with Jean H. Lee, AP bureau chief in Seoul, were granted unprecedented access to parts of North Korea as part of the AP's efforts to expand coverage of the isolated communist nation. The pair made visits to familiar sites accompanied by government minders, and were also allowed to travel into the countryside accompanied by North Korean journalists instead of government officials. Though much of what the AP journalists saw was certainly orchestrated, their access was still remarkable. Collected here are some of Guttenfelder's images from the trip that provide a glimpse of North Korea. [37 photos] [EWA]
• Off the Dictated Path in North Korea
  By JEAN H. LEE PYONGYANG, North Korea — A little boy skips along grasping a classmate’s hand, his cheeks flushed and a badge of the Great Leader’s smiling face pinned to his Winnie the Pooh sweatshirt. Men in military green share a joke over beers at a German-style pub next door to the Juche tower. Schoolgirls wearing the red scarves of the Young Pioneers sway in unison as they sing a classic Korean tune that I, too, learned as a child. David Guttenfelder/Associated Press A woman sold snacks on the roadside along the West Sea Barrage near Nampho. April 21.Everywhere I look, Communist North Korea is a world both foreign and familiar to my Korean-American eyes, a place where the men wear Mao suits (sic) and children tote Mickey Mouse backpacks, where they call one another “comrade” and love their spicy kimchi. [Media] [EWA]
• Lost world: Scenes from North Korea's closed society
  A remarkable set of photographs by David Guttenfelder sheds rare light on one of the planet's most isolated and secretive nations By David McNeill Friday, 5 August 2011 In Pyongyang, jittery government minders keep a vice-like control over the few journalists who make it inside and discourage them from meeting or photographing its citizens. So the true picture of life in North Korea's capital is in the telling, snatched details of ordinary life. [EWA] [Media] [Cliché] [Inversion]
• Fireworks, floating bus, a dancing bear: Good ol’ fashioned magic tantalizes NKorean audiences
  By Associated Press, Monday, April 18, 12:08 PM PYONGYANG, North Korea — Amid a burst of fireworks and a haze of smoke, a burly showman in a white sequined suit and gold lame cape appears with a flourish. Over the next 45 minutes, he appears to make a Pyongyang bus levitate and wriggles free from a box sent crashing to the stage through a ring of fire. This is magic North Korean-style performed in a show touted as the country’s biggest ever and mounted in a city where good, old-fashioned illusion, a dancing bear and a dose of slapstick comedy can still command the biggest crowds of the year. The country’s love for magic is a legacy of the circus traditions they inherited decades ago, during an era of Soviet influence.
• A Year in Pyongyang
  by Andrew Holloway Chapter One There are times in life when even the dullest and most complacent among us feel the need to make a change. It was at such a time in my life that a friend drew my attention to a job she had seen advertised on a Leeds University notice board. It was an unusual job in a little known country. The remuneration was not extravagant, but I estimated it would be sufficient for me to meet my ongoing commitments and save enough to tide me over on my return until I could find another job.
• Fact-finding trip to DPRK – report by Matt Robson
  Report from Matt Robson- Representative of Parliamentarians Network for Nuclear Disarmament (PNND) and board member of Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace (ALP) on: Fact-finding trip, with a special emphasis on nuclear disarmament, to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) 5 November-12 November 2010 organised by New Zealand –DPRK Society
• Notes on Being a School Teacher in Pyongyang (2010)
  Stewart Lone
  Associate Professor, University of New South Wales
  These notes are intended primarily for anyone who goes to Pyongyang to assist in teaching at middle school level. They are based on my own, brief, experience, as a voluntary teacher at two schools in November-December 2010. [Education]
• Inside North Korea
  Sharon LaFraniere on video shot while visiting Pyongyang, North Korea as part of a group traveling with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. [EWA][Video]
• My Introduction to Nampo Port
  By Erich Weingartner “Do you have any plans for lunch?” All I could see was my Bangladeshi colleague’s smiling face peeking at an angle through the door. I was seated on a kitchen chair, the only piece of furniture in the bedroom that was to serve as my office. I was glad for the interruption, because I had difficulty making sense of the file of “monitoring reports” balanced precariously on my knees.
  Here and there small groups congregated around ladies selling what appeared to be baked goods. “Are those private merchants?” I asked Mr. Lim. “Oh no,” he chuckled, as though embarrassed by the question. “We do not have capitalism in our country.” A full-fledged laugh this time. “Each local area has a block association. Sometimes the ladies get together to bake things for some extra income that will be shared among the families.”
  In the city center the buildings were more elegant. The glazed colored tiles covering most facades bespoke of a prosperous past. But many tiles had since fallen off, leaving a patchwork reminiscent of an unfinished jigsaw puzzle. “Nampo used to be a major producer and exporter of ceramic tiles,” explained Mahbub. “But lack of energy and raw materials has brought production to a stop. Over there you can see workers remove tiles from the walls. They will be sold and replaced by stucco.” [EWA] [Sanctions]
• To the Diamond Mountains: A Hundred Year Journey Through China and Korea, 1910-2010
  Tessa Morris-Suzuki
  Everything was a strange contrast from what we had left; the cold colouring of Manchuria was replaced by a warm red soil, through which the first tokens of spring were beginning to appear. Instead of the blue clothing to which we had been accustomed, every one here was clad in white, both in town and country. Rice fields greet the eye at every turn, for this is the main cereal grown. The only things that were the same were the Japanese line and the Japanese official, no more conspicuous here than in Manchuria, and apparently firmly rooted in both.1 So wrote the British traveler Emily Georgiana Kemp (1860-1939), describing her crossing for the border from Manchuria into Korea a few months before that country’s annexation by Japan in 1910. Kemp had traveled through China several times before, but this was her first sight of Korea, and it gave her a vivid sense of entering a new world.
  It was against that background that, in search of fresh understanding of the region’s past and future, almost a century after Kemp’s journey I set off to retrace her footsteps through northeastern China and Korea
• CNN Zooms in on Signs of Modernity in N.Korea
  A CNN broadcast on Tuesday showed unusual scenes from Pyongyang including a busy amusement park and a fast-food restaurant. Correspondent Alina Cho, who was among a group of foreign journalists allowed into the North Korean capital to cover the celebrations for the 65th anniversary of the regime's Workers Party, told viewers, "Your eyes are not deceiving you," as she showed images from a neon-lit amusement park in Pyongyang filled with visitors. "This is communist North Korea," she added. CNN also showed a food court in the amusement park that sold western fair, including hamburgers. When asked by Cho, one family who were enjoying fast food said through a translator that "words cannot explain the excitement after working so hard, General Kim Jong-il has given us this park to relax. We really love it." North Korean women at a fast food restaurant in Pyongyang /[North] Korean Central News Agency-Yonhap Cho said she noticed some changes since the last time she visited Pyongyang two years ago, and one of them is that more ordinary North Koreans speak English. To prove it, there was footage of some young North Koreans at the amusement park answering her in English. Other changes are the addition of traffic lights and people talking on cell phones. One young North Korean woman said she got hers in April last year and everyone in her family has one. CNN added that international calls are forbidden. Despite the visible changes, CNN said many North Koreans still live in poverty, and there are no advertising hoardings on the streets, only propaganda. North Koreans not only see the messages, but they hear them through propaganda songs blaring across Pyongyang. For now, "North Korea remains sealed and time almost stands still," the broadcaster concluded. [Media] [EWA]
• The cultural life of North Korea
  North Korea's 65th anniversary of the Workers' Party offered a rare insight of every day life in the capital Pyongyang (32) Comments (13) Tania Branigan The Guardian, Friday 15 October 2010 Article history A street scene in Pyongyang. Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian Old men playing cards in a park; a woman shopping for vegetables; tired workers jostling for space on a rusting trolley bus. These tiny glimpses of daily life would be unremarkable anywhere else. But this is Pyongyang, capital of one of the world's most insular countries, and even the mundane is an extraordinary sight – more fascinating to a journalist than the pomp of North Korea's largest military parade, the real reason we have been allowed in. We expect to see the portraits of Eternal President Kim Il-sung and his son, the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, gazing down at us from roadsides. We have been well briefed on socialist haircuts and vinalon, the miracle fabric made from limestone and better known for durability than comfort. We have read the propaganda, combining revolutionary fervour, the vocabulary of 30s potboilers and accounts of Kim's visits to potato-starch factories. But who knew that The Da Vinci Code was a hit in this strictly controlled city? That Céline Dion is a karaoke favourite? Or that the mass performances are not only a tribute to the leadership and motherland, but the way that many young people find partners? [Media] [EWA]
• A rare glimpse at a different side of North Korea
  By JEAN H. LEE The Associated Press Friday, October 15, 2010; 7:08 AM PYONGYANG, North Korea -- North Korea may be struggling to feed its people, but there was no shortage of mouthwatering options on the menu at our guide's favorite restaurant: ostrich, duck and beef; scallops, crab and lobster; pancakes, stews, noodles and even spaghetti. Even the kimchi - and normally I am not a fan of the spicy fermented cabbage that is Korea's most famous dish - was irresistible. That meal was part of a remarkable whirlwind trip that AP photographer Vincent Yu and I took to Pyongyang, capital of one of the world's most hidden nations, for the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party. Breaking away from the gaggle of foreign reporters allowed into the country for the festivities, we ate traditional North Korean fare for lunch. Afterward, we wandered along the scenic Taedong River, stopping to chat with families picnicking along its grassy, willow-lined banks. Later, our guides had a surprise: a trip to an amusement park. Earlier, as we'd sped past in a car, I had squealed with delight and told them how much I'd love to see the fair. It was well past midnight when we finally returned to our hotel, exhausted but elated. As we looked over his photos and recounted the day, Vincent shook his head and asked aloud: "Was it real?" --- [Media] [EWA] [Normality]
• Picnics and paddleboats as Pyongyang celebrates
  By JEAN H. LEE The Associated Press Tuesday, October 12, 2010; 12:12 AM PYONGYANG, North Korea -- North Koreans took a long weekend to celebrate a major political anniversary and the unveiling of leader Kim Jong Il's heir-apparent in scenes of revelry that contradicted the shortages normally associated with this reclusive country. Families packed baskets with food and liquor they received from the government in honor of the occasion and picnicked Monday along the Taedong River and on scenic Moran Hill. Others in North Korea's showcase capital headed to an amusement park, filling the air with screams as they braved a serpentine rollercoaster and rammed one another in bumper cars. [Media] [EWA] [Normality]
• Vice Guide to North Korea
  By Shane Smith, Founder of VICE and VBS.TVFebruary 10, 2010 -- Updated 1342 GMT (2142 HKT) 'A freaky, freaky trip'STORY HIGHLIGHTS A VBS.TV crew gets into North Korea after months of negotiation Their "strange" tour included a 100,000-man show at which they were among 15 spectators VBS founder Shane Smith says it was "like being nowhere else on the planet" Editor's Note: The staff at CNN.com has recently been intrigued by the journalism of VICE, an independent media company and Web site based in Brooklyn, New York. VBS.TV is Vice's broadband television network. The reports, which are produced solely by VICE, reflect a very transparent approach to journalism, where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process. We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our CNN.com readers. Brooklyn, New York (VBS.TV) -- Getting into North Korea was one of the weirdest processes VBS has ever dealt with. After we went back and forth with their representatives for months, they finally said they were going to allow 16 journalists to come and cover the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang. Just before our departure, they suddenly said, "No, nobody can come." Then they said, "OK, OK, you can come. But only as tourists." But they already knew we were journalists, and over there if you get caught being a journalist when you're supposed to be a tourist you go to jail. We don't like jail. And we're willing to bet we'd hate jail in North Korea.
  As the days went on, North Korea presented us with progressively stranger sights and encounters. Being there was like being nowhere else on the planet. Are we glad that we got into Pyongyang and were able to document it? Yes. But are we even gladder that we made it out? Watch our documentary on the trip and try to guess the answer. [Bizarre] [Media]
• North Korea -- outsourcing hub?
  By Pauline Chiou and Kevin Voigt, CNN September 29, 2010 -- Updated 0320 GMT (1120 HKT) (CNN) -- As North Korea's ruling elite gather for a rare conference of the country's ruling Korean Worker's Party, the world is watching for clues on the future of this secretive country. But a few western entrepreneurs with businesses in the capital city, Pyongyang, are betting the future of the "Hermit Kingdom" will bring profits.
  "It's one of the last frontiers," said Volker Eloesser, a German national who set up a game manufacturing business in North Korea three years ago.
  Living in an isolated country presents its own challenges. "I wouldn't say that it's fun to live here, but it's really not bad," he said. "There are plenty of restaurants, plenty of stores filled with goods."
  What is life like inside North Korea?
  He has never seen evidence of people starving, "nor have I met anyone who has seen that," he said. However, his movements are strictly limited to the city. "I don't know what is going on in the far remote countryside, because I've never been there." "The biggest difficulty for me personally is that you have very limited social contact with local people," he said. "You have a great international community of foreigners, but you can't invite a local person to your home or be invited by a local person into their home."
  Eloesser said he doesn't plan to make North Korea his permanent home. "It's a nice place to be, but not for the rest of my life," he said.
• North Korea: beyond the capital lies a different world
  If Pyongyang is North Korea's showpiece city, Rason couldn't be more different – stuck in a Stalinist time warp (sic) (guardian.co.uk, Sunday 26 September 2010 20.58 BST Article history The charity Love North Korean Children claims thousands of Rason's children would go hungry without their support. Photograph: David Munk for the Guardian If Pyongyang is North Korea's showpiece city – albeit an empty and forbidding place – then the country's interior is something else altogether. In this desolate city 800 kilometres from the capital, the main square turns to a sea of mud in the rain, and there are no street lights so it's impossible to avoid the puddles at night. Rason is 50km from the border with China, over a twisting dirt track through the mountains, but it could be another planet. [Media][Cliché]
• My Travels: Dom Joly in North Korea
  The comedian saw the funny side of his trip to North Korea … as well as the complete craziness of this strange totalitarian state (25)Tweet this (12)Dom Joly The Guardian, Saturday 11 September 2010 Article history Warm welcome … Dom Joly meets the locals in North Korea. About a thousand westerners visit North Korea every year – all of them with a state-approved tour group. I loathe travelling in groups, as did all the people who chose to make this trip. The result was a bunch of highly independent travellers on a coach tour. It was hilarious. We had our first reality check at Pyongyang airport, when our mobile phones were confiscated. This evidence of total state control was immediate and shocking. We drove to downtown Pyongyang, an unattractive showcase for the school of brutalist communist architecture – huge open spaces surrounded by imposing monuments, cold statues and ugly tower blocks all designed to make you, as an individual, feel very insignificant. What I felt was total disorientation along with, I have to admit, no small tinge of excitement. [EWA] [Media] [Bizarre] [Cliché] [Image]
• Getting Acquainted with North Korea: A Journey of Gradual Discovery
  By Victor W.C. Hsu Anju kindergarten children performing for the World Vision delegation. After the flood devastation of the mid-1990s, I was one of the two Americans the North Koreans requested to help them seek humanitarian assistance for their country. Thus began a long journey of discovery of the DPRK humanitarian space filled with uncertainties and challenges. In delivering aid, I got to know the North’s rural communities and townships for the first time even though I had been visiting the country since 1988. I gained precious insights and perspectives about North Korea not available to occasional or casual visitors. [Aid]
• Inside North Korea: the ultimate package tour
  The world's most notorious socialist state is a land of haywains and empty highways, unlit cities and undimmed reverence for the Great Leader Buzz up! Digg it Carole Cadwalladr The Observer, Sunday 14 February 2010 Article history Barely 1,500 people visit North Korea a year. Photograph: Koryotours The strangest of all the very strange things about the strangest place on earth, North Korea, is that it's surprisingly easy to go there. Or at least, not as hard as it somehow ought to be. I'd always thought that it was only marginally less difficult than going to the moon or, say, Eton, but my amazing revelation is this: type "North Korea" and "tourism" into Google, and you'll find Koryo Tours, a British-run, Beijing-based travel firm. A couple of clicks and a certain amount of cash later, and you, too, could find yourself on a vintage Russian jetliner heading towards the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. [Media]
• Film Offers Tips for Prospective Travelers to NK
  For those considering North Korea as an option for their next vacation, a documentary "Welcome to North Korea" has something to offer. The film, currently playing at the Czech Info Center in Seoul until the end of January, was made by Czech film director Linda Jablonska. She was among 25 Czechs who traveled to North Korea for six days in May 2008 [Media]
• A Bizarre Visit to North Korea
  Published: October 29, 2009 Like Marie Myung-Ok Lee (“Picnic in North Korea,” Meanwhile, Oct. 27), I also encountered staged set-pieces designed to impress visitors during a visit to North Korea. Upon arriving at the children’s acrobatic theater in Pyongyang, we encountered a group of children merrily playing outside the entrance. Some were skipping, others charged around on roller skates, all were singing and laughing. The scene was so finely crafted that it was obvious something was amiss. Indeed, as soon as the tourists made their way inside the children dispersed. It was my view at the time that the group had been placed there for the specific purpose of creating a particular light-hearted and joyous atmosphere. My North Korean experience was full of these bizarre episodes, the most disturbing being the copious amounts of food provided to us at a time of reports of widespread famine in the countryside. [EWA] [Bizarre]
• Picnic in North Korea
  By MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE Published: October 23, 2009 In August, my mother and I found ourselves in North Korea, where she and my father were born. My father had flown all the way to China in two failed attempts to see it again before he died. So when students at my university were able to procure the ever-elusive visas and take a group there, despite the news about nuclear testing and American journalists disappearing into the “most dangerous place on earth,” we felt we had to go. From the roof of the Pyongyang airport a smiling portrait of Kim Il-sung, beloved “Eternal President” (dead since 1994), greeted us. But as we set foot on the tarmac, shimmering in the insane Asian heat, our group was on high alert. We were aware that no U.S. embassy or consulate could help us out if we ran into trouble. We knew what we couldn’t bring (cellphones, religious items, books about North Korea, notebooks), and we knew that the secret police might be bugging our rooms. We cracked weak jokes, wondering if Bill Clinton, who just days before came to secure the release of the two journalists, would need to be called back. We sweltered through customs at the hands of men in gray Mao suits and women in neutral “Mad-Men”-era outfits, every heart topped by a pin of Kim Il-sung. [EWA] [Bizarre] [Cliche]
• American sees changes in his North Korean hometown
  By JEAN H. LEE The Associated Press Sunday, October 25, 2009; 12:19 AM PYONGYANG, North Korea -- Daniel Chun peers out of the window of the Air Koryo turboprop from China as it touches down outside Pyongyang, his former home. It has taken him less than two hours to go back nearly 60 years. [EWA] [Bizarre][Cliche]
• Photo tour with RIA Novosti: Pyongyang – streets and faces
  What first strikes your eye in Pyongyang is clean and orderly streets. Residents of all ages contribute to their condition: they can be seen clipping bushes and collecting rubbish every day.
• Inside North Korea: An Interview with Christine Ahn
  By GREGORY ELICH September 17, 2008
  At a time when speculation and rumors about events in North Korea abound, it should be noted how little of what one reads about that nation is grounded in concrete knowledge and experience. Partly this is due to the North Koreans’ tight hold on the dissemination of information, but it also results from the preference of Western journalists for dealing in boilerplate generalizations and cartoon images. It is not often that one can get an inside view of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – the formal name for North Korea], however circumscribed the travel routes. Christine Ahn, one of the foremost activists on Korean and globalization issues, visited North Korea in early July, just days after the demolition of the cooling tower at the Yongbyon nuclear reactor. She shares her experiences in the DPRK with us. You’ve just returned from the DPRK. As co-coordinator, you helped organize this trip under the auspices of the DPRK Education and Exposure Program (DEEP). Tell us about DEEP and your reasons for organizing this expedition.
• My Excellent North Korean Adventure
  By Jerry Guo Sunday, September 14, 2008; Page B02 PYONGYANG, North Korea   Blow enough time at the poker tables in Casino Pyongyang -- please don't tell my mom! -- and you quickly forget that you're partying in the worst-dressed state in the Axis of Evil. I recently got the rare chance to travel here. I came expecting a real-life version of "1984." But the Democratic People's Republic of Korea turned out to be more like the set of "Austin Powers 4," minus the hot blondes. [Media] [Bizarre]
• North Korea: Secrets of the Hermit Kingdom (+photos)
  A lonely North Korean highway. Photo / Reuters June 20, 2008 By Jim Eagles The feast was more than Jim Eagles could eat ... but he couldn't find out whether North Korea's people are as well-fed As our convoy of 12 tourist buses drove through the spartan villages and neatly cultivated fields of North Korea, not a soul was in sight... apart from the smartly uniformed soldiers dotted at regular intervals who snapped out salutes to the flag-waving jeep leading us.
• North Korea: Yesterday's glories ... and today's Dear Leader
  By Jim Eagles Revered North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Photo / Reuters A milk-white marble statue of the Buddhist goddess of mercy, shining luminescent in the gloom of a volcanic cave, isn't what you expect to be shown as a tourist attraction in the Stalinist state of North Korea
• Paul Koontz: Tourist snapshots from North Korea
  While in Asia in 2007, TEDster Paul Koontz got the priceless chance to spend a few days in North Korea. He brought his two kids -- and his camera, capturing both quotidian detail (like the military bearing of a lonely traffic warden) and the grand spectacle leading up to the Mass Games. It's a rare perspective on a culture we know far too little about. [Video] [EWA]
• North Korea opens up, a little
  By Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers * Posted on Monday, September 3, 2007
  PYONGYANG, North Korea - It used to be a regular shtick at the People's Army Circus here. To the delight of crowds, clowns would don kamikaze wartime caps and lampoon Japanese. Then they'd clamp on big noses and ridicule Americans. [Media]
• New paint and MP3 players: Pyongyang's nuclear dividend
    Jonathan Watts in Panmunjom Monday September 3, 2007 The Guardian Tank traps, landmines and checkpoint barriers flank the North Korean road to Panmunjom, the last frontier of the cold war.
  But a rare - and tightly controlled - visit by the Guardian suggests that Pyongyang is more prosperous than at the start of the nuclear standoff five years ago. Many buildings in the model capital have been repainted in bright colours. There are more cars on the streets, more lights at night and more goods in the shops. Wealthy residents with access to foreign currency can buy the latest MP3 and MP4 players. Long-term residents say the number of restaurants has surged from 10 to 200 in the past decade [EWA] [Media]
• Teaching, and learning, in Pyongyang
  Tim Kearns is a primary school teacher from Christchurch who recently spent three months teaching in Pyongyang. It was an interesting and worthwhile experience, as he recounts, with many surprises.
• A day in the life of Pyongyang
  [Feature] To South Koreans, there is no city that seems more distant than nearby Pyongyang. Last year, 4,380 South Koreans visited the North. According to the Ministry of Unification, there have been less than 15,000 visits by Southerners to the North after the Korean War ended in 1953, most of which were repeat visits by the same individuals. The images of North Korea, and particularly Pyongyang, presented periodically through the media are very limited and fragmented. In the last issue of Hankyoreh21, Pyongyang's economic changes were put in the spotlight. In this issue, I explore Pyongyang and the lives of its citizens from a broader perspective.    
• In reclusive North, signs of economic liberalization
  [Feature] PYONYANG: "Next time, please come back and purchase something," implored Mr. Hong to the customers leaving his store empty-handed. "You're saying you earn more if you sell more?" "You bet." But this reporter was still suspicious. Four days later, I carefully asked our handler for confirmation. "Of course it's true," he assured me. "Even in the same eight-hour workday, he who produces more results gets paid more." The concept of receiving compensation in proportion to the amount of sales is one that is now long familiar to North Koreans. Yet what is surprising is the gusto with which North Korean store staff will go to in encouraging South Korean tourists to buy their products, a phenomenon indicative of how great the materialistic impulse has become in the reclusive communist nation.     [Economic reforms]
• North Korea Gives Glimpse of Rural Life
  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: June 11, 2007 Filed at 10:07 p.m. ET INNER DIAMOND MOUNTAIN, North Korea (AP) -- North Korea is peeling back its self-imposed veil of isolation, allowing tourists a rare glimpse of the hardscrabble rural life en route to a new hiking trail that opened this month at the South Korean-run Diamond Mountain resort. The new trail is also aimed at drumming up more business for the tourism venture run by a subsidiary of South Korea's Hyundai conglomerate, which saw a plunge in visitors last year after North Korea's missile and nuclear tests. And drawing more tourists will mean more money for the communist nation's impoverished economy. [EWA] [Media]
• Behind the facade in North Korea
  By Anna Fifield Published: April 18 2007 03:00 | Last updated: April 18 2007 03:00 In the crumbling rural villages south of Pyongyang, boys in tatty army uniforms walk narrow, pot-holed dirt roads past women washing clothes in streams or tilling crops by hand, or occasionally with an ox and cart. The houses, of home-made mud bricks, appear to have no electricity or running water. The only colour is in billboards showing the late Kim Il-sung, founder of the state, in fields of golden corn that bear no resemblance to this environment. North Korea is markedly different outside the showcase capital of Pyongyang, a picture of centrally planned perfection this week when the Financial Times visited during celebrations for Kim Il-sung's 95th birthday. While North Korea has become an increasingly pressing geopolitical problem - it is not just a nuclear state but also a belligerent one - there is still little information about life inside this tightly controlled country. [Media] [Victim]
• Anna Fifield's exclusive North Korea journal
  Published: August 15 2005 16:55 | Last updated: August 23 2005 13:30
  Anna Fifield is the Financial Times' correspondent in Seoul. In August 2005 she spent two weeks in North Korea and kept an online journal about her visit to and life in the isolated state.
• North Korea: Journeys of the Heart
  In August 2006, sometime between a missile firing and a nuke test, nine wayward Korean Americans touched down in that part of the homeland that runs north of DMZ minefields. We journeyed under the banner of DEEP, the DPRK Education and Exposure Project, led by Nodutdol’s awesome Juyeon Rhee -- Sugo!  
  Our North Korean hosts called us “compatriots” or “dongpo,” which, broken into its constituent parts means from the “same womb.” They welcomed us with open arms and mountains, rice paddies and history.  
  Here is the bojaki wrapping cloth, the patchwork quilt of impressions we wrote to carry our hopes, heartache and longing for this land of shared tongue and memory [Joint Korean]
• Russian photos
  Some 70 photos Apparently taken by a couple of Russian tourists, (Northern) summer 2006-08-02
• An American in NK: 3 Days at Mt. Kumgang
  By Erik Cempel Contributing Writer
• An Inside Peek At North Korea
  Jan. 13, 2006 (CBS) In October 2005, 60 Minutes got the rare opportunity to travel to North Korea to produce a story on the secretive communist nation. Producer Tom Anderson, who traveled with correspondent Dan Rather and the TV crew, shares some of his experiences below in a special "Producer's Notebook." The segment can be seen on 60 Minutes, this Sunday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
  A blogger with whom I have never spoken has written (I can?t say ?reported?) that we brought our own food into North Korea. Quite the contrary. We had delicious meals, and they were far from inexpensive. Barbecued beef was tender and the dumpling soup was fragrant and delicious. But I will never forget the lunch when one of our escorts suddenly became withdrawn and even depressed. When I asked him what was bothering him, he told me we were disrespecting his country?s traditions by eating our rice with our beef rather than waiting and eating it on its own as a final course. North Koreans don?t understand us, and we don?t understand them. Little is being done to defuse a potentially explosive situation. Our countries have technically been at war for more than half a century, and negotiations to ease relations have been stalemated in recent weeks. The Foreign Ministry was quite eager to discuss with us at length what it characterized as their new proposal to come to an agreement, but the proposal has been on the table for a decade. The chief American negotiator agreed to talk to us about our visit, but he was overruled by higher leadership at the State Department. We are eager to return to North Korea and do some more reporting, but we are not sure how the North Koreans will react to our 60 Minutes story, which attempts to do what Derek Williams and I could not do on that morning in Beijing ? describe clearly and lucidly what we had seen and felt. Fortunately, Derek is a terrific cameraman, and his pictures tell an extraordinary story. [Six Party Talks] [Media]
• North Korea: The Hermit Kingdom
  Jan. 15, 2006 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Quote "If the United States invades our country and starts a war, the People?s Army will fight to the death and defend ourselves, taking appropriate revenge." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- General Ri Chan Bok
  (CBS) North Korea has been called many things ? the Hermit Kingdom, the most isolated country in the world, an outlaw nation, an exporter of terrorism, part of the "axis of evil." It?s been on a war footing with the United States for more than 50 years. Few outsiders, and even fewer journalists ever get a chance to go to North Korea and see first-hand some of what is happening there. 60 Minutes correspondent Dan Rather got that chance recently. And even though the 60 Minutes team couldn't go anywhere or do anything without two full-time official government guides, they saw people, things and events that sometimes frightened them and were always surprising. [Media]
• In pictures: Unseen North Korea
  Introduction A Western businessman who has had the rare chance to travel throughout North Korea has sent these images of daily life to the BBC News website. These are his observations from within the normally secretive state. I could travel more or less where I pleased for my work, and even though we always had translators and minders, I was rarely prevented from taking photographs.
• The Dream Life of the North Koreans Email from Pyongyang: The relentlessly sugary facade of official ideology can't disguise a bitter reality
  By DONALD MACINTYRE/PYONGYANG
  Posted Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005 Most visitors to North Korea find the place weird, but can't quite explain why. On a rare trip last month, another traveler told me it was like going to "the moon, with people." I had my own epiphany: North Korea is Pleasantville. Just as in the Gary Ross satire of the 1950s sit-com vision of reality, life in the kingdom of Dear Leader Kim Jong Il is always as pleasant as a picture postcard. The streets are tidy and orderly, the citizens patriotic and the children sing in perfect harmony. From the plastic flowers in the hotels to the plastic music of the Arirang mass-gymastics-and-propaganda fest we were expected to attend, sugar-coated kitsch appeared to have run amok. The regime likes to show off the Arirang festival to foreign visitors (Kim took then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to a similar event during her 2000 visit). Staged at night in the giant May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, the pageant features tens of thousands of costumed dancers, gymnasts and singers performing an elaborate tribute to Kim and his father - North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung. Thousands of children seated on the bleachers opposite the spectators flip colored flash cards to create an ever-changing backdrop of slogans and uplifting images. "They are fighting for the happiness of our people," reads one slogan as flash cards form a tableau of parachuting soldiers. Later, a group of child performers - girls dressed in pink and boys in blue - run toward us and start shouting: "Thank you Great Leader Kim Jong Il." The children's eerily perfect execution of their routine creates an impressive performance. They have clearly spent a long time rehearsing. Stranger, perhaps, is hearing the show's utopian themes echoed in conversations with ordinary North Koreans. "Thanks to the wise guidance of the Great Leader, life has improved so much," one earnest soldier tells us as our minder looks on. "The army and the people are all aroused in the great struggle for a prosperous country."
• Triumph of the Dear Leader?
  Pyongyang Mass Games Take Spectacle to Another Level By J. Scott Burgeson Contributing Writer
  Poster for the "Arirang" mass games Courtesy of J. Scott Burgeson Just before noon on Saturday, Oct. 15, 90 U.S. civilians buckled into the cramped seats of a vintage 1960s Soviet-made Ilyushin Il-62 flying out of Beijing and bound for Pyongyang, the epic, showcase capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. We were the third and by far largest Koryo Tours-led contingent of Americans allowed on sudden notice permission to enter North Korea for a limited period in the month of October, the first time in three years that tourist visas were being issued to what ordinary North Koreans still routinely refer to as ``mije chimnyakja'' or ``American imperialist aggressors.'' Indeed, we were in all likelihood the single largest invasion force of Americans to enter North Korean territory since General MacArthur's forces pushed north of the 38th Parallel in October 1950 during the Korean War -- and promptly had their sorry butts kicked back to the flabby, counterrevolutionary South. On board were Microsoft programmers from Seattle, freelance Web designers from Los Angeles, district attorneys from New York and businessmen from the heartland presently based in Shanghai or Tokyo. It was a typically boisterous group of decadent Yanks, and as we taxied on the runway, unprintable snatches of dialogue and song lyrics from 2004's ``Team America'' were quoted merrily (``Freedom isn't free/No, there's a hefty (expletive) fee''), and one gent was overheard suggesting joining the Mile-High Club over North Korea to a blond-haired lass currently teaching English in Pundang, Kyonggi Province. [Culture gap]
• Triumph of the Dear Leader? (2)
  
  It would be facile to dismiss this work as Stalinist propaganda, or Orwellian kitsch, for ``Arirang'' really is a case in which the sum is greater than its parts, a triumph of human creativity that on a purely aesthetic level trumps all political or ideological underpinnings. In a word, it is the ultimate gesamtkunstwerk -- a total work of art of the kind that Wagner or Andrew Lloyd Webber could only ever dream of replicating. From opera, ballet and traditional Korean dance to high-wire circus routines, gymnastics and martial-arts displays, a virtual encyclopedia of theatrical forms is deployed to stunning and always seamless effect; the floor patterns alone were mind-boggling to behold in their intricacy, as an endless procession of geometrical, color-coded designs and other imagery like flowers or flags shifted and merged into each other wondrously, like a tightly choreographed Busby Berkeley showstopper magnified in scope and scale a hundredfold. It was all the more incredible in that there were no visible markers or other indicators on the pitch, meaning that thousands of dancers and performers at a time had memorized every last step and movement and never once seemed to falter or make a mistake. Add to all this spectacular costumes, lighting and lasers, as well as film and animation sequences projected dramatically onto the mosaic backdrop, and you really do have a truly monumental production that is nowhere else equaled on the face of the planet today.
  Outside the stadium, a long row of North Koreans leaning from an upper balcony waved farewell to us all, South Koreans and Americans alike, and the emotion was overwhelming. We were no longer ``hostile foes'' or ``imperialist aggressors,'' but simply fellow human beings who had just witnessed together the greatest show on Earth
• Pyongyang Peekholes: Looking for Life Beyond the Kims
  A TIME correspondent tries to peer into private lives in the grim North Korean capital By DONALD MACINTYRE/PYONGYANG
  Posted Monday, Oct. 17, 2005 In North Korea, the Kims are always with you. A giant portrait of Kim Il-Sung, the founder of the state, greets visitors as they land at the city's tiny international airport. The first stop on the strictly controlled itineraries imposed on foreigners is usually the giant bronze statue of Kim in downtown Pyongyang, hand outstretched over the city he built from scratch after American bombers razed it during the Korean War. The face of the "Great Leader" and Eternal President - Kim died in 1994 - appears on the little red lapel badges still worn by most North Koreans. The image of his son Kim Jong-Il, the "Dear Leader" who now rules this isolated, impoverished communist dynasty, is nearly as ubiquitous. Long chunks of the evening news are dedicated to footage of the younger Kim visiting factories and new public buildings, as commentators marvel in reverential tones at the wisdom of the Great Leader. The Arirang mass games now being performed nightly in Pyongyang are a song-and-dance homage to the wise rule of the Kims. But a recent trip to this time-locked country suggests there is more to life in North Korea than Kim worship. The regime allowed in an unusually large number of foreigners this month - including a few Americans - for a rare visit. As usual, they were kept on a short leash (banned from taking the subway or even a five-minute taxi ride unaccompanied by "guides"). But it was possible to catch glimpses of ordinary life as your guides raced you around the city from monument to model factory, seemingly trying to run down the clock and send you home again. Last week, Pyongyang's citizens were taking advantage of sunny blue skies to stroll in the city's many parks, fish along willow-lined canals and ponds or take small boats out on the broad Taedong River that flows through the city. There were people buying snacks and drinks at sidewalk kiosks and eating out in the city's many restaurants. North Koreans are prudish about public displays of affection, but you could see couples strolling hand in hand. But it is impossible to know what ordinary life looks like behind the windows of the tall white apartment buildings that dot the city. North Koreans are strictly forbidden from inviting foreigners into their homes, so the Dear Leader's place there is hard to gauge. Our guides claim to love the revolutionary movies that dominate TV (when the Dear Leader isn't giving on-the-spot guidance somewhere). But these days such fare faces stiff competition from the bootleg copies of South Korean soap operas and American movies like Titanic circulating underground in Pyongang, according to defectors. One of our guides told me she listens to only Korean folk songs on her MP3 player. But we aren't given a chance to find out whether she has recorded anything jazzier. A boy in a computer class I visited says he is too busy studying to play games on it. But wouldn't an American kid say the same thing in the presence of his teachers? Our guides were the only North Koreans with whom we got to spend much time. They were ready to parry our questions with pat ideological replies, dredging up over-the-top praise for the Kims from rote memory. Our chief minder was a scowling red-faced man given to fits of rage whenever any of the visitors in his care broke the rules. But sometimes the stern socialist facade slipped: During a long bus trip to the south, Mr. Chae, as we called him, tells me a hilarious story about how he courted his wife, threatening to throw her in the Taedong River if she didn't immediately accept his marriage proposal. On our last night, he grabbed a karaoke mike - and one of the women on the trip - and started crooning like a lounge singer manque. The moment didn't last. But for a brief instant, the Kims weren't even in the room.
• Eyewitness: US tourist in North Korea
  American tourists have recently been given a rare chance to visit North Korea - usually out of bounds to US citizens - for the huge annual Arirang festival. Carol Rueckert, one of those who took up the opportunity, describes her experiences.
  As an American resident in Beijing, I've known a handful of people who have gone to North Korea, and I have always been fascinated by their stories. Knowing that Americans are not usually allowed in, I didn't ever think much about going. But as soon as I heard the news that North Korea was issuing visas to US citizens in October, I jumped at the chance. We arrived in Pyongyang on an old 1960s Russian airplane. At the airport we were quickly rushed through customs, asked to hand in our cell phones and divided into groups, with Americans separated from non-Americans. The first thing our English-speaking tour guide did was introduce us to the North Koreans on our bus - including a cameraman "who will be observing all of your behaviours." Before we set off, we were forewarned that the tour guides might tease us for being "American imperialists," but that they would eventually warm up to us. To be honest, I was surprised with how friendly and warm-hearted they were.
• Glimpses of a Hermit Nation
  A decade after a massive famine, North Koreans are still struggling. In Chongjin, deprivation spurs change. First of two parts
  By Barbara Demick, Times Staff Writer
  His day begins at 4:30 a.m. The 64-year-old retired math teacher doesn't own a clock or even a watch, but the internal alarm that has kept him alive while so many of his fellow North Koreans have starved to death tells him he had better get out to pick grass if his family is to survive.
  To penetrate the secrecy, the Los Angeles Times spoke in China and South Korea with more than 30 people from Chongjin, North Korea's third-largest city. Their stories, along with hours of surreptitiously shot video, present a portrait of the city and of daily life in a nation struggling with deprivation and change. Most of the factories in Chongjin, a former industrial port, are rusting into ruin. Those still operating can barely pay salaries; the average worker's wage amounts to $1 per month at current exchange rates. Even with international aid, many people go to bed wondering whether they will eat the next day. Residents, along with officials of the United Nations World Food Program, say food shortages have grown worse again in the last year. "Maybe people are not dying today out in the streets like they were before," said a coal miner who lives in Chongjin, "but they are still dying - just quietly in their homes." The prolonged hardship has left North Koreans increasingly disillusioned with leader Kim Jong Il and the ideology of national self-reliance that once held the nation together. People say the regime has less and less control. With corruption running rampant, the state is no longer solely in charge of commerce. People hustle to sell anything they can - prohibited videos of South Korean soap operas, real estate and official travel documents. In this free-for-all, some people have prospered. Many more are just a step ahead of starvation. Like the retired math teacher, many of the people interviewed are Chongjin residents who have slipped into China temporarily to work or beg. Others are defectors who live in South Korea. [Defector reports]
• Comrades and Strangers
  [Book Review] By Jeffrey Miller Feature Writer
  In 1986, as a young graduate looking for some adventure before settling down to an otherwise mundane life in the suburbs, Michael Harrold answered, on a whim, an advertisement to become the first Briton to live and work in North Korea. What he initially anticipated would be an exciting interlude in the world's most secretive and isolated country ended up spanning seven years in which his initial skepticism, even cynicism, about the regime and society developed into a growing empathy with the people around him. In his memoirs of that period ``Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea,'' Harrold chronicles the seven years he spent in North Korea as the language adviser for English translations of speeches by the country's president, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. It was an unforgettable and eye-opening experience that gave him a unique insight into what is, perhaps, the world's most misunderstood nation.
• Movies: An intimate look at North Korea
  Andrew Salmon IHT Wednesday, October 13, 2004
  BUSAN, South Korea North Korea is the least visited, least known, least understood country in the world." So states the opening of "A State of Mind," a British documentary that attempts to address these issues by offering a surprisingly close glimpse of the secretive state. Having headlined North Korea's Pyongyang Film Festival in September, its three screenings at South Korea's Pusan Film Festival this month were sold out.
  The filmmakers entered the homes of the families during a power blackout ("Bloody Americans," snarls one of the fathers; the North's trials are blamed on the United States) and even followed the children to Revolutionary Education class ("Where is imperialist aggression underway now, children?" In unison: "Iraq.").
• North Korea - an enigma and an opportunity
  by Major Seth Le Leu
  IT'S easy to assume you know everything about a country from the way it's portrayed in the media. I found out just how wrong that view can be - or, at least, how one-sided - when I travelled to North Korea to see a venture The Salvation Army has entered into.
  North Korea is a beautiful country which, if it were not so isolated, would make a great tourist destination. And if I expected to see an unhappy people, suffering because of their country's isolation, I was in for a surprise.
  The people are industrious and proud. Local communities are entrusted with the upkeep of the roads in their area and everywhere we travelled there were teams of local people engaged in road repairs as part of their community service. It would be a brave mayor in the west who would suggest such a scheme in order to reduce local taxes!
  The country's economy is built on an agricultural foundation which relies on manual labour. Vast numbers of the population work the land and as we travelled we saw the harvest progressing. Teams of people with hand scythes were reaping the precious rice and maize which was loaded onto bullock carts to be taken to the stores.
  Each house in the rural areas had its own garden filled with vegetables, and in many places this produce was on sale from small roadside stalls. However, the North Koreans fear that all this work is not enough to ward off recurrent famine. To this end the government is engaged in a process of diversifying food production.
  For example, on one of the farms we visited ostriches were being farmed and their eggs were on sale in a supermarket in Pyong Yang. Another initiative to enhance food supplies is the establishment of a dairy industry. Dairy products are not a traditional food source in Korea, but for the past six or seven years the North Koreans have been working with the Swiss government to develop goat milk production and products. Children in kindergartens receive yoghurt from the dairy farms and the rest is sold in nearby towns. As people become more accustomed to these products the demand is growing and there is a need to provide machinery to package the yoghurt, which is where The Salvation Army comes in.
  Major Seth Le Leu is a New Zealand Officer serving as International Development Secretary, London.
• Andy Kershaw in North Korea
  Sit back and enjoy the first ever radio programme recorded in this isolated and extraordinary country. Andy has described this as the "last great adventure on planet Earth". Even with all the restrictions and supervision, Radio 3 managed to record the music of local musicians. Other highlights include sea shanties from the East coast, a visit to the statue of the great leader and a very brief excursion into South Korea. Andy's guide was Nick Bonner and more information on his North Korea tours is at www.koryogroup.com.
• Journey into Kimland
  by Scott Fisher
• Northern exposure: A Canadian looks at North Korea
  Marvellous photographs by Irwin Oostindie
• A Pyongyang Memoir
  Dongwoo Lee April Spring Friendship Arts Festival, 2003
  I went there because I felt it was an honor to be the first ethnic Korean cellist and professor from America to participate with 600 other participants from all over the world
  I was amazed to see that musicians and artists from so many countries had came to participate in this festival but more impressive was the level of "world class" artistry from all of the participants and organizations. Even though I had previously heard that the level of musicianship of the orchestras in Pyongyang was good, I was even more surprised in seeing how disciplined and professional they all were.
• North Korea's silent suffering
  By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes BBC, Pyongyang While North Korea's leaders spend money on weapons from overseas its people are still desperately poor. [EWE]
• An American in Rajin
  In July 2001 Jim Worthington, an American graduate student teaching in Northeast China, near the Korean border, had an opportunity to make a brief visit to Rajin, in the Rajin-Sonbong Free Trade Zone.
• Fear and loathing in North Korea
  [ewa] [Spin] [Media] Mike Thomson, BBC Radio 4's Today Programme reporter who has just returned from Pyongyang, reports on the freezing temperatures and rising tensions in North Korea. ...The city's underground system, with its sinister piped music, still works,
• Shopping for groceries in Pyeongyang
  [Susan Pares] [ewa] [Daily life]
• A Visit To North Korea
  {Suki Kim} [ewa] [Culture gap] [Joint Korean] [National Security Law][Motherland] [Juche] [Nationalism][Divided families][Diaspora] Suki Kim website
• Impressions Of A Week In North Korea
  {Stephen Endicott} [ewa]
• 'Lock the Door for 10 Years and Train Hard to Develop'
  [world cup 1966]
• North Korean Reminiscence - A Thrill to Win in an Ice Hockey
• Auntie from the North (ROK National Intelligence Service)
• North Korea Reminiscence- Deep-tanned Women Trading at Riversides
• North Korean Reminiscence - Searching for Gold in the Sands
• North Korean Reminiscence-Deep-Sea Artistic Propaganda Squad
• People I Meet in North Korea
• Pizza-lady in Pyeongyang
• Crushed by lies of Chairman Kim BBC Europe correspondent Angus Roxburgh
• North Korea: signs of trouble but no evil DAVID WALL
• The Supremo in His Labyrinth Time Magazine
• Desperate Times in North Korea [Hazel Smith]
• Freezing Night, Neon Lights and People's Bright Faces
• Mt. Geumgang revisited
• Strangled by its leaders' myths
• A Crack in the Hermit's Door[Time Magazine 24 Dec 2001]
• Seoul Searching: Calling Pyongyang

  Three articles by Peter Smerdon in Far Eastern Economic Review, 27 December 2001

  • The Road Less Travelled
  • THE PALACE OF PRESENTS, PAST AND FUTURE
  • Blaming The United States

• Report from Another World; A reporter walks into North Korea for a glimpse at Kim Jong Il's reality
  [Jan 2001; Italian reporter walks over border from China]

  Tim Beal

• Journey to a far away place
  A report of a visit to DPRK in New Zealand Journal of East Asian Studies, Vol VI, No 1, 1998, pp.105-119
• Photographs taken in the DPRK, April 1998
  These photos were taken during this visit (April 1998)

  Andrei Lankov

• Pyongyang and its People (Notes of a Soviet Student):
  Dr Andrei Lankov was a student in Pyongyang 1994-5

• Boris Kester Travel Report

• Travel in North Korea (Byron Schmuland links)
• Vacationing in the Land Without Smiles