Interestingly, there have been no Chinese tourists as of yet, only Russians. I personally would never go, and I’ve heard too many horror stories in the media and it sounds like such a grim place.
I’d go if they didn’t require bowing down to their Kim statues, and if I knew I could get good healthcare if something bad happened.
No, I wouldn’t go. And I think it should be illegal for US citizens to go there without US government permission. It puts us at risk when a US citizen ends up trapped there.
I can’t think of a good reason to go there, and if things happen to go wrong, you’re screwed.
Not a chance. I would never go there with the government they have in place (and unlikely to change in my lifetime). They have imprisoned tourists for very minor infractions. Expect torture and to not survive the ordeal. You might get out with no problem. But you might not. Why chance it?
No, I would not go, not even for green eggs and ham.
Reminds me The Reluctant Communist, a book about a U.S. soldier who deserted across the border to North Korea. He ended up staying there for 40 years. It wasn’t exactly prison and torture… they gave him a free apartment and “assigned” him a wife, and he acted as the main antagonist in all their anti-US propaganda films. Really interesting story throughout, especially combined with the Vice documentary series.
Personally, I’d love to visit, just to see what life on the ground is like there (to the limited extent the guides even let you see anything real). Not that I glorify autocratic regimes, but the U.S. isn’t exactly known for even-handed analyses of our ideological enemies. I’d prefer to see it for myself, if at all possible without being imprisoned… or wived.
(Edit: Added spoiler tag for the book details)
I’ll pass. Especially with the current US government. I’ll take my chances with the disorganized bandits of much of the rest of the world. No reason to visit the organized bandits of a truly ruthless criminal regime.
Absolutely not. There are so many nice places to visit in the world. Why would I go to a country where they only show you the “Potemkin’s villages” they want you to see, where I would have a minder with me at all times, and where I would have to reverence their fucking great leaders? I would not want to give my money to a criminal regime that interns and tortures many of its citizens. Nor would I want to risk ending up like Otto Warmbier. Fuck North Korea. The many Youtube videos posted by tourists are more than enough to sample it in all its perversity.
I think it would be fascinating and would be happy to go there if I could do so on someone else’s dime. If I’m paying my own way, it’s going to be pretty low on my priority list.
^^Yeah, me, too. I’d go if someone else paid for it. And I’d go thru all the motions of respecting all icons of the Kims and do exactly as my minders instructed to stay in their good graces.
Visiting a sea cucumber farm sounds modestly intriguing, but there are more appealing destinations for that than North Korea.
Not to mention the warm beer
Free citizens shouldn’t need their government’s permission to go where they wish
But I’d never go there.
How about the US Capital building? Bank vaults? Your home?
If you want to continue, take it to a new thread.
Moderating:
How to Reply as a linked Topic
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That is actually the best method.
God no. For starters I’d be terrified of committing any minor kind of faux pas that could see me effectively executed. And it would all seem in such bad taste given the abject conditions the population must live in. Let’s not kid ourselves that any tourism would benefit any of the ordinary people who live there.
I would be terrified to go there. Never.
I’m an adventure tourist. I would go, though I don’t have plans at this stage.
As fascinating as it’d be I wouldn’t step foot in that country without a diplomatic passport.