Nope. I know me. At some point I would sneeze in the wrong direction or pick up the forbidden stick.
Excellent answer. Amazing that anyone thinks NK is a place to vacation.
Yes, Americans have freedoms. Other nations don’t recognize our freedoms, so going to visit expecting that your behavior shouldn’t change is nuts.
No thanks. I can eat grass at home.
Bad idea. I’d just as soon have a Holiday In Cambodia.
Enough westerners have gone to, and returned from, DPRK that it’s clearly a plausibly do-able thing. Just pay CLOSE attention to the rules, and you should be fine. But - Still not something that I’d recommend. WAY too much of a hassle, with far too many pitfalls, for too little gain.
I work for a federal agency, and for that reason, I think the DPRK would regard my application would too much suspicion to allow me into the country. Trying to get a visa would be like beating my head against a wall.
This and why on earth would I want to contribute even a dime to their economy?
My sentiments exactly, and I voted accordingly.
That said, it really would be better than Disneyland.
But not Disney World.
The difference between Disney and North Korea is that when Disney builds an amusement park on top of 150 acres of swamp, it’s an improvement.
Regards,
Shodan
Pol Pot!
The list of places on the planet that I’d like to visit grows smaller every day, either due to danger or the local politics, which I guess go hand in hand. It’s a shame since there’s so much natural beauty and history that I’m never going to experience.
Would they let me interview Kim Jong-un and shake his hand?
This. I would not support such a totalitarian regime economically.
But I might go if I get to meet Dennis Rodman.
I checked “No, it’s stupid to even consider going there.” Given the frequency with which the NK regime grabs foreigners and uses them as de facto hostages, no thanks! I actually think the US ought to consider banning all travel by US citizens there.
I don’t believe that is correct. If they want to nab you for some reason, it’s not going to matter whether you followed the rules or not. NK is not a country ruled by laws. It’s a country ruled by one person.
Personally, I wouldn’t, but less because of the risks and more because all of the money goes to support the regime and because all visitors go on the exact same Potemkin tour, which you can read about in many places on the Internet; I don’t have any particular desire to experience it for myself. Prior to the Warmbier incident, there wasn’t any reason to think it was particularly risky; the government wasn’t in the business of kidnapping random tourists, and many, many people had visited NK as tourists without incident. It should be noted that the list of foreign nationals detained in North Korea is short, and the number of those who entered as tourists is even smaller; most of those also seem to have been missionaries who actually did break the rules by trying to proselytize.
I do think that Warmbier changes the calculus, since there’s a good chance that he was innocent and was detained because the government wanted an American hostage and he conveniently happened to be traveling alone, but I also don’t think it would be outrageously stupid to travel there as a tourist even now, particularly if you are not American.
Id go in a minute. I’m now at the point where I am going around picking up the countries Ive never been to before, and North Korea would certainly be near the top of my list of priorities. A;long with Mongolia, Chad, Yemen and Pacific Island groups.
I would never decline to go anywhere merely because it has become a popular political whipping boy.
PS – I went to Somalia last year. Don’t worry about it.
I don’t know if there is a lot to see there, but I would find it interesting for a few days. I think as long as you’re careful and don’t do anything stupid like take a poster down or flip off a Kim statue you’ll be ok.
Sure. I went to North Korea in 2009 and had an enjoyable time there. It was interesting to see the USS Pueblo, got to ride a roller coaster and hike in the mountains up north.
If I like won the vacation, I’d probably go. I wouldn’t be too concerned about my safety, to be honest. I’d be fine, be verpolite and smile a lot, go ONLY touristic spots, eat lots, do nothing even bordering on controversial, and leave without incident.
But I’d have to win the vacation in a raffle or something, because there are many, many places ahead of this that I’d rather visit.
But I’m pretty confident I could visit without incident, and without fear for my life.