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Koryo Quarterly – April
2008
Dear All,
Welcome to our first newsletter for 2008. The
tourism season in DPRK is now getting into full swing with a full
range of events, festivals, sports, and other goings on, which
are outlined below. We had a break from tours during December and
January but since then have had trips going for the birthday of
DPRK leader Kim Jong Il in February as well as a group which went
with the intention of attending the North vs South Korea football
match in March (which was then moved to Shanghai, match report
below) in addition to many independent tours and smaller groups
too.
DPRK has been in the news a fair amount this year already not
only for the usual reasons (tensions with South Korea and the US
over various issues ongoing for example) but also also Nick Bonner
was invited to the Pyongyang concert by the New York Philharmonic,
see below for his impressions of
that unprecedented event.
Once again the Arirang Mass Games is
going to be taking place in Pyongyang, likely from August to October
and we have updated
with the most recent news from our partners below, this event
continues to be the greatest human spectacle of all and certainly
one of
the most unique and fascinating performances it is possible to
witness in the world today. September 9th 2008 is a major holiday
in the North as it marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment
of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, tours around
the time of the Mass Games are always busier than at other times
of the year so if you want to take a trip at a time when there
are hardly any other foreigners around then we would suggest
perhaps going in June (when DPRK plays Turkmenistan at football
in Kim
Il Sung stadium) which is low season for tours.
US CITIZENS and NON-US CITIZENS
OVERVIEW
Tours update
- 2008 Arirang - UPDATED DETAILS
- shameless plug and Koryo Tours products for the
next year
DPRK news
- New York Philharmonic review
- North Korea vs South Korea football
- Air China flying to Pyongyang, Air Koryo new plane
- DPRK on
Google Earth
Koryo Tours
news
- New Tourist destination - HAEJU
- March Tour review
- Flower Girl comes to Beijing
- Crossing the Line - DVD available
- Request for help!
- French/German website
FULL TEXT BELOW
Tours update
- Mass Games is scheduled to take place again this year (2008)
and the dates that have just been confirmed cover from the 4th
August to the end of September. However it is normal for these
dates to be altered as the event draws closer and we expect the
actual run of the games to go on into October, watch this space
for updates on Mass Games dates; you’ll hear it here first!
If you want to make sure you’re first to know then please
sign up for our Facebook group conveniently named ‘Koryo
Tours’
Although there is still no confirmation from Pyongyang we expect
as before to be able to take US citizens to DPRK during the run
of the Arirang Mass Games, to this end we have a full list of
tours available to US passport holders online at http://www.koryogroup.com/tours/index-us.html we are accepting applications already for these tours and will
update the website as soon as any more information comes in,
it is in no way unusual for confirmation to come very late for
US visa approval, this is how it always pans out so apologies
that we can’t offer any guarantees at the moment but note
that we did take over 80% of all Americans to visit the country
last year so we do know what we’re doing better than anyone
else.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwKWttrEaSM has a clip of the
Mass Games, of course this doesn’t come close to being
comparable with actually seeing the event live and in full effect;
watch to whet the appetite!
- In addition to Mass Games tours we also have trips throughout
the year for non-Americans (see http://www.koryogroup.com/tours/grouptours.htm)
including many special events such as the June 7th football
match in Pyongyang between DPRK and Turkmenistan, this is a world
cup
qualifier which Korea can expect to win, be one of very few
foreigners to attend international football matches in Pyongyang.
DPRK football
supporter scarves are available in our office
DPRK news
- Nick’s NY Philharmonic report: I was
fortunate enough to be invited by the New York Philharmonic to
attend their historic performance in Pyongyang on February 26th
this year where I took my seat among a mixed crowd of a couple
of thousand invited Koreans and the largest contingent of western
media ever to enter DPRK. It was a first to see the US flag hanging
opposite that of the DPRK and although the Korean attendees at
the performance were drawn from the privileged sections of Pyongyang
society, the show was broadcast in its entirety on both radio
and television which means a great many normal citizens would
have heard and seen the show at home and at work. The show itself
was as impeccable as expected; opening with the national anthems
of both DPRK and the US and then proceeding through a fairly
eclectic playlist that ranged from Dvorak (my Korean colleagues
all seemed to know his music) to Gershwin’s American
In Paris (which expresses beautifully the bustle of Paris
but which might leave a Korean struggling for reference!). For
a third encore they played the trans-Korean standard Arirang...a
lovely touch but the Koreans play it with more passion. For me
the momentous occasion was at the end of the concert where the
Korean audience went down to applaud the musicians who were walking
off stage- there was a face-off- the orchestra waved the Koreans
waved back- eventually the conductor and first violinist returned
to an almost empty stage (see image above) This was not rehearsed – this
was something very special.
The performance can be viewed on YouTube in several parts
starting here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHvR8_QBmzo&feature=related
- Simon’s North Korea vs South Korea Football report: March
26th this year saw the first competitive football match (meaning
not a friendly) between North and South Korea in 15 years, the
two sides were drawn in the same Asian qualifying group for the
2010 world cup meaning they have to play each other (as well
as Turkmenistan and Jordan) both at home and away. The group
champions, as well as possibly the runners-up, qualify for the
next level of qualifying. This particular game should have taken
place in Pyongyang but northern intransigence over allowing the
visitors to fly their flag and play their anthem unfortunately
led to the change of venue to the ‘neutral’ Shanghai,
China. In fact the crowd of around 20,000 was dominated by South
Koreans who are exceptionally lively and vocal football fans,
essentially turning this into an away fixture for the underdog
Northerners. Despite this disadvantage the game was reasonably
evenly matched and although the South spent most of the game
on the attack it was the North that came closest to scoring with
Jong Tae Se, their Japanese born striker, narrowly missing. The
end result was a fair 0-0 (a shame not to see any goals) which
was a cause for celebration for the North Koreans as they had
managed a tie against a side including players such as Man Utd’s
Park Ji Sung and Lee Yong Pyo of Tottenham Hotspur, a very important
point for the ‘home’ team!
It was great to see the
total absence of negativity among the crowd at this match; after
the final whistle both teams
went to all four sides of the stadium to salute all the fans
and were warmly applauded, the small section of North Korean
fans (mainly Koreans working and studying in China) had their
chance to make some noise with a rendition of the unification
song Hana at the end of the game and managed to leave happy
with the result, presumably the South Korean fans felt disappointed
that they had failed to take all 3 points fom this fixture
but they are likely to top the group anyway due to the relative
weakness of the other teams they have to face and they look
likely to triumph in the next meeting of the two Korean teams
in Seoul on June 22nd. But who knows? As they say in Pyongyang;
in Korea, anything is possible.
Our friend at www.nkeconwatch.com has his impressions of the
match online at http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2008/04/01/world-cup-qualifier-underdogs-vs-runningdogs/#comments
- Relief work for areas damaged by last years catastrophic flooding
is ongoing in DPRK, as before we would ask anyone interested
in donating towards assistance projects to contact the Rotatact
Club who continue their vital work in Korea. Best is to contact
Randal Eastman on dprk.projects@mac.com.
The Rotaract Club are collecting funds for medical aid as well
as several other long-running
projects in the DPRK, please give generously if you can.
- Air China
have recently become the only airline other than Air Koryo to
offer direct international flights to Pyongyang. Currently
the schedule is for every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday which
means that there is now much more flexibility in dates of entry
and exit when planning a trip to DPRK. Air Koryo have recently
taken delivery of a new aircraft, a TU-204-300 which should enter
service by the end of April, this is the first new plane they
have bought in quite a few years and should raise their capacity
also, this plane will be used to fly the Pyongyang – Beijing
route, report on the new plane is at http://frontierindia.net/tu-204-300-touches-down-at-a-north-korean-airport
- also
at www.nkeconwatch.com run
by our good friend Curtis you can get hold of a patch for Google
Earth which labels pretty
much everything there is to label in North Korea, very useful
for those going on a tour, very interesting for just about anybody,
load it up and enjoy the view, for the ground level version you’ll
have to join a tour though! http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=861907&page=&vc=1&PHPSESSID=#Post861907
photo by D Routledge
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Koryo Tours News
- New tourist destination: HAEJU In February,
Nick Bonner travelled south west to Haeju - the first time we
have
been allowed
to
visit – taking in various delights such as a goat farm
(where we are told tourist groups can go out with the shepherds)
to temples and the retirement home of the general responsible
for inventing the 16th century Korean ‘turtle’ battle
ships. If you want a holiday to get away from the pressures
and bustle of Pyongyang then this is it!. It started snowing
on the way down and there were quite a few incidents but we
had a great trip - very friendly people who have not to
my knowledge seen many if any westerners and we hope to be
running
a tour
in that direction later this year.
- Hannah's March Madness Tour report: We decided
this year to offer a group tour in March which coincided nicely
with the DPRK
vs
ROK
World
Cup
qualifying match that was due to be held in Pyongyang on the
26th. As you will have already read above, the match was moved
to Shanghai so we didn’t get to attend but despite this
we still had a great time. The weather, which started off very
wet, got progressively better throughout the 5 night itinerary
which included visits to all the main sites in Pyongyang as well
as overnight stays at Mt Myohyang (great karaoke session and
good hiking too!) and at the traditional folk hotel in Kaesong.
Whilst in Pyongyang we were lucky enough to witness practices
for the mass games event to be held in the summer (see news above)
as well as training for the military parade which will be held
on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the
DPRK on September 9th. The visit to the Pyongyang Film Studios
also threw up a few surprises – in addition to what I can
only assume is the first time they’ve seen a male ‘Queen’ (see
photo below!) we also saw some actual filming and bumped into
a famous DPRK actor who always plays the evil Japanese general
in movies!
Tourist-wise it was a fairly quiet time of year to visit, other
than one or two others who had gone for the football and a Malaysian-Chinese
group who followed us around, we were about the only tourists
there. Thanks to all the guys who went on the trip – hope
you all had a good time and if you fancy coming back
for the games there’s a 10% discount for returning tourists!
- The popular revolutionary opera The Flower Girl will
be coming to Beijing this month. THE FLOWER GIRL is set in the
1930's
just prior to World War II when Korea was occupied by the Japanese
and tells the story of a poor Korean village girl who must
sell flowers in the market to raise money to buy medicine for
her sick mother, who is working herself to death for the cruel
and exploiting pro-Japanese landlord. To add to Koppun's problems,
her father is dead, she has a younger blind sister that she
must support, and her brother has been jailed by the Japanese.
Not exactly a laugh a minute but the music is beautiful and
is definitely a must-see for all you Korea-philes out there.
The opera is being performed from 15th-19th April at the newly
opened National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing http://www.chncpa.org/n16/n1062/n8576/433850.html#link ticket
prices range from RMB 180 – 680.
Supertitles in Chinese only.
- Our latest film Crossing the Line is now available for purchase from several retailers including
www.amazon.com this film
presents the previously untold story of James Dresnok – the
last living American defector still living in DPRK – the
film’s
website is http://www.comradejoe.com Hope
you have a chance to see the film, let us know what you think!
- Sports
in the DPRK The beginning of May will see a host of
sporting events in Pyongyang as we take in a football team,
volleyball team and also the first ever cricket team to travel
to Pyongyang. May Day is always a great time of year to be
there with (usually) beautiful weather, a great holiday atmosphere
and lots going on. Our group tours at that time are now closed
but if you are interested then please contact asap and we will
see what we can do. We are always interested in doing new and
exciting projects and cultural/sporting exchanges so if you
have any ideas – no matter how far-fetched you think
it may be – then please do get in touch.
- Request for help:
We have been asked by our partners in Pyongyang to help find
travel agencies in France and Canada
who would be interested in starting up tours to the DPRK. If
you know of any who you think would be potential candidates
we’d be really grateful of any suggestions. Also, we
are always looking for new channels of promotion and one good
way is to get our name in travel magazines or expat magazines.
If you are an avid reader of a particular travel magazine/expat
magazine that you think would be interested in hearing from
us then do let us know.
- French/German version of website: In
order to reach a wider audience we have translated the most
important sections
of our website into French http://www.koryogroup.com/french%20version/indexfr.htm and
German http://www.koryogroup.com/german%20version/indexdeutsch.htm – please
do pass these links on to anyone you think would be interested!

photo
by D Routledge |
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THANK YOU FOR READING THIS NEWSLETTER – PLEASE
PASS ON THE LINK TO ANYONE WHO MAY BE INTERESTED AND OF COURSE
WE
WELCOME YOUR
COMMENTS!
Nick, Hannah, Simon and Emily at Koryo Tours.
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