Newsletters

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

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

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.