It has been just a month since the death of Otto Warmbier — an American tourist jailed by North Korean authorities, sentenced to 15 years' hard labor
It has been just a month since the death of Otto Warmbier — an American tourist jailed by North Korean authorities, sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor for pulling down a propaganda poster, and eventually released to the U. S. in a coma under mysterious circumstances .
In at least one sense, then, you could argue it’s an odd time for North Korea to launch a tourism campaign.
Yet that’s precisely what the reclusive country did this week, publishing a new website designed to draw visitors to its « beautiful and picturesque landscape. »
« Today the tourist industry in the DPRK is developing afresh under the wise leadership of supreme leader Kim Jong Un, » the site says in laudatory tones, using the abbreviation for country’s preferred name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
On offer are beaches where « the water is not so deep, yet clear, the sand is as white as snow » and golf courses that boast « an adequate number of service personnel. » The site also promises a surfing tour, saying « the sea sometimes runs high in some districts, thus giving favourable conditions for surfing. »
And all this to « promote mutual understanding and cultural bonds between people around the world and develop the national economy.
