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☆ Tourists have returned to North Korea for the first time since the pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Lilit Marcus | Mayumi Maruyama | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

American college student Otto Warmbier was detained on a North Korea trip in 2016, allegedly for stealing a propaganda poster. Courtesy Elena BychcovaRussia and North Korea’s relationshipBefore the pandemic, the largest source of inbound tourists to North Korea wasn’t Russia – it was China. The Russian ski trippers were the first tourists allowed into the hermit kingdom since the pandemic, a sign of Russia’s increasing popularity in North Korea. Now, both say they would consider going to North Korea again someday – but only if the political situation changes. “I hope traveling will save the world.”Another Russian ski trip in North Korea is slated for March 2024.

Persons: Lena Bychcova couldn’t, —, kingdom’s, Kim Jong Un, Otto Warmbier, Bychcova, Ilya Voskresensky, grandpa, Voskresensky, “, KIM, JIN, Kim Won Jin, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, ” Bychcova, Lena Bychcova, Elena Bychcova, Vladimir Putin, –, Bychcova doesn’t, ”, Kim, Putin, Anna Chernova, Mariya Knight Organizations: CNN, Koryo, ”, Getty, Intelligence, Ukraine, Korean, United, Russia, North Locations: Korea, Russian, North Korea, Tourism, United States, Pyongyang, Korean, Vladivostok, Soviet Russia, AFP, Elena Bychcova Russia, North, Russia, China, United Nations, Ukraine, Yekaterinburg, Ukrainian

☆ North Korea hints at tourism reopening, but doubts remain
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

When North Korea slammed its already tight borders closed in 2020, he was one of many travel industry professionals left out in the proverbial cold. One of Cockerell’s business concerns, he says, is that a lack of search engine interest in North Korea trips could hurt his website’s visibility on Google. In 2017, the United States banned its passport holders from traveling to North Korea and has renewed this ban through at least 2024. The 2017 ban on American travel to North Korea came shortly after the death of Otto Warmbier, a recent college graduate from Ohio who participated in a Young Pioneer Tours group trip to North Korea. Warmbier was detained in North Korea in 2016 for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster and held for 17 months.

Persons: Simon Cockerell, ” Cockerell, ”, Cockerell, Kim, Otto Warmbier, Warmbier, CNN’s Paula Hancocks, Irene Nasser, Kate Springer, Yoonjung Seo Organizations: CNN, Air Koryo, of Tourism, United, DPRK, Tours, North Koreans, North Korean Locations: North Korea, North, Pyongyang, Beijing, China, Vladivostok, Russia, Koryo, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tourism, United States, Ohio

☆ Kim Jong Un feasted at a lavish banquet with gaudy lighting and a showstopping scale model of a nuclear missile
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

North Korean media released a video showing Kim Jong Un at a lavish banquet on Sunday. Four different moments of Kim Jong-Un and his daughter at a banquet table on August, 27, 2023. Kim Yo Jong was identified by NK News as the woman in a jacket standing center of picture, facing Kim Jong Un, below. A row of sailors look joyful as they serenade Kim Jong Un at a banquet in Pyongyang on August 27, 2023. A general view of the banquet in Pyongyang on August 27, 2023, attended by Kim Jong Un.

Persons: Kim Jong, Kim, Ri Sol Ju, Kim Ju, Kim Jong Un, Ri, —, Kim Ju Ae, Kim's, Kim Yo Jong Organizations: Navy, Service, NK News, North Korea's, Air Koryo, DPRK NK News, Guardian Locations: Wall, Silicon, North, Pyongyang, DPRK, North Korea, Koryo, Serrano

☆ North Korea approves return of its citizens from abroad after COVID lockdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A North Korean flag flutters at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, July 19, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Acquire Licensing RightsSEOUL, Aug 27 (Reuters) - North Korea has approved the return of its citizens who were abroad after years of strict border restrictions during the COVID pandemic, state media reported on Sunday as the isolated country cracks open its border to passenger travel. "Those returned will be put under proper medical observation at quarantine wards for a week," the statement said. Cargo train and ship traffic has slowly increased over the past year, but North Korea has only just begun to allow some international passenger travel. Many foreign delegations closed their embassies in Pyongyang because they were unable to rotate staff or ship in supplies for much of the pandemic.

Persons: Kim Hong, lockdowns, Soo, hyang Choi, Daniel Wallis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Epidemic, Koryo, North, Thomson Locations: Gijungdong, North Korea, Panmunjom, South Korea, Rights SEOUL, Pyongyang, Beijing, China, Russian, Kazakhstan

☆ North Korean plane lands in China for first time in three years
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Mihir Melwani | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Air travel between the Hermit Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom is possible once again. Air Koryo flight JS151 from Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, arrived at Beijing’s PEK airport on Tuesday at 9:17 a.m. local time, according to the Beijing Capital International Airport website. The resumption of North Korean flag carrier Air Koryo’s regular flights between China and the DPRK was approved by Chinese authorities amid the changes in Chinese covid travel restrictions in January, according to a statement by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Meanwhile, regular flights between North Korea and Russia are set to resume on Friday, August 25, for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, as previously reported by CNN. The one-hour flights travel between Pyongyang and the southeastern Russian city of Vladivostok, where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for a summit in 2019.

Persons: Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, CNN’s Paula Hancocks, Lilit Marcus, Yoonjung Seo Organizations: CNN, Air, Beijing Capital International, Air Koryo’s, DPRK, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, North Locations: Hermit, Kingdom, Pyongyang, North, Beijing’s PEK, North Korea, Korean, China, Russia, Russian, Vladivostok

BEIJING/SEOUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) - An Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang landed in Beijing early on Tuesday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began in 2020, as North Korea cracks open its border to some passenger travel. Cargo train and ship traffic has slowly increased over the past year, but North Korea has only just begun to allow some international passenger travel. Since the end of 2019, U.N. Security Council resolutions have required that all countries deport North Korean workers. The current Chinese ambassador to North Korea, Wang Yajun, had to wait 15 months after being named for the job before he could enter the country this March to take up his role. The Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday that Beijing had approved North Korea's state carrier Air Koryo resuming flights to China.

Persons: lockdowns, Koryo, Simon Cockerell, Kim Jong, Wang Yajun, Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh, Laurie Chen, Tian, Josh Smith, Jacqueline Wong, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: North, Association of Asian Studies, Air Koryo, Civil Aviation Administration, China, Air China, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, SEOUL, Pyongyang, Beijing, North Korea, China, Russian, Kazakhstan, Vladivostok, Russia, U.N, Korea's, Koryo, Seoul

☆ North Korea-Russia flights due to take off for first time since the pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Lilit Marcus | Yoonjung Seo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Flights between North Korea and Russia are set to resume for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. Air Koryo, North Korea’s national airline, is operating four flights between Pyongyang and Vladivostok, in southeast Russia, this month for the first time since 2020, a Vladivostok airport official confirmed to CNN. North Korea, which already has some of the world’s most tightly controlled borders, essentially sealed off the country during the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, several Russian diplomats had to take drastic measures to leave their posts in North Korea during the pandemic. According to information shared by the Russian embassy at the time, the pushcart ride was only one part of a two-day journey to leave North Korea.

Persons: Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, pushcart, Korea’s Organizations: CNN, Koryo, Air, Pyongyang International Airport, pushcart Locations: North Korea, Russia, North, Pyongyang, Vladivostok, Air Koryo, North Korea’s, Russian, Khasan

☆ Opinion: The time North Korea entrapped an 85-year-old American tourist
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Opinion Mike Chinoy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

CNN —In October 2013, an 85-year-old American tourist, Korean War veteran Merrill Newman, was taken off his Air Koryo plane as he waited to leave Pyongyang after a week-long tourist trip to North Korea and detained. No one — his family, the State Department, the media — had any idea why, and the North Koreans initially said nothing. North Korea has so far said nothing about the incident, which comes amid a spike in tensions between Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul. American tourist and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman arrives at Beijing airport on December 7, 2013, after being released by North Korea. Over the decades, a handful of serving American soldiers have defected and been allowed to live in North Korea.

Persons: Mike Chinoy, Read, CNN —, Merrill Newman, —, Mike Chinoy Mike Chinoy, Newman, Travis King, darted, ” —, “, ” Newman, ”, “ I’ll, …, Mike Chinoy “, ‘, ’, It’s, Merrill Newman “ I’d, They’ve, Karl, Olof Andersson, Merrill, Andersson, Kim Jong, ” Merrill Newman, Lee Organizations: University of Southern, China Institute, Beijing Bureau, Senior Asia, CNN, Koryo, State Department, North, Communist Korean, Palo, Joint Security Area, Kyodo, DPRK, Korean People’s, Socialist DPRK, ”, Korean, North Koreans, Koreans, Twitter, Facebook Locations: University of Southern California’s US, Beijing, North Korea, Pyongyang, Kuwol, Korean, Palo Alto California, North, South Korea, Korea, Washington, Seoul, American, Korean People’s Army, DPRK, USA, North Koreans, Merrill, North Korea's, KCNA, North Korean, Swedish

☆ North Korea's internet temporarily knocked offline, researcher says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Josh Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SEOUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - North Korea's internet was hit by the largest outages in months on Thursday, a cybersecurity researcher told Reuters, after similar service interruptions in January were blamed on suspected cyber attacks. Internet access is strictly limited in North Korea. "This isn’t like a single web server is being taken offline," he said, citing monitoring records that he shared with Reuters. "The network stress is so great their Domain Name System (DNS) servers have been taken offline and eventually the key routers allowing traffic in and out of the country entirely." North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website and Naenara, which is the official portal for the North Korean government, appeared to see the brunt of the suspected attack, before it became so great the entire internet was taken offline, Ali said.

☆ U.S. changes sanction reasons on virtual currency service Tornado Cash
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury has broadened its justification for sanctioning virtual currency mixing service Tornado Cash on allegations it supports North Korea, despite criticism from users that the Treasury is targeting a service and not an organization. The move - which a Treasury representative said reflected the service's support for the North Korean government - still leaves Americans unable to send and receive money through the service. But the move had proven controversial in part because some argued that Tornado Cash was less an organization than a set of software. In a lawsuit filed this year, six Texan users of Tornado Cash said that Treasury officials had overstepped their jurisdiction by effectively blocking access to computer code. "Tornado Cash is not a person, entity, or organization.

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