U.S. lifts ban on travelers with HIV or AIDS

by Sean McLachlan on

For the past 22 years, if you had HIV or AIDS and weren’t American, you couldn’t enter the U.S.

That changed today as President Obama lifted the ban. Since the Obama administration is planning to host the 2012 World Aids Conference, the change in policy was necessary.

The biannual conference naturally includes many people living with HIV and AIDS, and barring their entry would have been bad PR for an administration that wants to be seen as a global leader in the fight against the disease

There are only ten countries that now ban people with HIV/AIDS from entering. They are: Brunei, China. Equatorial Guinea, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

According to the website hivtravel.org, some of these countries allow people to enter under “special circumstances”. Some other countries not on the list put restrictions on people living with HIV/AIDS but not full bans.%Gallery-13474%

Not your normal Asian adventure vacation

by Tom Johansmeyer on

We travel for many reasons. Maybe it’s to relax, learn something new or see friends and family. And then there are the so-called “adventure travelers” – sorry guys, you just don’t know the meaning of the expression. Keep your kayaks and your climbing gear in the garage, and trade them for a pencil so you can take some notes. Robert Park is redefining “adventure.”

Park, 28 years old, announced that he was leaving South Korea with other human rights activists (who asked Reuters not to reveal their names) to bring “God’s love” to the citizens on the northern side of the border. North Korea has the unfortunate habit of arresting foreigners who do not enter the country legally, which can be difficult to do because of visa constraints and limitations on how travelers from some countries are permitted to cross into the most reclusive nation in the world.

Park, who is an American citizen, and his crew were reported to have crossed from China into North Korea on Saturday. The entry point was Hoeryong, in the northeast part of the country. The border up there isn’t heavily patrolled.



The motivation for Park’s excursion is religious – as a Christian, he believes, it is his duty to make the trip. And, he’s made it clear that he isn’t looking for a rescue effort from the feds if something goes wrong. Park said, “I don’t want President Obama to come and pay to get me out. But I want the North Korean people to be free.” He continued, “Until the concentration camps are liberated, I do not want to come out. If I have to die with them, I will.”

Last spring, former U.S. President Bill Clinton was dispatched to North Korea to arrange the release of two reporters from Current TV: Laura Ling and Euna Lee. They were detained on charges of having crossed the China/North Korea border illegally. They claimed that they had crossed into North Korea by accident and were seized in China by North Korean border guards who chased after them.

Why has there been all this interest in North Korea? Obviously, it’s among the most difficult places for outsiders to enter, a problem which is compounded for human rights activists and the media. Also, there is a human rights record which has attracted considerable attention everywhere else in the world (except maybe Somalia). A U.S. State Department report published earlier this year lists the following abuses:

• The prohibition of freedom of speech and association
• The use of arbitrary killings to cause fear in the population
• An absence of due process
• “Severe torture and abuse,” which can include forced abortions and sexual abuse
• Political imprisonment (up to 200,000 inmates)
• Monitored correspondence
• Imprisonment of entire families based on the deeds of one member

The State Department also claims that North Korea maintains “control over all artistic and academic products,” though the notion that the government keeps an iron grip on the arts doesn’t fit completely with a North Korean art show I saw in New York a year ago or what is on display in Australia.

Cheap eats on the streets of Seoul

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Street food may seem like a strange local feature to promote, but in Seoul‘s case, I get it. During my year in Korea, I ate more from the street than I did from those places with tables … restaurants, they’re called. Seoul’s street food is fantastic, and I’m glad the city’s talking it up. After a night of soju kettles, there’s nothing better than some fries and dumplings. If you’re a bit more adventurous, check out the boiled silkworm and blood sausage.

For the best eats, check out the Myung-dong and Insa-dong districts. Namdaemun is great as well, and you’re likely to build up a hell of an appetite while shopping in the city’s largest open-air market. To really bond with the local offer, try a pojangmacha — which translates to “covered wagon.” Think of it as a restaurant in a tent on wheels, and you won’t have to look far to find one.

When it comes time for something baked, look for one of the Koryodong shops. I was thrilled to see one here in New York (in Koreatown), a little taste of what was once home.

[Photo by UNC – CFC – USFK via Flickr]

Visitors from outside the U.S. down 9 percent, spending a lot less

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Visits from outside the United States continued their slide in August. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that 5.4 million people visited the United States from other countries in August this year. Unfortunately, that’s a drop of 9 percent from August 2008. And, the smaller number of people is spending less money when it comes here. In August 2009, international visitors spent $10 billion. This sounds like a lot, but it’s off almost 21 percent from last year. For the first eight months of this year, spending by foreign visitors reached $79.5 billion, down 17 percent year-over-year. The fact that the year-to-date decline isn’t as bad as what we saw in August suggests that the situation has been worsening.

Trends in visits from Canada and Mexico are consistent with the global trend. Canadian visits fell 6 percent in August and are off 8 percent for the year through August. Meanwhile, visits from Mexico surged in August, gaining 23 percent, with land arrivals up 37 percent and air arrivals down 7 percent. This wasn’t enough to change the situation for the year, however. For the first eight months of 2009, visits from Mexico fell six percent relative to the same period in 2008.

Visits from overseas (not including Mexico and Canada) were off 6 percent in August and 9 percent for the year. Of the top 20 countries sending visitors to the United States, 11 sustained decreases for the month of August, with five of these declines hitting double-digit levels. Along with Mexico, China, Brazil and the Bahamas posted double-digit increases. Year-to-date, 17 of the top 20 countries showed declines in visitation to the United States, eight of them reaching double-digit levels.

Europe certainly isn’t sending as many visitors to the United States as it once did. For August, visits are off 11 percent — the same rate posted for 2009 so far. The United Kingdom‘s visits to the United States were down 13 percent in August, which is disproportionately powerful, given that the United Kingdom accounts for 34 percent of all Western European arrivals in the United States. Through August, visits to the United States from the United Kingdom were off 16 percent, with Germany down 6 percent and France down 3 percent.

The trend is improving in Japan. While visits so far this year were down 16 percent by August, the month of august itself showed an improvement, with visits from Japan down only 8 percent. Japan accounts for nearly half of all Asian visitors to the United States. Year-to-date, visits from South Korea and India fell 11 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

It’s clear that travel to the United States continues to suffer from the effects of the worldwide recession, particularly since, the Department of Commerce says, business travel is falling faster than leisure travel this year.

[Chart courtesy of the U.S. Department of Commerce]

Five reasons why I love Korea’s Incheon International Airport

by Catherine Bodry on

This long layover is my third at Incheon International Airport, and I couldn’t be happier about it. On my first trip, I emerged bleary-eyed after a 10-hour flight, desperate for a bathroom and bottle of water. Wandering through the sleek white halls, I spotted a sign with an arrow and the words “Rest and Relaxation.” I followed the arrow upstairs to an area with a spa, internet cafe, transit hotel, and several dining options. I was a smitten kitten.

If you’re passing through South Korea on your way to other parts of Asia, consider choosing a flight that passes through Incheon. It truly is a great airport, and here are five reasons why:

1. Rest and Relaxation areas. What more could you want on a layover? Leather cots and lounge chairs make sacking out pleasurable (I’m usually that hobo passed out on a sarong by my gate), and they’re in a quiet area with no TV noise.

2. Free Internet. And not just free wi-fi, though there’s that (I’m using it right now). There’s actually an Internet cafe area, with about a half dozen desktops for folks to use – for free. A sign politely asks users to limit their usage to 30 minutes if there is a wait.

3. Self-cleaning toilets. Not only are the toilet seats in a constant state of pristine thanks to some rotating plastic covers, but there are shelves inside the stalls to put your purse and whatnot. I can’t count the times I’ve entered a stall with no hook and had to either wear all my stuff while trying to hover over a dirty seat, or else place it on the equally nasty floor.4. Art and culture displays. Korean art is showcased throughout the facility, but there are also areas that are set up like miniature museums. They’re great to wander through, and do a good job of enticing me to actually leave the airport someday and visit South Korea.

5. Transit hotel and showers. Since I’m always on a tight budget and the leather cots are perfectly functional, I’ve never actually paid for a room at the transit hotel. Still, it’s there if you need it. I’ve been more tempted by the showers. They’re located in the spa in the Rest and Relaxation area, right next to the spotless restrooms and across from the free Internet cafe.