Arirang gets green light in DPRK!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It is confirmed: the Arirang Mass Games will be held in Pyongyang, North Korea this summer. The event will run from August 10, 2009 through the end of September, highlighting the precision for which the DPRK performers have become famous. According to Koryo Tours, Americans are welcome to attend the festival this year.

If you are considering a visit to the Hermit Kingdom late this summer, do be aware that the DPRK has enforced a time limit on U.S. tours in the past. Usually, visits are capped at four nights, and Americans are only allowed to enter and leave the country by plane. Though, if this changes, Koryo Tours expects to be able to arrange extensions and travel via train, depending on how and when restrictions are eased. Also, Arirang has been extended into October in the past, and starts early from time to time.

So, put concerns of global tension out of your mind for a while. If you’ve been waiting for the opportunity to reach a corner of the world that few outsiders get to see, this is your chance.

For Americans, click here for more information.

Don’t forget to check out our first-hand coverage of North Korea‘s Mass Games from 2007, which includes some amazing video, or click through the images below.
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North Korea, South Korea and a closely watched train

by Iva Skoch on

Well, it hasn’t taken a long time before the “most closely watched train” in the world may need to cut back its service.

Last month, North and South Korea started a symbolic rail service connecting the heavily fortified joint North-South industrial complex in Kaesong, just north of the border. Although the train served only to ship goods, it seemed like a start of some sort of communication. After all, it was the first train connecting the two countries since the Korean War in 1950-53.

Now, North Korea has proposed cutting the service down, citing a lack of cargo to transport. South Korea says buses are, in fact, more convenient. And that is, probably, the end of the closely watched train fairytale.