CHINA: Air China Starts Flights To North Korea Again

Air China has resumed its flights between Beijing and Pyongyang.

The Beijing-based carrier has announced the restarting of all its flights to the North Korean capital city following a lengthy suspension that began in November following a United Nations mandate.

North Korea has been relying on China for most of its imports and exports.

The service has now resumed due to subsequent meetings between the leaders of both countries, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un.

Data suggests that the route will operate three times per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Air China will deploy a Boeing 737-700 on the route, with a seat configuration of eight reclining First Class seats and 120 seats in Economy.

An Air China official said that these flights are continuing due to market reasons but did not provide any further comments.

However, the fact that Kim Jong-un traveled to Singapore on June 12 for the summit with other leaders suggests that the political tensions in the region might be tuning down, re-opening the door for direct connectivity with other international destinations.

Air China’s service to Pyongyang launched had frequently been canceled or disrupted due to what had been unspecified problems, according to Chinese media.

Noth Korea’s national airline, Air Koryo, is also planning to open a new route between Pyongyang and Chengdu. However, there are no official confirmations in this regard.

This is a significant move for both China and North Korea, as this route opening could enable a relief on sanctions.

It is something that will have to be observed over the next few weeks as Kim Jong-un steps further onto the world stage and starts to provide the positive dialogue that the other world leaders are seeking to achieve.


Tourism Observer

GUAM: Kim Jong-un Destroying Guam Tourism

A new study reveals decline in tourism to Guam following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's threat to bomb Guam, home to a US military base.

A study by ForwardKeys reveals that the imposition of new UN sanctions, followed by the ratcheting up of hostile rhetoric between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un on 9th August, triggered a decline in tourism to Guam.

In the five weeks that followed, arrivals of people staying between four and twenty-one nights (a typical tourist visit), fell by 9%, with arrivals from Japan, traditionally Guam’s most important origin market, falling 30%.

The fall in travel to Guam would have been much more substantial, were it not for a remarkable rise in enthusiasm for the Pacific island from South Korea.

Prior to 9th August, arrivals in Guam were up 11% but that was due to a 41% increase in travel from South Korea, off-setting a 13% decline in visits from Japan.

Looking deeper at people’s plans to travel to Guam by analysing travel bookings made to date for stays of the same duration), it is clear that after 9th August, overall bookings fell by 43%, benchmarked against the same period last year and bookings from Japan fell by 65%.

By comparison, bookings from South Korea fell by 16%.

Looking ahead, by analysing the state of current bookings made for travel to Guam up to the end of the year, the current situation is that overall bookings are 3% behind where they were at the same time last year.

Current bookings from Japan are 24% behind; from the USA, they are 17% behind; from Hong Kong, they are 15% behind and from China, they are 51% behind.

Only current bookings from South Korea are 14% ahead. The strong growth in bookings can be partly attributed to increased air capacity between Guam and South Korea.

From 13th September 2017, Air Seoul became the sixth carrier from Korea to provide direct services to Guam.

The initial schedule is a five times weekly operation but Air Seoul will increase this to daily operations in October.

Mario Hardy, CEO, Pacific Asia Travel Association, said we live in a world of constant volatility, uncertainty and political instability which is of great concern for many destinations around the globe.

The island of Guam is beginning to feel the impact of the war words between two nations’ leaders and reminds us of the fragility of the travel and tourism industry.

Olivier Jager, CEO, ForwardKeys, saidWhilst the stall in bookings for Guam is a concern, current bookings are a snap-shot as of now and it is still possible for the momentum to recover, if for example, the sabre-rattling has caused people simply to book later (ie: closer to the date of travel) rather than not to come.

One cannot be surprised that the escalating tension between North Korea and the USA has deterred visitors to Guam. What is interesting is the extraordinary extent to which the South Korean market is the white knight, bucking the trend.

I can only speculate that South Koreans have been enthused by Guam’s promotional claims that it is the perfect destination for romance – and by going there, are demonstrating they are much more interested in making love than war.



Tourism Observer

USA: Prohibit Tourist Travel By U.S. Citizens To North Korea.

U.S. government should ban tourist travel to North Korea, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said Monday following news that Otto Warmbier, the American student released from a North Korean prison last week and returned home in a coma, has died.

The 22-year-old from Cincinnati reportedly fell into a coma soon after being sentenced in March 20016 to 15 years’ hard labor after a North Korean court convicted him of hostile “acts against the state.”

His alleged crime: the removal of a propaganda poster from his Pyongyang hotel.

Warmbier’s family only recently became aware of this condition, and the Trump administration secured his release and return home six days ago.

The Kim Jong-un regime asserted that his condition was the result of taking a sleeping table after suffering botulism, but his family and specialists in Cincinnati cast doubts on the claim.

Warmbier traveled to North Korea with Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based tour company specializing in budget trips to the reclusive Stalinist country, aimed at the younger end of the market.

President Trump expressed his and First Lady Melania Trump’s “deepest condolences” to his family.

There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life, he said. Our thoughts and prayers are with Otto’s family and friends, and all who loved him.

Otto’s fate deepens my administration’s determination to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency, the president said. The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim.

Royce also expressed his condolences to the family.

Otto’s father,Fred Warmbier is right, he said. Travel propaganda lures far too many people to North Korea. This is a regime that regularly kidnaps foreign citizens and keeps 120,000 North Koreans in barbaric gulags. The United States should ban tourist travel to North Korea.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who together with special representative on North Korea Joseph Yun played a key role in securing Warmbier’s release, appeared last Wednesday before the committee Royce chairs and said the administration was mulling whether to restrict travel to North Korea.

We have been evaluating whether we should put some type of travel visa restriction to North Korea, he told the panel, adding that the administration has yet to reach a final conclusion.

At least three other American citizens – a businessman and two academics – are currently incarcerated in North Korea. In a statement in response to Warmbier’s passing, Tillerson said the administration holds the regime accountable for his unjust imprisonment and demands the release of three other Americans who have been illegally detained.

At a press conference last Thursday, Fred Warmbier was highly critical of Young Pioneer Tours, which he said promotes North Korea as a safe destination.

On its website, the company does just that:

How safe is it? Extremely safe! Despite what you may hear, North Korea is probably one of the safest places on Earth to visit,it says.

Tourism is very welcomed in North Korea, thus tourists are cherished and well taken care of. We have never felt suspicious or threatened at any time. In fact, North Korean’s are super friendly and accommodating, if you let them into your world. Even during tense political moments tourism to the DPRK,Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is never affected.

The State Department advises “strongly” against visits by U.S. citizens to North Korea: “U.S. citizens in the DPRK are at serious risk of arrest and long-term detention under North Korea’s system of law enforcement, says the latest travel warning, updated last month.

But Young Pioneer Tours’ website Q&A says: I’m American. Is this a problem? Not at all! Restrictions on Americans joining tours throughout the year have been lifted. U.S. citizens are allowed to travel at any time!

Postings on the website play down of tensions arising from current events.

On April 17, for instance, it referred to verified news reports on ballistic missile tests, a major military parade marking the anniversary of the birthday of the state’s founder, Kim Il-sung, and the deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier to the area – along with other, fabricated reports about supposed incidents like the evacuation of Pyongyang.

Travel to the DPRK remains unaffected by wild stories in the papers,the company said. Inside the country it is calm and people are carrying on as usual. The British Embassy in Pyongyang, whom we stay in frequent contact with agree with our assessment of the situation – travel to the DPRK is still safe, provided you follow the law, which we inform all our tourists about at great lengths.

Following Warmbier’s sentencing last year, Young Pioneer Tours pointed out it has taken more than 8,000 tourists to North Korea over a period of almost a decade, with only one arrest.

Queries sent to the company about calls to restrict Americans’ travel to North Korea brought no response.

Last month U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) introduced a bill that would prohibit tourist travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea.

Wilson linked the need to restrict travel not only to the risk of imprisonment but also to the fact it provides revenue to a hostile regime.

Tourist travel to North Korea does nothing but provide funds to a tyrannical regime – that will in turn be used to develop weapons to threaten the United States and our allies, as I saw firsthand on a rare visit to Pyongyang, he said.

The legislation, drafted before Warmbier’s release, states, In the last ten years, at least 17 United States citizens have been detained in North Korea, and at least four citizens remain imprisoned in North Korea as of May 2017.

These Americans traveled to North Korea for a variety of reasons, including tourism travel, lured in part by its secrecy and decades of closure to the West, it says.

The bill accuses the regime of detaining Americans as bargaining chips in negotiations over a variety of issues, including North Korea’s illegal nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile development, and as a way to extract diplomatic concessions.

SOUTH KOREA: Moon Jae-in Promises To Visit North Korea

Democrat Moon Jae-in is the new president of South Korea. The Conversation

Moon, a former special forces soldier turned human rights lawyer, won a snap election, following months of mass protests that ousted President Park Geun-hye last December.

The grace period for Moon will be short. Increasing regional tensions and demonstrations against corruption characterized the presidential race in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

During the campaign, Moon promised to address the systemic problems that led to Park’s impeachment, creating expectations that will define his administration.

Caught between the U.S. and China, Moon will try to pursue an independent foreign policy.

Moon needs to manage the Trump administration’s conflicted approach to the region. Trump has voiced the possibility of unilateral action against North Korea, but also suggested that he would be honored to meet Kim Jong-un.

Trump stressed the importance of the alliance with South Korea, but also said that South Korea should pay for the anti-missile THAAD system the U.S. has deployed on South Korean soil.

And, Trump has suggested that the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement will be renegotiated.

Moon also has fences to mend with China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner. China has criticized the deployment of THAAD as an act of aggression aimed at China and retaliated economically by slowing Chinese tourism to South Korea.

China accounts for US$131 billion in South Korean export trade, while the number of Chinese tourists quadrupled to 8 million over the last five years, bringing in some $8 billion in duty-free sales alone.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a congratulatory message to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, saying he looks forward to working together to develop their relationship and tackle North Korean threats.

Abe said Wednesday that both countries had common challenges and he believed they could contribute to the region's peace and prosperity by cooperating with each other.

Abe said he hopes to meet with Moon as early as possible to discuss issues of mutual interest.

Relations were strained under ousted Park Geun-hye's leadership over Japan's wartime sexual exploitation of Korean women known as "comfort women."

New South Korean President Moon Jae-in says he'd be willing to visit rival North Korea under the right conditions.

Moon, speaking Tuesday during his formal oath of office, didn't elaborate. But he favors a softer approach to dealing with North Korea and its nuclear and missile ambitions than his conservative predecessors.

Moon also said that he will negotiate with the United States, the South's top ally, and China, Seoul's top trading partner, over a contentious U.S. missile-defense system deployed in the South.

Beijing says the system allows Washington to spy on China's military operations.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has taken the oath of office in a ceremony at the National Assembly in the capital, Seoul. The oath took place hours after his presidential term began.

The scandal that saw the former president arrested on corruption charges highlighted South Korea’s dependence on huge family-owned businesses, or “chaebol,” such as Samsung.

Moon has promised to revive the flagging economy while curbing the chaebols’ power. Even if Moon achieves this mammoth task, he will still have to tackle South Korea’s rising youth unemployment and its overreliance on an export economy that made it vulnerable to economic retaliation.

Moon painted himself as the antidote to Park’s corrupt, authoritarian administration. But that scandal is just the tip of the iceberg.

The movement that brought millions into the streets of Seoul wants political and institutional reform with greater transparency and more popular participation.

Moon must work to rebuilding trust between the people and the political elite. Constitutional reform is needed to end the country’s imperial presidency and return power to the National Assembly.

This is a key step to bring people back into the political process and give them an effective voice.

The frustration many South Koreans feel with collusion and graft pushed Moon to victory. The question is: Can he distinguish himself from a decade of conservative, pro-big business presidents without being labeled a North Korean sympathizer? Or will he end up yet another in a growing list of disgraced South Korean leaders?

Moon assumed presidential duties earlier on Wednesday after the National Election Commission declared him winner of a presidential by-election to replace ousted leader Park Geun-hye, who now awaits a corruption trial in jail.

Moon is also expected to name his nominee for prime minister, the country's No. 2 job, which needs the approval of lawmakers, and also his presidential chief of staff, later in the day.

President Xi Jinping has congratulated Moon Jae-in on his election as the South Korean president.

The one-line dispatch from the official Xinhua News Agency gave no other details.

Relations between Beijing and Seoul have sunk to their lowest point since they established diplomatic relations in 1992. Initially close relations between the two under President Park Geun-hye rapidly deteriorated because of Chinese anger at Seoul's deployment of a U.S. missile-defense system.

Seoul and Washington say the system known by its acronym, THAAD, is meant to protect against North Korea's missile threats. Beijing says it threatens China's own security by an ability to peer into the country's northeast.

The dispute has sparked widespread commercial retaliation against South Korean businesses and industries including tourism and entertainment.

New South Korean President Moon Jae-in has visited a national cemetery where he honored the country's former presidents, independence fighters and war heroes as he began his presidential duties.

After bowing to honor those buried at the cemetery in Seoul on Tuesday, Moon wrote "A country worth being proud of; a strong and reliable president!" in a visitor book. He was expected to take an oath of office at noon at the National Assembly.

He immediately assumed his presidential duties after being declared winner of the special election held after former President Park Geun-hye was ousted in a corruption scandal.

Hundreds of residents gave Moon an emotional send-off near his private Seoul home before he left for the cemetery, shaking his hands, hanging flowers on his neck and asking him to pose with their children, including a baby.

New South Korean President Moon Jae-in, taking up his duties as commander in chief, has been briefed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about the military's preparedness against North Korea.

Moon will be sworn into office at noon Wednesday but has immediately assumed his duties because of the circumstances of Tuesday's special election.

In his phone call with Army Gen. Lee Sun-jin he said he trusts the military's ability to protect the nation.

Moon's Democratic Party says Lee told the president that the South's military was closely monitoring the North and prepared to "immediately and sternly" respond to potential provocations by the North.

South Korea's election body has officially declared liberal Moon Jae-in as the country's new president a day after millions voted in an election to replace ousted former leader Park Geun-hye, who now awaits a trial over corruption charges in jail.

The National Election Commission finished counting votes earlier on Wednesday and said Moon gathered 41 percent of the votes, comfortably edging his closest rival, conservative Hong Joon-pyo, who gathered 24 percent of the votes.

South Korea may see a sharp departure from recent policy under Moon, who favors closer ties with North Korea. He says the hard line Seoul's conservative governments took in the past decade did nothing to prevent the North's development of nuclear-armed missiles and only reduced South Korea's voice in international efforts to counter North Korea.

The White House is congratulating South Korea's Moon Jae-in on his election as the country's next president.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer is noting in a statement South Korea's "peaceful, democratic transition of power" and he says the administration looks forward to working with Moon "to continue to strengthen the alliance" between the two countries.

South Korea is a key U.S. ally in its push to get North Korea to rid itself of its nuclear and ballistic weapons program.

The liberal former human rights lawyer claimed victory late Tuesday after his two closest rivals conceded. It follows months of political turmoil caused by ousted President Park Geun-hye's corruption scandal.

Liberal Moon Jae-in has declared victory in South Korea's presidential election after his two major rivals conceded defeat Tuesday.

The election sets up the country's first liberal rule in a decade.

It follows months of political turmoil caused by ousted President Park Geun-hye's corruption scandal.

The concessions by conservative Hong Joon-pyo and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo came after exit polls forecast that Moon would win.

Two major challengers for South Korean president, a conservative and a centrist, conceded defeat Tuesday, paving the way for liberal Moon Jae-in to claim victory in an election that followed months of political turmoil caused by ousted President Park Geun-hye's corruption scandal.

The concessions by conservative Hong Joon-pyo and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo followed exit polls that earlier forecast that Moon would win, ending a decade of conservative rule in South Korea and setting up a sharp departure from recent policy toward nuclear-armed North Korea.

The exit poll of about 89,000 voters at 330 polling stations, jointly commissioned by three major television stations and released just after polls closed, showed Moon receiving 41.4 percent of the vote

Exit polls in South Korea are forecasting a win by liberal candidate Moon Jae-in in an election to succeed ousted President Park Geun-hye.

Polls closed at 8 p.m., and official results are still hours away. But the exit poll jointly conducted by South Korea's three major television stations shows Moon winning with 41.4 percent of the votes cast in Tuesday's election. The poll says Moon's conservative rival Hong Joon-pyo will likely trail him with 23.3 percent support.

Such polls have a low margin of error but are merely a snapshot of the stated intentions of certain voters.

A win by Moon would end a decade of conservative rule in South Korea and could result in sharp departures from recent policy toward nuclear-armed North Korea. Moon has promoted engagement with the North.

South Korea's election body says nearly 64 percent of the country's 42.4 million eligible voters cast their ballots as of 3 p.m. Tuesday, representing a faster pace than the previous presidential election in 2012.

The National Election Commission's measurements on Tuesday included the 11 million who participated in last week's early voting, which was used for the first time in a presidential election.

The large number of people who cast their ballots early has been seen as a positive sign for front-runner Moon Jae-in.

South Korea's electorate is deeply divided along ideological and generational lines, and the strong early turnout was seen as being driven by younger voters, who are more likely to support the liberal Moon.

An NEC official projected the final voter turnout of around 80 percent, higher than the 75.8 percent of 2012. He says the winner of the election would be determined at around 2 to 3 a.m. Wednesday. He didn't want to be named, citing office rules.

A Japanese government official says his country is closely watching South Korea's presidential election and hopes to strengthen bilateral relations with the new leader.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the neighboring countries share common strategic interests.

He said Tuesday, "We believe Japan-South Korea cooperation on issues such as North Korean problem is indispensable for the peace and stability in our region."

Suga urged a new president to comply with the 2015 bilateral agreement aimed at resolving the longstanding "comfort women" dispute involving many Koreans and other women in Asia sexually abused at Japanese military brothels before and during World war II. The row persists over a statue built outside the Japanese consulate in Busan.

Conservative candidate Hong Joon-pyo has described South Korea's presidential election as a war between ideologies and accused his liberal rival Moon Jae-in of being aligned with North Korea.

Hong cast his vote in Seoul on Tuesday and later said the election was a "war of regime choices between people, whether they decide to accept a North Korea-sympathizing leftist government or a government that can protect the liberty of the Republic of Korea." That is South Korea's formal name.

Opinion surveys have shown Moon as the favorite.

Hong has pitched himself as a "strongman" who can hold his own against other "nationalist" leaders in Washington, Tokyo and Beijing. He also calls for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea after withdrawing them in the 1990s.

Liberal candidate Moon Jae-in has expressed confidence of winning office as South Koreans vote for a new president.

He cast his vote in Seoul on Tuesday and told reporters later, "I gave all my body and soul (to the election) to the very end."

Moon was favored in opinion surveys after the huge corruption scandal that led to President Park Geun-hye's ousting complicated politics for the conservatives.

The 64-year-old Moon thanked people who stood with him to bring change. He said he and his party "invested all our efforts with a sense of desperation, but we also felt a great desire by people to build a country we can be proud of again."

Park is jailed awaiting trial later this month on bribery, extortion and other corruption charges.

MALAYSIA: Kim Jong-Nam Suspected Killers Arrainged In Court

Two women accused of assassinating the half-brother of North Korea's leader appeared in a Malaysian court on Thursday ahead of a murder trial that could see them hanged.

Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, were taken in bulletproof vests to a heavily guarded magistrate's court close to the airport where Kim Jong-Nam was fatally poisoned two months ago.

Police accuse the pair of having wiped the banned nerve agent VX on Kim's face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13 as he was about to board a flight to Macau, where he was living in exile.

Rival South Korea accuses the North of masterminding the killing of Kim, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Pyongyang denies the accusation, insisting he died of a heart attack.

In a brief hearing, the women were ordered to appear before the court on May 30 as state prosecutors sought more time to prepare their case. The pair did not enter a plea.

Doan's lawyer asked the court to alter the murder charge since prosecutors have not identified four people mentioned in charge documents as accomplices to the women, but the judge did not entertain the request.

About 100 police officers, include commandos in balaclavas and carrying assault rifles, guarded the court compound during the women's appearance.

Dressed in a red top and blue jeans, Siti kept her head down throughout the hearing. Doang, also casually dressed, quietly observed the court proceedings.

The case is due to be transferred to an upper court where the women will be tried for murder. If convicted, they could face the death penalty, which is carried out by hanging in Malaysia.

The killing sparked a diplomatic crisis between Malaysia and North Korea which saw both countries banning each other's citizens from leaving and withdrawing their ambassadors.

The travel ban was lifted in late March after a deal was struck involving the return of Kim's body to North Korea.

Police are still looking for four North Korean men who are suspected to have taken part in the murder plot, but are believed to have returned to Pyongyang.

Three other North Koreans earlier described as "persons of interest", including a diplomat based in Malaysia, have been allowed to return home under the deal.

Indonesian officials have maintained that Siti was duped into believing she was taking part in pranks for a TV show, while Doan's family said she was invited to Malaysia to be an actress.

Tran Huy Hoang, a young Vietnamese man who attended the hearing and described himself as a cousin of Doan, said She loves to travel and party but she never do anything violent.

NORTH KOREA: North Korea Appoints New Army Boss After Executing Another General

Murdered General Encircled

There is a new general in charge of North Korea's army, the country's state media has confirmed, as rumours swirl that his predecessor was executed. Ri Myong-su is the pariah state's new military chief of staff, according to the Korean Central News Agency. He replaces the out-of-favour Ri Yong-gil, who, unconfirmed reports in the South Korean media suggest, is now dead.

Formerly holding the title of "people's security minister", Ri Myong-su was recently referred to as "chief of the Korean people's army general staff" in a KCNA report on an army exercise.

According to a source quoted by South Korea's Yonhap news agency, Ri Yong-gil was executed after being accused of corruption and of forming a political faction. He is the third chief of staff to be executed by North Korean premier Kim Jong-un since he took power after his father's death in 2011.

Kim's reign has been blighted by repeated purges of senior staff, most notably the execution of his influential uncle Jang Song-thaek in 2013. Many officials were removed in the months and years following Kim's elevation to North Korea's supreme leader in 2012, in what analysts believe are attempts to shore up an uncertain power base.

In May 2015 South Korea's parliament heard that the North's defence minister Hyon Yong-chol had been executed for showing "disloyalty" to Kim. Hyon is said to have been executed with an anti-aircraft gun in front of an audience, though this report was never confirmed.

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul said that the new military chief is "one of Mr Kim's top three aides" and is "known to be well-versed in missile technology".

Kim's North Korea conducted a fourth nuclear test last month and this month it also tested a long-range rocket, to a chorus of international outrage.

There’s a general presumption in geopolitics that most national governments are, by and large, rational actors. They might be sinister and ruthless, and they’ve all got their little quirks, but for the most part they’re sane.

And then you’ve got Kim Jong-Un, the gibbering lunatic who runs North Korea. He’s the third generation of psychotic “leadership” that tortured country has endured. He’s turning out to be a clever little demon.

Kim Jong-Un has been purging the North Korean military of officers he perceives as a threat. His latest victim was Kim Chol, vice-minister of the army. The minister was arrested for being insufficiently glum during the officially mandated mourning period for North Korea’s previous dictator, Kim Jong-Il. Allegedly, he was “drinking and carousing” during the mandatory days of sorrow. (For most North Koreans, “drinking and carousing” means finding water that isn’t contaminated with bacteria, but the military lives much better than the peons.)

This show of disrespect for the previous Dear Leader left Kim Jong-Un so distraught that he ordered the vice-minister not only executed, but erased. “Leave no trace of him behind, down to his hair,” the executioners were told.

So they ranged in a mortar on a particular spot, forced Kim Chol to stand there, and then lobbed a mortar round into his lap, blowing him to smithereens.

NORTH KOREA: Is North Korea Becoming A Holiday Hotspot?

Kim Jong-un has built a visitor centre to cash in on tourists coming to notoriously reclusive North Korea.

The country will now bring in coach loads of £83-a-time day-trippers.

Kim, 33, built the £7 million centre where tourists booking a trip to North Korea are treated to traditional dancing, displays of art and local food.

A strict list of ridiculous 'don'ts' is handed to the mainly Chinese visitors travelling over the border from Dandong to Sinuiju.

They are told not drop fag ends, litter or spit in the street, make any derogatory comments about Kim's regime and have been warned not to mount any spontaneous visits into the homes of locals.

Visitors are banned from taking pictures of "poor people" and must not be rude to officials.

They must not bring any newspapers carrying information about the outside world, laptops, memory sticks or mobile phones.

Tourists are also forbidden from being alcohol or binoculars during their day out in North Korea.

Chinese make up the majority of the 100,000 tourists who visit the country each year but they arrive on specially organised tours.

Kim is now desperate to bring in extra revenue, so much so that minimal border checks are enforced.

The Kim is currently under scrutiny from the rest of the world after he launched a satellite into space - prompting fears he was close to developing a powerful ballistic missile system.

Last month North Korea carried out hydrogen bomb tests.

NORTH KOREA: Kim Jong-un Climbs North Korea's Highest Mountain Mount Paektu

Kim Jong-un surrounded by combat aircraft pilots of the Korean People's Army on Mount Paektu

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has been photographed being cheered by fighter pilots at the peak of the nation's highest mountain.

Mr Kim climbed the 9,022-foot Mount Paektu to honour the 23rd anniversary of his late father, Kim Jong-il, being proclaimed "wonsu", or marshal.

Given Mr Kim's reported health problems, it is unlikely that he actually hiked up the volcanic peak, which sits on the border with China and is revered in North Korean propaganda as the "sacred mountain of the revolution".

According to North Korea's official version of history, Kim Jong-il was born in a primitive hut on the slopes of the mountain, from where Kim Il-sung organised partisan groups to fight the Japanese occupation forces of the Korean peninsula.

Historical documents show, however, that Kim Jong-il was born in a refugee camp in Russia and that Kim Il-sung spent more time being indoctrinated by Soviet officials who then installed him as the leader of the fledgling North Korean state in 1945.

The "Paektu Line" nevertheless remains a critical component of the Kim family legend.

Kim Jong-un gesturing to cheering combat aircraft pilots of the Korean People's Army on Mount Paektu

Mr Kim was photographed ankle-deep in snow and with the sun rising behind him, while in other shots he is being greeted by enraptured pilots - described as "red goshawks."

Mr Kim had "shelved all state affairs, not only to show his love for the fighter pilots, but also to implant the revolutionary spirit of Paektu deeper in the hearts of them.

"He ardently called upon all of them to vigorously fight for the final victory in the building of a thriving socialist nation, cherishing deeper in their minds the revolutionary spirit of Paektu, the spirit of the blizzards of Paektu".

Analysts believe that Mr Kim is still trying to cement his regime amid rumours of discontent in the military. Likening himself to his father and grandfather, who is still revered as the Father of the Nation, is designed to instil loyalty in his subjects.