Young Pioneer Tours, the travel company that took Otto Warmbier on a fateful trip to North Korea, will no longer take U.S. citizens into North Korea. The company says the "tragic outcome" of Warmbier's trip the American died after being jailed and had been in a coma prompted the change.
Based in China, the touring company promises "adventure holidays"; trips like the one Warmbier took commonly include round-trip travel from Beijing, with several guides for groups of up to 24 tourists.
There had not been any previous detainment in North Korea that has ended with such tragic finality and we have been struggling to process the result, Young Pioneer Tours said in a statement on its website. Now, the assessment of risk for Americans visiting North Korea has become too high.
Warmbier, 22, was a student at the University of Virginia when he was arrested in Pyongyang in early January 2016, accused of trying to steal a propaganda poster from an employee area of his hotel.
Within weeks, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and hard labor. His release some 17 months later came as a surprise, particularly when it was revealed that he was in a coma.
North Korean authorities said Warmbier fell into a coma after contracting botulism and taking a sleeping pill.
But after his return home to Ohio last week, doctors said they suspected his condition had been caused by cardiopulmonary arrest.
Last week, Warmbier's father, Fred Warmbier, said his son had been "lured" into traveling to North Korea by Young Pioneer Tours and that the company had promised its customers were never detained.
Instead, Warmbier said, the company helped his son become "fodder" for the isolated regime.
In the wake of Warmbier's detention and death, the Young Pioneer Tour company has updated is "North Korea FAQ" page, starting with its top question: "How safe is it?"
Weeks before Warmbier took his trip, the travel company's response to that question began (according to a Web archive), "Extremely safe! Despite what you may hear, North Korea is probably one of the safest places on Earth to visit."
It now begins: "Despite what you may hear, for most nationalities, North Korea is probably one of the safest places on Earth to visit provided you follow the laws as provided by our documentation and pre-tour briefings."
And where a one-paragraph answer had previously sufficed, the reply is now three paragraphs.
The move to stop taking Americans to North Korea comes after the country had relaxed some of its travel restrictions in recent years — including granting tourist visas to Americans in 2010, Young Pioneer Tours says.
But in May, the U.S. State Department reiterated its warnings against traveling there, saying at least 16 Americans had been detained in North Korea in the past 10 years.
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Showing posts with label Young Pioneer Tours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Young Pioneer Tours. Show all posts
Wednesday, 21 June 2017
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.
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.
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
NORTH KOREA: Visiting North Korea At Your Own Risk
Visiting north Korea is indeed at your own risk.
Government lies to the people,people lie to each other,Tour guides lie to tourists.
Otto Warmbier of Cincinnati was in North Korea with a tour group when officials there detained him on Jan. 2.
When Otto Warmbier signed up for an "adventure tour” in North Korea, he probably wasn’t expecting a relaxing vacation.
Such a trip carries unsettling risks, such as arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention. The sights include anti-American propaganda and surreal displays of military might, in a country beset by poverty and starvation.
And then there's the long list of no-nos.
Warmbier, of Cincinnati, was detained Jan. 2 at the Pyongyang airport just as his tour group was leaving the country. The North Korean government accused him of committing a "hostile act" against the country.
Since then, there's been no new information about his or well-being. The tour company that took him to North Korea, Young Pioneer Tours, did not respond to emailed questions about their operations. The State Department declined to comment on Warmbier’s case. Ohio elected officials said they're monitoring the situation and advocating for Warmbier's release as best they can.
Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, is hardly alone in seeking a glimpse of the reclusive dictatorship. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but Uri Tours, the largest provider of North Korea travel in the U.S., estimates that at least 1,200 Americans venture to North Korea every year, despite ominous warnings from the State Department.
“Sheer curiosity” prompted Earl Baron, a seasoned traveler from Massachusetts, to sign up for a tour of North Korea in 2013. Now working as a travel guide in India, the 38-year-old Baron was looking for an off-the-beaten-path destination. North Korea, one of the least visited countries in the world, fit the bill.
Other Americans want to go because it’s isolated, it’s bizarre, and it’s off the grid — a Cold War relic frozen in time.
North Korea is “one of the most magical places still untouched by the outside world,” reads an enticement from Rebel Tribe, a travel agency that organizes trips to the communist dictatorship and other destinations.
Jordan Harbinger, a Rebel Tribe tour guide based in California, said the firm’s clientele aren't typical tourists.
“They think outside the box and live outside the box,” he said
Like other tours, those organized through Rebel Tribe begin in China, where participants are given specific instructions on what they can and can't do inside North Korea.
Harbinger said he keeps it simple: “Always ask before you take pictures. Don’t try to be sneaky. And last but not least, don't talk politics,” he said. “There’s no politics to talk about.”
Andrea Lee, CEO of Uri Tours, is a little more specific. For starters, tourists are told not to wander off without their guide, she said in an email from Shanghai. They are also told “not to take photos of the military, not to bring in publications that could be deemed anti-state, and (to) generally show respect for local culture and norms,” Lee said.
Visitors fly from China into Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, where they are met at the airport by their North Korean tour guides. Those guides “stay with you the entire time,” Harbinger said, making sure you don’t run afoul of the country’s draconian laws restricting where you can go and what you can say.
What do visitors get to see? Not what you might think. An amusement park, a bowling alley and a microbrewery seem to be on every tour group’s itinerary, according to interviews with tour guides and a review of their company websites. Other highlights include the embalmed bodies of Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founding president, and his son, Kim Jong-Il, who led the country until his death in 2011. Both men are on permanent display in glass mausoleums at a monument called the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun.
“On a visit with many tense moments, the time I spent in here was the tensest,” one American tourist, Tim Urban, wrote in a 2013 account of his trip. “We had to walk single file in and out and bow three times to each of the two bros.”
He could not have called the two revered leaders "bros" while he was in the country.
“It is a criminal act in North Korea to show disrespect to the country's former leaders, Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, or to the current leader, Kim Jong Un,” the State Department notes.
Baron, the tourist-turned-tour guide, said his six-day trip to North Korea was fun, fascinating and creepy.
Pyongyang looks like a modern city, he said, but it’s actually a throwback, with no Internet, no Facebook, no Hollywood movies and no cable news.
He had casual conversations with local North Koreans, but constantly wondered if they were staged by the government. When his tour group arrived at the bowling alley, it was filled with young North Koreans. But Baron couldn’t figure out if they were enjoying a typical night out — or were part of the scenery set up to project an image of normalcy to Western tourists.
“When I left I was probably more confused about the country than before I went,” Baron said by phone from Bundi, India. “You really have no idea what’s real and what’s not.”
A few venues that are not on any itinerary for foreigners visiting North Korea: forced labor camps, impoverished rural villages where residents have limited access to food, and anything remotely authentic about average people’s lives.
“You will see what the government wants you to see,” Baron wrote in a blog about his trip. “What I saw of North Korea was a tiny, tiny slice of that country and what I learned was also only a tiny, tiny piece of the truth.”
He and others wrestled with the ethics of traveling there, since a portion of their vacation tab goes to North Korea’s repressive government. But even as they conceded the downside of such trips, he and other travelers said it wasn't as dangerous as the U.S. government leads people to believe.
“Do not assume that joining a group tour or using a tour guide will prevent North Korean authorities from detaining you or arresting you,” the State Department warns in its travel advisory urging Americans not to visit the country. “U.S. citizens have been subject to arrest and long-term detention for actions that would not be cause for arrest in the United States or other countries.”
The U.S. has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, so American tourists who are arrested there, or become ill or injured, must rely on the Swedish embassy for help, the State Department notes.
But Harbinger and Baron said they never felt scared or threatened while in North Korea.
Harbinger said he tried to go jogging once — with permission from his guide -- only to be repeatedly turned back by various guards who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He said being in North Korea was “surreal” and a bit of a “freak show.” But, he said, “I’ve never felt in danger, never felt nervous.”
Baron said he was able to wander off on his own once or twice, within confined settings such as the amusement park. And he said he was able to “loosely” challenge the propaganda dished out by the guides, although he knew there were limits and he knew not to test them.
The State Department warnings suggest Americans can’t anticipate what might trigger an arrest or detention in North Korea, due to willy-nilly enforcement of the country's harsh laws. If nothing else, happy tourists and scolding officials seem to agree that trips to North Korea are unpredictable.
“The government lies to the outside world. The government lies to the people,” Urban wrote. “The people lie to each other. The tour guides lie to tourists. It's intense.”
Government lies to the people,people lie to each other,Tour guides lie to tourists.
Otto Warmbier of Cincinnati was in North Korea with a tour group when officials there detained him on Jan. 2.
When Otto Warmbier signed up for an "adventure tour” in North Korea, he probably wasn’t expecting a relaxing vacation.
Such a trip carries unsettling risks, such as arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention. The sights include anti-American propaganda and surreal displays of military might, in a country beset by poverty and starvation.
And then there's the long list of no-nos.
Warmbier, of Cincinnati, was detained Jan. 2 at the Pyongyang airport just as his tour group was leaving the country. The North Korean government accused him of committing a "hostile act" against the country.
Since then, there's been no new information about his or well-being. The tour company that took him to North Korea, Young Pioneer Tours, did not respond to emailed questions about their operations. The State Department declined to comment on Warmbier’s case. Ohio elected officials said they're monitoring the situation and advocating for Warmbier's release as best they can.
Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, is hardly alone in seeking a glimpse of the reclusive dictatorship. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but Uri Tours, the largest provider of North Korea travel in the U.S., estimates that at least 1,200 Americans venture to North Korea every year, despite ominous warnings from the State Department.
“Sheer curiosity” prompted Earl Baron, a seasoned traveler from Massachusetts, to sign up for a tour of North Korea in 2013. Now working as a travel guide in India, the 38-year-old Baron was looking for an off-the-beaten-path destination. North Korea, one of the least visited countries in the world, fit the bill.
Other Americans want to go because it’s isolated, it’s bizarre, and it’s off the grid — a Cold War relic frozen in time.
North Korea is “one of the most magical places still untouched by the outside world,” reads an enticement from Rebel Tribe, a travel agency that organizes trips to the communist dictatorship and other destinations.
Jordan Harbinger, a Rebel Tribe tour guide based in California, said the firm’s clientele aren't typical tourists.
“They think outside the box and live outside the box,” he said
Like other tours, those organized through Rebel Tribe begin in China, where participants are given specific instructions on what they can and can't do inside North Korea.
Harbinger said he keeps it simple: “Always ask before you take pictures. Don’t try to be sneaky. And last but not least, don't talk politics,” he said. “There’s no politics to talk about.”
Andrea Lee, CEO of Uri Tours, is a little more specific. For starters, tourists are told not to wander off without their guide, she said in an email from Shanghai. They are also told “not to take photos of the military, not to bring in publications that could be deemed anti-state, and (to) generally show respect for local culture and norms,” Lee said.
Visitors fly from China into Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, where they are met at the airport by their North Korean tour guides. Those guides “stay with you the entire time,” Harbinger said, making sure you don’t run afoul of the country’s draconian laws restricting where you can go and what you can say.
What do visitors get to see? Not what you might think. An amusement park, a bowling alley and a microbrewery seem to be on every tour group’s itinerary, according to interviews with tour guides and a review of their company websites. Other highlights include the embalmed bodies of Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founding president, and his son, Kim Jong-Il, who led the country until his death in 2011. Both men are on permanent display in glass mausoleums at a monument called the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun.
“On a visit with many tense moments, the time I spent in here was the tensest,” one American tourist, Tim Urban, wrote in a 2013 account of his trip. “We had to walk single file in and out and bow three times to each of the two bros.”
He could not have called the two revered leaders "bros" while he was in the country.
“It is a criminal act in North Korea to show disrespect to the country's former leaders, Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, or to the current leader, Kim Jong Un,” the State Department notes.
Baron, the tourist-turned-tour guide, said his six-day trip to North Korea was fun, fascinating and creepy.
Pyongyang looks like a modern city, he said, but it’s actually a throwback, with no Internet, no Facebook, no Hollywood movies and no cable news.
He had casual conversations with local North Koreans, but constantly wondered if they were staged by the government. When his tour group arrived at the bowling alley, it was filled with young North Koreans. But Baron couldn’t figure out if they were enjoying a typical night out — or were part of the scenery set up to project an image of normalcy to Western tourists.
“When I left I was probably more confused about the country than before I went,” Baron said by phone from Bundi, India. “You really have no idea what’s real and what’s not.”
A few venues that are not on any itinerary for foreigners visiting North Korea: forced labor camps, impoverished rural villages where residents have limited access to food, and anything remotely authentic about average people’s lives.
“You will see what the government wants you to see,” Baron wrote in a blog about his trip. “What I saw of North Korea was a tiny, tiny slice of that country and what I learned was also only a tiny, tiny piece of the truth.”
He and others wrestled with the ethics of traveling there, since a portion of their vacation tab goes to North Korea’s repressive government. But even as they conceded the downside of such trips, he and other travelers said it wasn't as dangerous as the U.S. government leads people to believe.
“Do not assume that joining a group tour or using a tour guide will prevent North Korean authorities from detaining you or arresting you,” the State Department warns in its travel advisory urging Americans not to visit the country. “U.S. citizens have been subject to arrest and long-term detention for actions that would not be cause for arrest in the United States or other countries.”
The U.S. has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, so American tourists who are arrested there, or become ill or injured, must rely on the Swedish embassy for help, the State Department notes.
But Harbinger and Baron said they never felt scared or threatened while in North Korea.
Harbinger said he tried to go jogging once — with permission from his guide -- only to be repeatedly turned back by various guards who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He said being in North Korea was “surreal” and a bit of a “freak show.” But, he said, “I’ve never felt in danger, never felt nervous.”
Baron said he was able to wander off on his own once or twice, within confined settings such as the amusement park. And he said he was able to “loosely” challenge the propaganda dished out by the guides, although he knew there were limits and he knew not to test them.
The State Department warnings suggest Americans can’t anticipate what might trigger an arrest or detention in North Korea, due to willy-nilly enforcement of the country's harsh laws. If nothing else, happy tourists and scolding officials seem to agree that trips to North Korea are unpredictable.
“The government lies to the outside world. The government lies to the people,” Urban wrote. “The people lie to each other. The tour guides lie to tourists. It's intense.”
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