Asylum seekers back to North Korea despite knowing that they will most likely end up in a prison camp or executed. And what about Pakistan or Syria or Myanmar? They are all very high on almost any list of the worst human rights violators yet I don’t think anyone has ever commented negatively on my travels to any of those countries. Is the ‘most’ repressive regime the only one we shouldn’t support? Why are other governments that allow such abuses to take place treated differently and why is it okay to visit and spend our money in these countries, money that surely supports these governments? I’m not trying to use this as a justification for visiting North Korea.
I’m genuinely curious as to why North Korea brings out such Georgia Email List strong reactions as opposed to other destinations with governments that treat their citizens quite terribly as well. Anyway, I could go on for many more paragraphs about this topic but I’ll conclude with a quick summary of my opinion. At the end of the day, I know that the North Korean regime is not dumb. They wouldn’t let foreigners in without having thought about it carefully, so I’m sure they have their own motivations for trying to increase tourism.
The same time, despite whatever those motivations may be, I’m going to stand by the benefits of human interaction. During my years of travel, I’ve repeatedly seen the power of a hello and a handshake between two people from completely different cultures, between people who think and believe so differently from one another and between people who were ‘supposed’ to be enemies. Human interaction is as powerful as it gets and I don’t think the interaction that takes place inside of North Korea between foreigners and locals is any less valuable.