Why is North Korea restricting Chinese tour groups?

NORTH KOREAN capital Pyongyang has stopped receiving Chinese tour groups visits ahead of the high profile anniversary celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the regime.

Aside from the annual traditional Korean holidays, North Korea also celebrates a handful of other public holidays which are perceived as auspicious.

This includes the Day of the Sun (birthday of the founder and first leader Kim Il Sung), the Day of the Shining Star (the birthday of Kim Jong Il), the Party Foundation Day (founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea), and the Day of the Foundation of the Republic.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s birthday, however, is still not a public holiday.

In total, the North Korean calendar has 71 official public holidays and they are such a big deal that North Koreans often schedule their wedding days on important national holidays.

The most important holiday in the country is the Day of the Sun. Anniversaries would typically involve a military parade of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Pyongyang’s main square, and missile and nuclear tests.

This undated picture released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 27, 2018 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) meeting with participants of the 5th National Conference of War Veterans in front of the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery in Pyongyang. Source: AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS

North Korea will mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the government on Sept 9, 2018.

The celebration is coming during a rare diplomatic detente on the Korean peninsula, with Kim Jong Un openly pledging his commitment to denuclearization following the historic Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.

And thanks to the diplomatic thaw, North Korea has been receiving an increase of Chinese tourists.

In fact, between 1,000 to 2,000 tourists have been visiting the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) a day.

The North Korean side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), which has been seeing hordes of Chinese tourists. Source: Shutterstock.

So why is the country restricting entry to Chinese tour groups before the anniversary celebrations?

The influx of Chinese tourists has strained Pyongyang’s limited hotel infrastructure when is needed to accommodate the arrival of foreign delegations.

Experts added that the announcement may have been made due to a potential visit to Pyongyang by Chinese President Xi Jinping over the period, according to Yonhap.

All group package tours to North Korea have been suspended starting Aug 11, 2018, until Sept 5, 2018.

Meanwhile, thousands of North Korean citizens have reportedly been practicing choreographed movements in Pyongyang for the official celebration of the anniversary.

Soldiers have also been converging on Mirim military airport near Pyongyang to practice the military parade.

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Source: travelwireasia.com