Economics > North Korea's 'Beach of Dreams' still mostly empty as Pyongyang forbids foreigners; Lavrov first dignitary to tour Wonsan-Kalma beach resort

 

North Korea suspends foreign tourism

to new beach resort

By Thomas Maresca

   

North Korea has suspended foreign tourism to its massive new Wonsan Kalma beach resort just weeks after the "world-class" facility's opening, a state-run tourism website announced. File Photo by KCNA/EPA

SEOUL, July 18 (UPI) -- Just weeks after opening a massive new beach resort, North Korea has banned foreign visitors from the self-proclaimed "world-class" facility, according to a state-run tourism promotion website.

"Foreign tourists are temporarily not accepted at the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist zone," a notice on the official DPR Korea Tour site said Wednesday. No explanation was given for the ban.

The information came in a post announcing the July 1 opening of the facility, which runs along 2.5 miles of beachfront and has a capacity for up to 20,000 guests. The tourist zone also boasts recreational facilities such as a water park, gym and concert hall.

When the Wonsan Kalma tourist area officially opened, North Korea promoted it as a destination for both domestic and foreign tourists. A small group of Russian guests visited last week, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un there.

Related

• Direct flights between Pyongyang and Moscow to begin this month
• North Korea opens massive beach resort, will welcome Russian tourists
• North Korea set to open 'world-class' beach resort

"Our Korean friends have expressed interest in having more Russians at the wonderful resort of Wonsan and other resorts in the DPRK," Lavrov said at a press conference during his visit, using the official acronym for North Korea. "I have no doubt that this will happen."

The resort has long been a favored project of Kim, who oversaw its launch in 2014. It was initially slated to open in April 2019 but faced numerous setbacks, including international sanctions on materials.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month, the North Korean leader called the completion of the resort one of the country's "greatest successes this year" and said it would "play a leading role in establishing the tourist culture of the DPRK."

International tourism offers a rare chance for the sanctions-hit North to earn foreign currency, but visitors have been almost nonexistent since Pyongyang sealed its borders at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020.

Russian travelers were the first to return post-COVID as North Korean carrier Air Koryo resumed a route between Vladivostok in Russia's Far East and Pyongyang last year. On Monday, Russia's Transport Ministry announced that budget carrier Nordwind will begin operating direct service between Moscow and Pyongyang later this month.

In May, the United States extended its ban on travel by American citizens to North Korea for the ninth year in a row, citing "imminent danger" posed by any trips to the authoritarian state.

Moscow comments on reports of North Korean resort closure

Western claims linking Wonsan shutdown to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit are “fake,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said

FILE PHOTO. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. ©  Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has refuted recent Western media reports claiming that North Korea closed its brand-new Wonsan-Kalma beach resort to foreign tourists after a visit from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Bloomberg and AP ran a story on Friday citing North Korean tourism authorities claiming the resort was “temporarily not receiving foreign guests,” with Bloomberg linking the closure to the minister’s visit.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has since stated that the suspension had nothing to do with the diplomatic trip but was rather due to COVID-19 restrictions that have been in place in North Korea since February of 2020. It noted, however, that “an exception has been made for tourists from the Russian Federation, who have been visiting the country since early 2024.”

READ MORE: North Korea opens ‘world-class’ tourist resort (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

“US media outlets affiliated with American intelligence services have spread disinformation,” Zakharova told journalists. The diplomat went on to describe the claim as “classic lies” and “a crude fake,” most likely driven by “nothing more than the spite” of Washington’s military and political elite, which “has seen their strategy of pressuring North Korea fail.”

Lavrov became the first high-profile foreign guest to tour the resort since it opened to visitors earlier this month. Zakharova accompanied the top diplomat and posted photographs from the resort on her Telegram channel.

©  Telegram/MariaVladimirovnaZakharova

The trip was intended to highlight the growing cooperation between the two countries since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict.

During talks with North Korean officials, Lavrov described the facility as “great,” saying Russia would help boost tourism and transport links with the DPRK.

Direct flights currently operate between Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok and Pyongyang. Some 1500 Russian tourists visited North Korea last year, according to the deputy governor of the Primorye Region, where Vladivostok is located.

Lavrov thanks ‘heroic’ North Korean soldiers for helping liberate Kursk Region

Russia’s Nordwind Airlines is set to launch direct service from Moscow to the North Korean capital later this month.

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Bits and Bites From Around the World > Lights Went Out on Blinken and Lavrov; Dr. Gets Small Fine for Amputating Wrong Leg; Michigan Shooter's Parents Charged - on the Run; Homeless Man Jailed on 'Stay at Home' Order

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Lights go out at diplomatic meetings with Blinken & Lavrov

2 Dec, 2021 15:00

FILE PHOTO © Reuters / Pool

A meeting between US and Ukrainian diplomats was thrown into darkness as the US secretary of state began to speak. A similar incident took place later as Russian and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe reps spoke.

A meeting room hosting American and Ukrainian diplomats was suddenly plunged into darkness on Wednesday as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began his remarks to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba.

Blinken was in the midst of reassuring Kuleba of Washington’s “unwavering commitment” to Ukrainian sovereignty when the lights went out. Their meeting was set to take place on the sidelines of the OSCE conference in Stockholm.

A similar blackout seized the room later that day as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke with OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid and other officials. Lavrov suggested the problem was caused by an official brushing up against the light switch with their rear end.

Blinken is reportedly expected to pile on further threats of sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, should Moscow not cease troop maneuvers along the country’s own border with Ukraine. While Kiev has complained of Russia’s recent military maneuvers, claiming some 90,000 soldiers are conducting exercises near the border the two states share, Moscow has argued that it has the right to deploy troops however it wishes inside its own country.

Too bad the meetings weren't held in Tblisi rather than Stockholm. They could have spent the time singing, "That's the Night When the Lights Went Out in Georgia"!

Surgeon fined for amputating wrong limb

2 Dec, 2021 14:14

© Getty Images / Johnny Greig

In the Austrian city of Linz, the 43-year-old doctor was found guilty of inflicting bodily harm through gross negligence. According to the newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten, the defendant admitted to “making a mistake,” saying that she had marked the wrong leg before the operation began. However, she denied acting with gross negligence, with the defense arguing that the control system in place had failed.

The surgeon was fined to the tune of €2,700 ($3,060) on Wednesday, though she may end up not having to shell out half the amount. The elderly patient passed away before the case was brought to court, and the judge ordered the doctor to pay €5,000 ($5,671) to the patient’s widow in damages for the suffering inflicted on her late husband.

Austria’s public service broadcaster (ORF) cited the judge as telling the defendant she should have “looked a second or third time,” considering the seriousness of the operation. The surgeon has since moved to a different hospital and can still appeal the judgement. For now, both the prosecution and defense have taken time to consider their next moves.

According to Austrian media, the case took place in May, in the city of Freistadt. The patient was an 82-year-old man who had a history of pre-existing conditions affecting both of his legs. On May 18, he was to undergo an above-the-knee amputation on his left leg. When asked in court why she marked the right leg, the surgeon replied, “I just don’t know.”

The team tasked with the final examination of patients prior to surgery also failed to notice the mistake. It was only two days after the operation that the surgeon’s error was discovered when the doctors changed the patient’s bandages. The elderly man, who has since passed away, reportedly had to have his second leg amputated, too.

Of course, he did. For an orthopedic surgeon, a few thousand dollars is a minor slap on the wrist. It must have been a hellish trauma for the patient and his partner to go through.

Health authorities in the state of Upper Austria, where the incident took place, reassured the public that the case in Freistadt was thoroughly analyzed and security training has been updated.

Parents of Michigan shooter Ethan Crumbley, 15, go on the RUN

after being charged with manslaughter

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and SNEJANA FARBEROV FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and SHAWN COHEN

PUBLISHED: 14:47 EST, 3 December 2021

The parents of accused Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley are now on the run from police, just hours after a prosecutor announced involuntary manslaughter charges against them and revealed stunning details about the murder weapon that was a Christmas gift for the 15-year-old, whom police say shot dead four students after penning a disturbing note saying:

'Thoughts won't stop, help me.' 

Police have issued a 'be on the lookout alert' for James and Jennifer Crumbley, who were charged Friday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with Tuesday's deadly shooting. The charge carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald alleged that the parents ignored multiple warning signs and refused to take their son out of school just hours before the shooting took place.

Jennifer Crumbley bragged on social media about going out with Ethan to test his Christmas present - a 9mm handgun - just three days before the shooting at Oxford High School, and just one day after her husband James had purchased the gun for Ethan. 

Ethan Crumbly

During a press conference Friday, McDonald revealed stunning new details leading up to the shooting that took place Tuesday afternoon, including that Jennifer Crumbley texted her son about 30 minutes after the rampage saying, 'Ethan, don't do it,' and that her husband James called 911 to report that his gun - a 9 mm Sig Sauer SP 2022 - was missing and that Ethan was likely the shooter. 

The prosecutor revealed that James Crumbley, who - like his wife - had a prior criminal history in Michigan, bought the murder weapon from a retailer with his son there on November 26. He stored the 9mm handgun in an unlocked drawer in his bedroom, McDonald said.

The next day, Jennifer posted about the Christmas present to Instagram with the caption: 'Mom & son day testing out his new Xmas [sic] present.’ Jennifer's Instagram account has since been taken down.  

There is definitely either an element of madness or a demonic influence in this kid's life. If you can't see it in his eyes, then hear it in his words, 'Thoughts won't stop, help me.' There had to have been other signs of his problems in spite of his brother saying otherwise. 

This action by the Oakland Co., prosecutor is going to start a firestorm, but parents have to be responsible for their children. For this massacre to happen just days after getting the gun would indicate that the boy was nowhere near ready for the responsibility of handling one.

There is much more on this remarkable story on the Daily Mail.

Homeless man gets jail time for breaching ‘stay at home’ order

3 Dec, 2021 15:19

FILE PHOTO. Singapore. © Getty Images / Maverick Asio

In a “cruel twist of irony,” a man was sentenced to seven weeks in jail by a Singapore court on Thursday for breaching a Covid-19 “stay at home” order despite being homeless.

Singapore national Rozman Abdul Rahman, 40, returned from Indonesia on March 20, 2020. After an immigration officer insisted he sign a stay-home notice (SHN), he listed his estranged stepsister’s house as a place for him to quarantine – but he was actually homeless.

During the period when he was supposed to self-isolate, he lived on the streets, sleeping in a car park, and later moved to a homeless shelter. He also kept working as a security guard at a grocery logistics company. His manager claimed he was not aware that Rahman was on an SHN.

After being unable to locate him, law enforcement officers eventually found Rahman via his employer and arrested him. He was sentenced to seven weeks imprisonment on Thursday after pleading guilty earlier this year.

Well, at least now he has a home for the next 7 weeks.

“In the midst of a worldwide crisis, Rozman was left with a personal crisis of his own – homelessness. He had no place of residence. He was left to fend on the streets,” his lawyer, Azri Imran Tan, said, adding that his punishment was a “cruel twist of irony.”

He argued there “should be a distinction between those who frivolously go out and breach SHN versus those with no choice.”

While his defense asked for a short detention and fine, prosecutors accused Rahman of deliberately exposing others to the risk of Covid-19, something which could have seen him jailed for up to six months.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lai Yan called the 13-day breach of rules “almost unprecedented.” Rahman is expected to appeal the decision.

Singapore has had one of the tightest Covid-19 measures in the world with hundreds of people fined and imprisoned for breaching self-isolation rules.

Russia Submitted Proof of False-Flag Chemical-Weapons Plot to OPCW & UN – Lavrov

FILE PHOTO. © Hummam Sheikh Ali / Global Look Press

There is “no doubt” that militants are plotting a false-flag chemical-weapons attack in Syria’s Idlib province, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding that Moscow has provided proof of the plot to the UN and OPCW.

“We have presented concrete facts obtained from various sources both to the UN and to The Hague, where the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) headquarters is located,” Lavrov said, while speaking about the risk of a false-flag attack involving the use of chemical weapons in Syria, adding that “these facts are congruent.”

Lavrov said that “there is no doubt that such provocations are being prepared.” He explained that terrorist groups entrenched in Syria’s northwestern province, including Al-Nusra Front (now known as Tahrir al-Sham), are trying to derail the separation of terrorists from other armed groups “in every possible way.”

The foreign minister also said that Russia would continue to support Damascus in its fight against terrorists and is open about its actions. “We have no plans to conceal what we do to back the Syrian government, which is liberating its land from terrorists to [allow] the Syrian citizens to return to… normal life as soon as possible,” Lavrov told journalists during a joint press conference with Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed in Sochi.

No-one in the west has ever mentioned any concern about getting Syrian migrants back to Syria and resuming a normal life. This would seem an obvious strategy to reduce the number of migrants in Europe and ease the financial and political struggles caused by their presence. It's mystifying why Europe seems so disinterested in that.

Earlier, Russia’s representative to the OPCW, Aleksandr Shulgin, told journalists that Moscow had handed evidence of the planned false-flag attack to the OPCW Director General Fernando Arias. The Syrian government also sent its own data to the OPCW, he added, while warning that the attack could be staged “at any moment.”

Moscow has previously accused Washington of helping militants with a false-flag plot with a view to blaming the Syrian authorities for the attack and thus justify new airstrikes against Syria. The planned airstrike is allegedly a lot larger in scale than the one carried out by the US, the UK and France in April.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has said that the chemicals needed for the fake attack have been already delivered to the area, citing sources on the ground. It accused the White Helmets group of assisting the terrorists with the delivery.

In an earlier report it suggested that terrorists would dress-up as White Helmets while assisting with the delivery of chemical weapons.

Idlib Province, Syria

‘Post-West World Order’ Being Shaped as we Speak – Lavrov

Interesting piece, as brief as it is, follows beautifully with my previous post

Russian FM Sergey Lavrov © Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

A new multipolar order, driven by economics and history, is emerging in the world and Western attempts to stop or to slow it down are unlikely to succeed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told UK’s Channel 4.

“I think that we are in the post-West world order,” Lavrov told the British Channel 4 in an interview on Friday. “It is a historical epoch, if you want. Certainly, after five or so centuries of domination of the collective West, as it were, it is not very easy to adjust to new realities that there are other powerhouses economically, financially and politically,” he added, pointing to China, India and Brazil.

Asked if Russia was shaping this world order, Lavrov replied it was rather the product of history and “development itself.”

“You cannot really hope to contain [these] new powerful, economically and financially, countries. You cannot really ignore their role in world trade and world economy,” despite attempts to slow down the process with sanctions and tariffs, the top Russian diplomat said.

The European Union is “certainly a very important pillar of any world order,” Lavrov added, but it needs to decide whether to remain reliant on the US or become more self-sufficient. By way of illustration, Lavrov brought up the migrant crisis, which the EU is currently struggling with.

“NATO bombed Libya, turned Libya into a black hole through which waves of migrants, illegal migrants, rushed to Europe. Now EU is cleaning the broken china for NATO,” Lavrov said.

Russia’s relations with the West, which have soured dramatically since the 2014 US-backed coup in Ukraine, will be among the topics discussed at the July summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Finland.

During the interview, Lavrov brushed off Channel 4 speculation that Russia could offer to hand over NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, whom it granted political asylum, in exchange for the lifting of US and EU sanctions.