This week, British Army officer Lieut Gen Andrew Harrison, the deputy commander of the UNC, said that when or how the tours would resume was yet to be decided. He suggested that, after a military inquiry, “a series of recommendations ... may or may not change the processes that were in place beforehand”.
Visiting the DMZ that separates the two Koreas, which are technically at war, is a popular trip for tourists looking to get a glimpse of the reclusive authoritarian state. The DMZ is the only spot where visitors can step up to and, even briefly, over the border into the North.
Visiting the JSA is free for South Koreans, but Jacco Zwetsloot, a former JSA tour guide, told Reuters that the tour sells with the highest margin to foreigners in South Korea. The tour King was on started at $180 (R3,164), according to a Tripadvisor listing.
For the UNC, the tours are about educating people and raising awareness of the “frozen conflict” after the Korean War from 1950-53 ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, Zwetsloot said.
He predicted changes could include limiting numbers on the tour even further, with groups as small as 10 people, or keeping groups behind glass or further away from the border where troops from both sides stand almost face to face.
American’s border bolt could cost tourists to North Korea, experts say
Tours to the 'truce zone' between North, South Korea are a popular and pricey experience for foreigners, but are now up in the air after US soldier's flight
Image: JEON HEON-KYUN/Pool via REUTERS
Tourists have been warned to expect far stricter supervision if visits to the border between North and South Korea resume after a US soldier dashed across to North Korea earlier this month.
Travis King, a US Army private, was on an organised tour visiting the so-called truce village of Panmunjom on July 18, a day after he was supposed to have returned to the US to face disciplinary action over charges brought while he was serving in South Korea.
King had reportedly spent two months in a South Korean jail for assault before being escorted to the airport, where he failed to board his flight to the US. Instead, he used the tour to get close enough to the border — and then made a run for it.
Reuters reports that King, dressed in civvies, broke away from a group of 40 tourists being guided around the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), and sprinted across the border. As a result, the US-led UN Command (UNC), which oversees the area, has indefinitely suspended all JSA tours.
Image: Sarah Leslie / Handout via REUTERS
This week, British Army officer Lieut Gen Andrew Harrison, the deputy commander of the UNC, said that when or how the tours would resume was yet to be decided. He suggested that, after a military inquiry, “a series of recommendations ... may or may not change the processes that were in place beforehand”.
Visiting the DMZ that separates the two Koreas, which are technically at war, is a popular trip for tourists looking to get a glimpse of the reclusive authoritarian state. The DMZ is the only spot where visitors can step up to and, even briefly, over the border into the North.
Visiting the JSA is free for South Koreans, but Jacco Zwetsloot, a former JSA tour guide, told Reuters that the tour sells with the highest margin to foreigners in South Korea. The tour King was on started at $180 (R3,164), according to a Tripadvisor listing.
For the UNC, the tours are about educating people and raising awareness of the “frozen conflict” after the Korean War from 1950-53 ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, Zwetsloot said.
He predicted changes could include limiting numbers on the tour even further, with groups as small as 10 people, or keeping groups behind glass or further away from the border where troops from both sides stand almost face to face.
Image: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images
Image: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images
Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University in Changwon, said authorities should focus on how to better control tour groups while keeping the area open to the public.
“Banning access would only result in people losing sight of this grave reality that the Korean peninsula is facing,” Lim said.
Despite its name, the DMZ is fortified with razor wire and minefields on either side of a 4km buffer.
King's case would be the first successful border crossing by a JSA tourist, Zwetsloot said. In 2001 a German doctor-turned-activist tried to cross in an effort to raise awareness about human rights issues, but was stopped by guards in the South.
In January 2016, US college student Otto Warmbier was detained trying to leave Pyongyang after spending a few days on an organised tour in the North. He was charged with subversion after officials said he had stolen a propaganda banner from his hotel. He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment with hard labour.
In June 2017, North Korean officials announced that he had fallen into a coma as a result of botulism and a sleeping pill. He was sent back to the US later that month, still in a coma. He never regained consciousness and died on June 19 2017, six days later. A coroner's report stated that he had died from an unknown injury causing lack of oxygen to the brain.
The UN said on Wednesday it was in talks with North Korea about King's return, though his exact whereabouts and condition were unknown.
Image: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images
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