At the United Nations, President Trump warned North Korea that its jefe “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.” If need be, Trump said, the United States would “totally destroy North Korea.” For its part, North Korea has said it would deliver “the greatest pain and suffering,” promising “the world will witness how North Korea tames the U.S. gangsters.”
Scary stuff, nuclear war and all that. But Chinese tourists seem unfazed. Thousands of them are visiting the China-North Korea border each month, hoping to catch a glimpse of life inside the hermit kingdom. According to the Guardian, speedboat drivers charge 70 yuan for a fast and furtive hour-long tour along the border, ripping past the supreme leader’s rifle-toting guards. “Chinese tourists come to satisfy their curiosity,” says one local guide, “they want to see how poor North Koreans are.”
Crossing the border is illegal. Signs warn onlookers, “Cherish a good life. Abide by the border regulations.” Chinese tourists run the risk, smartphones and selfie-sticks primed for a safari. Reactions range from compassionate to mocking. “They’re quite backwards,” one sightseer reported, “they’re not living in ideal conditions.” You think?
Apparently, the boat pilot was less sensitive. “Look there! Just look at these North Korean private cars,” he joked, pointing out a man on a bicycle.
Cruel, perhaps, but it shows there’s a market for touring what may be the unhappiest place on earth. Turning the hermit kingdom into a poverty theme park may be a way out for a dictatorship always on the brink. If the regime can just resist the urge to arrest and murder visitors—something of a challenge, it seems—Kim Jong-un may yet find cash from the morbidly curious an attractive addition to his current side-hustles selling drugs and weapons.
