Inside a Russian tourist trip to North Korea: Accordions, snowmobiles and an ‘old’ plane which ‘smelled of mothballs’

Published

3 months ago

February 23, 2024

admin

Not many people can say they’ve been to North Korea, but this month’s private Russian tour offered a glimpse into a secretive country largely shut off from the rest of the world.

A group of around 100 Russians were among the first to visit the country since the pandemic on a four-day trip and the North Koreans put on a show – from a flight on the country’s only airline, to empty ski resorts and accordion performances.

But the images and videos from the tourists paint a picture of what it’s like inside North Korea that contradicts the official version. They offer snapshots of a country that’s faced serious food shortages in recent decades and is under a range of international sanctions.

The tour began with an Air Koryo flight from the Russian city of Vladivostok to the capital Pyongyang. The airline is operated by North Korea and is made up of an ageing fleet of mostly Russian-made aircraft.

According to one of the visitors, the group was comprised of influencers, tourists, journalists and 13 school-aged children.

Ukraine war:
Follow latest

‘Everything falling apart’ on flight out

Complaints began from the tourists as soon as they boarded the plane – contrasting with the smooth version of the trip presented by Russian media outlets.

“The plane is old and smells of mothballs,” one traveller wrote on Telegram, saying that the 41-year-old aircraft “is reminiscent of ‘something that was stored in a closet for a long, long time, and then brought out into the light’.”

Another traveller, posting on Instagram, complained: “It was even difficult to fasten the belt.”

The same tourist concluded simply: “Everything is falling apart.”

‘Don’t look at the tourists’ – accordions and crafts on arrival

Once in Pyongyang, the group was taken to Mangyongdae Children’s Palace on the Western outskirts of the city, where they watched uniformed children recite accordion music, engage in crafts and perform a concert.

Video footage posted by tourist Elena Bychkova shows that as the children played for the tourists, a giant screen behind them alternated between footage of a mountain and North Korean soldiers.

Posting a video of the children weaving in a classroom, one tourist commented on the apparently restricted nature of the scene, claiming: “The children were apparently told to sit calmly and in general, don’t look at the tourists.”

The group were also taken to see two giant statues of former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il – as well as the Juche Tower and a monument commemorating Soviet contributions to the Second World War.

In Pyongyang, the group was housed at the Yanggakdo International Hotel.

Claiming that they were not allowed to leave the site, travel influencer Ilya Voskresensky wrote on Instagram that when he inquired as to why, he says he was told “because we don’t know Korean and we may have problems”.

While it is unclear exactly how the visit and itinerary were organised, tickets cost $750 and were booked through the Russian travel company Vostok Intour.

‘Patriotic music’ and ‘personal escorts’ on the slopes

After spending a night in Pyongyang, the tourists were flown to Wonsan and taken to Masikryong ski resort, a facility completed in 2014 as part of the country’s bid to encourage foreign tourism.

Once there, Mr Voskresensky noted the distinctly North Korean features of the ski facilities, saying: “Patriotic music is playing on the slope, various propaganda videos are shown on the big screen.”

Even while skiing, the group appears to have been accompanied by minders. Sharing a video showing a man skiing behind him and his companion, Mr Voskresensky wrote: “This is our personal escort and it’s not paranoia.”

In an indication of North Korea’s continuing ability to source goods from the West, Sasha Danilenko posted a photograph taken at the resort, showing her atop a Canadian Ski-Doo snowmobile.

After two days at the ski resort, the group returned to Vladivostok.

Visitors left unimpressed but alliance is growing

On the prospect of a repeat trip, tourist Yulia Meshkova told her followers: “I will no longer go for moral and ethical reasons.”

In another post, she characterised the state as a “totalitarian dictatorship” concluding that as a country it “does not represent tourist value”.

The tour came at a time when ties between Russia and North Korea, and their respective leaders, seem to be strengthening fast in a growing pariah alliance.

Kim Jong Un paid a visit to Mr Putin in Russia last September.

On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin gifted Kim Jong Un a luxury Russian limousine which Kim said he “liked” on his recent Russia trip, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described North Korea as a “close neighbour”.

In January, the US accused Russia of using North Korean-sourced weapons in Ukraine. Although both Moscow and Pyongyang denied conducting arms deals, last year they vowed to deepen military relations.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open-source information. Through multimedia storytelling, we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

World

International Court of Justice orders Israel to halt Rafah offensive

Published

20 hours ago

May 24, 2024

admin

International Court of Justice orders Israel to halt Rafah offensive

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to stop its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The top United Nations court said the humanitarian situation in Rafah had “deteriorated further” since its previous court order for Israel to improve it, adding that what was happening in the besieged Palestinian territory was “disastrous”.

It comes after South Africa put in an emergency request to the ICJ for it to order Israel to stop its Rafah assault.

The ICJ president Nawaf Salam said in The Hague: “The state of Israel shall… immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

The court also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid, and said Israel must provide access to the territory for investigators and report back on its progress within a month.

The order was handed down a week after it was requested by South Africa, which in January formally accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in a hearing at the UN court.

Israel, which claims that its military operations in Gaza are in self-defence and targeted at Hamas fighters, has vehemently denied the accusations.

Israel launched its assault on Rafah this month, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee a city that had become a refuge to around half of the population’s 2.3 million people.

The ICJ is the highest UN body for hearing disputes between states, and its rulings are final and binding but have been ignored in the past.

No enforcement powers

The court has no enforcement powers and Israel is unlikely to comply with the latest ICJ order, which was adopted by a panel of 15 judges from around the world in a 13-2 vote, opposed only by judges from Uganda and Israel.

In response to the judgment, Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said: “Those who demand that the State of Israel stop the war, demand that it decree itself to cease to exist. We will not agree to that. If we lay down our weapons, the enemy will reach the beds of our children and women throughout the country.”

South Africa has welcomed the latest ruling, with Zane Dangor, director general of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, saying the order was “ground-breaking as it is the first time that explicit mention is made for Israel to halt its military action in any area of Gaza”.

Hamas also welcomed the ruling but said it was insufficient, with senior official Basem Naim saying “we believe it is not enough since the occupation aggression across the Gaza Strip and especially in northern Gaza is just as brutal and dangerous”.

“We call upon the UN Security Council to immediately implement this demand by the World Court into practical measures to compel the Zionist enemy to implement the decision.”

Israel says it has no choice but to attack Rafah to root out the last battalions of Hamas fighters it thinks are hiding there.

The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to both eliminate Hamas and get all the hostages back who were taken in the October 7th attacks.

“Hamas is in Rafah, Hamas has been holding our hostages in Rafah, which is why our forces are manoeuvering in Rafah. We’re doing this in a targeted and precise way,” Israeli chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Thursday.

But the US – Israel’s most powerful ally – has threatened to scale back its support over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.

What were the earlier ICJ rulings?

In a previous ruling in January, the court ordered Israel to prevent any acts of genocide against the Palestinians, while stopping short of ordering a halt to the military offensive.

And in a second order in March, the court said Israel must take measures to improve the humanitarian situation.

Also in January, the ICJ called on Hamas to release hostages it captured on October 7th.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court – a separate court also based in The Hague – announced on Monday he had filed an application for arrest warrants against Mr Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as leaders of Hamas.

Prosecutor Karim Khan accused Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant of crimes including extermination, using hunger as a weapon and deliberately attacking civilians. Israel strongly denied the charges.

The Israelis said Hamas killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in the October 7 raid on southern Israel.

Since then, Israel’s incursion has killed more than 35,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

World

China launches mock missile strikes on Taiwan to ‘punish’ new president

Published

23 hours ago

May 24, 2024

admin

China launches mock missile strikes on Taiwan to 'punish' new president

China has tested its ability to “seize power” by launching mock missile strikes on Taiwan and pretending to bomb foreign assets.

The two-day tests were staged to punish Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, who China has previously denounced as being a “dangerous separatist”.

China dispatched fighter jets carrying live missiles along with bombers on Friday, state broadcaster CCTV said.

The bombers set up several attack formations in waters east of Taiwan – which China views as its own territory. Mock attacks were carried out in coordination with naval vessels, CCTV added.

A sign of bigger things to come?

It’s just days after Taiwan President Lai Ching-te was sworn into office in Taipei and China is making a big statement – with these so-called “punishment” drills.

The island’s new leader is loathed by Beijing even more than his predecessor, describing Mr Lai as a “dangerous separatist”.

Beijing took great offence at President Lai using the word China to describe China. It believes that revealed his real thinking – that they’re two separate countries.

Now Beijing has carried out numerous blockades before of course, but this time it is casting it as a dress rehearsal for an “invasion”, focused on encircling the island and simulating a full-scale attack.

It says it wants to test its ability to “seize” control over Taiwan. It’s more than simply rhetorical bluster.

It’s an important inflection point and a significant test for Taiwan’s ruling party, which has championed democracy in the face of growing threats from its authoritarian neighbour.

The drills are taking place in the Taiwan Strait, which separates the self-ruling island from mainland China.

They’re not only in the north, south and east of Taiwan, but also the outlying islands of Kinmen, Dongyin, Wuqiu and Matsu.

That expansion, coupled with China’s more muscular language has prompted analysts to warn it could be a sign of bigger things to come.

The name “Joint Sword 2024-A” at the very least suggests more may be afoot.

And there’s global optics and dynamics at play. The recent meeting with Putin was a reminder Xi Jinping wants to create a new world order, away from the US and Taiwan has always been in its sights.

But – and it’s a big but – China is facing a huge economic challenge at home and any war would not only be expensive but experts say, would also take many months to prepare for.

These drills currently look like a warning shot. The real “punishment” may be yet to come.

President Lai has attracted the ire of Beijing over pro-independence comments made earlier in his career.

While the president has since been more cautious about repeating similar remarks, his claim about China having to “face up to the fact that the Republic of Taiwan exists” during his inauguration speech earlier this week was enough to anger Beijing.

‘Seize power’

The Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said the exercises, dubbed “Joint Sword – 2024A”, were to “test the ability to jointly seize power, launch joint attacks and occupy key areas”.

“This action is completely reasonable, legal, and necessary to combat the arrogance of ‘Taiwan independence’ and deter the interference and intervention of external forces,” said Wu Qian, a spokesperson of China’s defence ministry.

Taiwan’s armed forces have mobilised to monitor and shadow Chinese forces, with the island’s defence ministry on Friday publishing pictures of F-16s, armed with live missiles, patrolling the skies.

A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters several Chinese bombers conducted mock attacks on foreign vessels near the eastern end of the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan from the Philippines, practicing how to seize “total control” of areas west of the so-called first island chain.

The first island chain refers to the area that runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China’s coastal seas.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic, said several Chinese coastguard boats also conducted “harassment” drills off Taiwan’s east coast, including mock inspections of civilian ships.

The US Navy 7th Fleet said it was paying attention to “all of the activities” in the Indo-Pacific and takes “very seriously” the responsibility to deter aggression in the region.

‘No concessions’

While the US formally recognises Beijing, it is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and is the island’s most important international backer.

Speaking in Taipei, Taiwan foreign minister Lin Chia-lung said the island would not succumb to pressure.

“We will not make any concessions because of this Chinese military exercise, because it concerns the development of
democracy in Taiwan,” he said.

World

Brother of Israeli soldier taken hostage by Hamas says last seven months have been ‘a nightmare’

Published

24 hours ago

May 24, 2024

admin

Brother of Israeli soldier taken hostage by Hamas says last seven months have been 'a nightmare'

The brother of an Israeli soldier taken hostage on 7 October – whose frightening capture was recorded for a video released this week – said the last seven months have been “a nightmare for my family”.

Amit Levy, the brother of 19-year-old Naama, told Sky’s The World With Yalda Hakim that the dialogue in the video “makes [his] stomach hurt”.

Ms Levy was one of five female soldiers who were taken by Hamas from their base on the morning of 7 October.

The women worked at the Nahal Oz observation base, monitoring activity on the Gaza border.

At the start of the video, some appear bloodied and injured with all five having their hands tied behind their backs.

In a later part of the video, the female soldiers are hurried out of the building – one is limping and another is carried out.

Their families released the video, which has been edited in places, on Thursday to put pressure on the Israeli government.

Mr Levy said: “Many of the [hostages] can still be saved. That’s why we released this video because the world may have forgotten a little bit.”

He said their parents did not watch the video for several weeks “because it was too hard”.

The family has also not received any proof of life since November when released hostages said Ms Levy was in a condition “which wasn’t the best”.

Her brother said: “We are trying to stay optimistic, I believe with all of my heart that she’s still alive, that she can still be saved. We’re optimistic about her being alive.”