Sawt Falasteen - North Korea bars Western influencers from trade fair tour

Diplomatically isolated North Korea has welcomed sporadic groups of international visitors in recent months, including hundreds of foreign athletes in April for the first Pyongyang International Marathon in six years.

China has historically been the biggest diplomatic, economic and political backer of North Korea, which remains under crippling international sanctions.

Travel agency Young Pioneer Tours (YPT) said on Saturday it would take a group of foreign tourists on a trip to the authoritarian state from October 24 to November 1.

However, the tour would not be open to journalists, travel content creators or influencers, the company said on its website.

YPT co-founder Rowan Beard told AFP the curbs on creators were "a specific request from the North Korean side".

"We anticipate that once the country officially reopens, there may be stricter scrutiny or limitations on influencers and YouTubers joining tours," Beard said.

The company had "no visibility" on when Pyongyang would restart official media delegations, he said.

Several online influencers have shared slickly produced videos from inside North Korea in recent months.

Chad O'Carroll, founder of specialist website NK News, said many influencers tend to have larger audiences than professional journalists, but "they are normally working without editors and tend to gain extra views through sensationalist-style content".

"North Korean authorities likely see few benefits and major risks with allowing social media influencers to visit the country, given what we saw earlier this year," O'Carroll told AFP.

"The result is a community of potential visitors who, in DPRK authorities' minds, are not likely to produce content that is favourable to state interests," he said, using North Korea's official name.

- Lavish gifts -

The YPT tour, priced at 3,995 euros ($4,704), will depart from the Chinese capital Beijing and take in the Pyongyang Autumn International Trade Fair, North Korea's biggest international business exhibition.

Participants will have a "unique chance" to stroll through more than 450 trade booths exhibiting machinery, information technology, energy, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and household items.

YPT also said the Pyongyang Chamber of Commerce would "hold a VIP presentation for us for an in-depth overview and insights into the (North Korean) economy".

The itinerary also includes major sights in Pyongyang as well as the first Western visit in more than five years to Mount Myohyang, which boasts a museum of lavish gifts presented to former North Korean leaders.

Chinese people used to make up the bulk of foreign tourists and business visitors to the isolated nuclear nation before it sealed its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, numbers have not rebounded despite Pyongyang's post-pandemic reopening, a trend that some analysts have attributed to Beijing's anger at North Korea's explicit support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

E.AbuRizq--SF-PST