RUSSIANS could be “taken back in time” under moves to make North Korea their favourite new holiday hotspot.
The Kremlin has been seeking new vacation destinations for its war-weary citizens since Europe banned Russian tourists following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Now both countries are on the verge of signing a new flight charter deal.
So desperate is Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to help Russia needing a break from the gloom that he publicly recommended North Korea as a holiday destination during a visit there in October.
And warming relations between Pyongyang and Moscow led to Russians being in the first group of tourists allowed to visit the country following the pandemic, as 200 boarded an ageing Soviet- airliner in Vladivostok for the two-hour flight last month.
Pyongyang’s slave labour now supplies most of the weapons and munitions Russia needs for its war in Ukraine, while Moscow sends North Korea food and technical assistance for its nuclear programme.
Putin is also hoping for North Korean labour to fill crippling gaps on the factory floors which make up Russia’s war machine.
The Hermit Kingdom has long courted tourism as a way to gain precious foreign currency, and offers “deluxe” class hotels and facilities which are only open to North Korea’s elite families – those with close ties to Kim Jong-un.
Pyongyang’s Yanggakdo Hotel, for instance, boasts bars , pools and a constant supply of electricity – a commodity not expected elsewhere.
“Though you might see some people splashing around in the sea in rings, North Korea doesn’t really have a beach culture in the way that we might understand it,” said former British attache to Pyongyang James Hoare.
Which explains why it was the £24m “Swiss style” Masikryong ski resort which drew the first group of Russians.
Many marvelled at the empty pistes – hardly surprising in a country which has only 5,500 skiers among a population of 24 million.
The four-day tour cost each traveller around £600 – an average month’s salary in Russia today – as well as another £120 in daily gratuities.
Not all Russians were bowled over.
“It’s like stepping back in time – reminiscent of the stories my grandparents told me about life in the Soviet Union,” said Ilya Vosresensky, from St Petersburg – a travel blogger until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine made international travel much more problematic.
Surveillance by the state is just one of the things familiar with anyone who experienced the darkest days of the Soviet Union.
“It seems to us (although we don’t know for sure) very unlikely indeed that the Koreans would bug the hotel rooms of western visitors,“ says UK-founded Koryo tours, which has specialised in offering PRK holidays from its offices in China since 1993.
And tourists who think they will have the freedom to roam alone will be sorely disappointed.
“You will be accompanied by 2 guides and a driver regardless of how many people are in your groups,” warns Koryo.
It adds that, though rare, there have been cases of visitors bing detained , warning : “Punishment for what are seen as crimes there is disproportionate and exceedingly harsh. “
Another Russian tourist, marketing professional Elena Bychkova from Moscow, said: “I couldn’t shake the feeling that there’s another side of North Korea that remains hidden”
Olga Shpalok said: “You could sense hopelessness and constant control in the country during the entire trip. We asked our guides where everyone was. They told us people were happily at work.”
