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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| North Korea to temporarily ban foreigners: reports | |
| 2009-12-17 | |
| [Dawn] North Korea plans to temporarily ban foreigners from entering the country, a move that could herald a visit by leader Kim Jong-Il to neighbouring China, a report said Wednesday. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper, citing North Korean sources in China, said the ban would last from December 20 until early February, AFP reported. It was unclear from the report if all foreign travellers would be barred, or only those who cross the Chinese border by land. The afternoon newspaper Munhwa Ilbo quoted a Seoul intelligence source as saying Pyongyang's embassy in Beijing has stopped issuing visas for foreigners. 'North Korean figures in Beijing tell people who apply for visas, 'See you next year,' in a sign that North Korea has virtually blocked the entry of foreigners to the country,' the source was quoted as saying. Calls by AFP to the embassy went unanswered. One source told Chosun that customs offices along the border normally close briefly for holidays around the new year but the duration of the ban was unusual. Chosun said some experts believe the North is taking extra security measures before a cross-border visit by Kim, who is known to prefer train travel to flying. Other analysts speculate the aim is to allow unrest sparked by the country's shock currency revaluation to die down. On Tuesday North Korea's security minister Ju Sang-Song began a visit to China. Chosun said Ju might be seeking Beijing's help to stop North Koreans angry over the currency change from fleeing en masse.
'We need to wait and see whether there will be the customary and temporary restriction on foreigners, or a longer-than-usual ban for some other reasons,' said spokeswoman Lee Jong-Joo. The South's National Intelligence Service refused to comment. Kim has visited China four times, most recently in January 2006 when he travelled by rail. Chinese President Hu Jintao in October invited him to pay another visit 'at a convenient time.' The currency revaluation introduced on November 30 has reportedly sparked widespread anger, because authorities initially restricted the total sum in banknotes that could be changed for new notes. Chosun said Tuesday Pyongyang had taken steps to placate people over the 100-to-one revaluation following a riot by market traders that reportedly led to 12 executions. It said that among other measures authorities raised the amount each person can exchange in cash from 100,000 won (30 to 40 dollars at the old black market exchange rate) to 500,000. The revaluation pushed up prices sharply, reports said. Seoul-based welfare group Good Friends said Pyongyang ordered open-air markets closed for three days from Monday due to the price hikes. Analysts said the hardline communist regime is trying to clamp down on a nascent free-market economy to reassert its control. The North's parliament has approved several new laws on the economy, the official news agency said Wednesday. A commodity consumption law, it said, sets 'legal requirements that should be observed in the consumption of commodities.' | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 What? You mean I can't spend Christmas in North Korea? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2009-12-17 14:11 |