Not yet and not anytime soon.
North Korea is shaking its fist at the world again. In the past 2 weeks, it performed a nuclear test and then sent off several test missiles in violation of United Nations’ agreements. This isolated totalitarian regime has nuclear weapons and an enormous army, but can’t feed its own people. North Korean citizens live at the point of a gun. They do not enjoy the rights of free speech, fair elections or foreign travel.
It would be fascinating to travel to North Korea to meet its people and learn about its culture. This will not happen unless the current regime changes or unclenches it fist. Even South Korean citizens are not permitted to visit their own relatives who are figuratively imprisoned in North Korea. North Korean leadership understands the political power of travel. If free people of the world were permitted to travel to North Korea, then its citizens would learn how they have been manipulated, exploited and enslaved by their leadership. This could light a long fuse which ultimately could threaten the regime. North Koreans cannot tolerate a free press or an enlightened population.
Travel is not just a leisure or a business experience. It is an opportunity to spread ideas and exchange views. This is why every American university strives to recruit international students and to send its own students abroad.
There will be a time when North Korea will be an international travel destination. After the walls of isolation come down, as occurred in Berlin in 1989, a curious world will want to step inside and look around.
At Travel Clinics of America, we protect travelers against yellow fever, malaria and typhoid. We provide travel vaccinations and travel safety advice to international travelers who are traveling all over the world. When the time comes, and it will, we will protect travelers headed for North Korea. Sadly, its own suppressed people need protection against a force more dangerous than infectious diseases. Regrettably, Travel Clinics of America has no vaccine available against the threat they face.
