North Korea’s increasingly frequent ballistic missile tests may have raised tensions globally over the country’s nuclear ambitions, but in neighbouring Russia, entrepreneurs are eyeing another prospect: tourism. On Thursday, a ship that departed from the North Korean port of Rajin on Wednesday arrived in Vladivostok in Russia’s far east, marking the start of the first regular cargo and passenger ferry service with the “hermit kingdom”.
The Man Gyong Bong, which is owned by the Russian company InvestStroyTrest, was carrying Russians and representatives of Chinese tourist companies. The firm has said future passengers could include Chinese and Russian tourists, as well as North Koreans who work in Russia.
Russia is already one of North Korea’s most important economic partners, and the president, Vladimir Putin, said this week that the west should negotiate to end Pyongyang’s nuclear programme rather than threaten it.
The long-serving Man Gyong Bong previously carried passengers and cargo between North Korea and Japan, but Tokyo cut off the service after Pyongang’s first nuclear test in 2006. The Japanese government has reportedly expressed concern over the new ferry service to Vladivostok.
The Man Gyong Bong can hold 200 passengers and has 40 cabins, a restaurant and two bars, “which allow all passengers onboard to be invited to the merrymaking”, according to the InvestStroyTrest website. It also features slot machines, a shop, a sauna and a karaoke room. The ship can also carry up to 1,500 tonnes of cargo in its three dry holds. Bringing goods overland from Vladivostok to Rajin by land takes 22 hours, InvestStroyTrest said.
After the ship docked in Vladivostok, one of the Chinese passengers reportedly showed Russian television a photograph of a plaque bearing the name of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung on board.
The overnight route takes nine hours, but InvestStroyTrest promised that the “ship will reduce speed in good weather so passengers can enjoy the beauty and smell of the sea”. The restaurant, bars and other entertainment options will be open during the entire voyage.
InvestStroyTrest said the tour from Rajin to Vladivostok and back would “leave a long-lasting impression on tourists from Yangtze, Hunchun and other Chinese cities”. For the two days the ship is in dock at Vladivostok, the tourists will live onboard, it said. The InvestStroyTrest website lists ticket prices of 600 to 750 yuan per passenger. Sixty Chinese tourists have reportedly already booked a trip on the ship.
Russian tourists will also be able to take the ferry to North Korea. Rajin is part of the Rason special economic zone, so they will need an invitation but not a visa to visit the port, according to InvestStroyTrest.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Reuters she “didn’t see a connection” between the new ferry service and political issues.
As part of growing political and economic ties, Russia and North Korea have signed agreements to increase bilateral trade to $1bn by 2020 and build a railway from the Russian border to Rajin.
The two countries have signed mutual extradition treaties, which human rights activists have said will worsen an existing problem of Russia deporting North Korean asylum seekers to face execution or labour camps in their homeland.