logo
North Korea bars Western influencers from trade fair tour

North Korea bars Western influencers from trade fair tour

France 245 days ago
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.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

China's economy likely grew 5.2% in Q2 despite trade war: AFP poll
China's economy likely grew 5.2% in Q2 despite trade war: AFP poll

France 24

timea day ago

  • France 24

China's economy likely grew 5.2% in Q2 despite trade war: AFP poll

The world's second-largest economy is fighting a multi-front battle to sustain growth, a challenge made more difficult by the US president's tariff campaign. Trump has imposed levies on China and most other major trading partners since returning to office in January, threatening Beijing's exports just as it becomes more reliant on them to stimulate economic activity. Washington and Beijing have sought to de-escalate their trade spat after reaching a framework for a deal at talks in London last month, but observers warn of lingering uncertainty. Official data on Tuesday will show how China's overall economy fared during the April-June period as leaders worked to shield the country from external pressures while encouraging consumers to spend up. An AFP survey of analysts forecasts data on Tuesday will show a 5.2 percent expansion of gross domestic product in the second quarter compared with last year, with many anticipating slower growth in the next six months. "Ultimately, external trade alone cannot offset the drag from weak domestic demand," Sarah Tan, an economist at Moody's Analytics, told AFP. "Without stronger, sustained policy support and structural reforms to boost household incomes and confidence, China's recovery risks further loss of momentum in the second half," Tan said. Export surge Data released this week showed that consumer prices edged up in June, barely snapping a four-month deflationary dip, but factory gate prices dropped at their fastest clip in nearly two years. The producer price index, which measures the price of wholesale goods as they leave the factory, declined 3.6 percent year-on-year last month, extending a years-long negative run. "Deflationary pressures haven't abated and labour market indicators continue to underwhelm," Betty Wang, lead economist at Oxford Economics, told AFP. "We remain somewhat cautious on the outlook" for the rest of the year, Wang said. China's exports reached record heights last year, offering a lifeline to the economy as pressures elsewhere mounted. Overseas shipments likely remained strong in the second quarter this year, with analysts pointing to a surge caused by foreign buyers frontloading purchases to prepare for future trade turbulence under Trump. "April was particularly good for exports given the high US import tariffs that month," Alicia Garcia-Herrero, Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, told AFP. The strong performance led to an upward revision of their forecast for China's second-quarter growth, she said, but warned that it "should be much weaker" for the rest of the year. Many economists argue that China needs to shift towards a growth model propelled more by domestic consumption than the traditional key drivers of infrastructure investment, manufacturing and exports. 'Profitless' growth Beijing has introduced a slew of measures since last year in a bid to boost spending, including a consumer goods trade-in subsidy scheme that briefly lifted retail activity. However, Tan said the scheme did little to address the causes of consumer caution "such as stagnant income growth, weak job security and fragile sentiment". Beijing is targeting an overall expansion of around five percent this year -- the same as last year but a figure considered ambitious by many experts. First-quarter growth came in at 5.4 percent, beating forecasts and putting the economy on a positive trajectory. "While the headline GDP growth may exceed five percent year-on-year in (the first half of 2025), it has been driven by manufacturing and exports," wrote Larry Hu and Yuxiao Zhang, economists at Macquarie. "But as domestic demand remains weak, this growth has been deflationary, jobless and profitless," they added. Beijing's bid to achieve its official growth goal this year hinges on how it manages its trade relationship with Washington, as well as additional efforts to boost domestic spending such as lowering interest rates. Some experts say that better-than-expected growth could lead it to avoid adopting the deep reforms needed to put its economy on a more sustainable footing. "Without a strong policy stimulus, it's hard to escape the ongoing deflationary spiral," wrote Hu and Zhang. "However, a policy bazooka is unlikely until exports slow down significantly. "This is because policymakers only want to hit the five percent growth target, not overachieve it," they said. © 2025 AFP

Rubio to meet China's Wang on sidelines of ASEAN talks
Rubio to meet China's Wang on sidelines of ASEAN talks

France 24

timea day ago

  • France 24

Rubio to meet China's Wang on sidelines of ASEAN talks

Rubio and Wang's first face-to-face meeting since US President Donald Trump returned to office comes as Washington and Beijing are locked in disputes on everything from trade and fentanyl to Taiwan and technology. Rubio, a longtime China hawk, and Wang are in Kuala Lumpur for a gathering of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which Japan, South Korea and Australia are also attending. US officials said ahead of Rubio's first trip to the region as secretary of state that Washington was "prioritising" its commitment to East and Southeast Asia. Rubio said Thursday the United States has "no intention of abandoning" the Asia-Pacific region. But US tariffs have overshadowed the conference and Rubio has sought to placate Asian trade partners, saying talks were ongoing and might result in "better" rates than for the rest of the world. Trump has threatened punitive tariffs ranging from 20 to 50 percent against more than 20 countries, many of them in Asia, if they do not strike deals with Washington by August 1. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said this week that tariffs were being used as "sharpened instruments of geopolitical rivalry". Wang on Thursday called for a "fairer and more reasonable" international order. "At the same time, we are also confronted with challenges such as the impact of unilateral protectionism and the abuse of tariffs by a certain major country," Wang said. Tensions between Washington and Beijing have ratcheted up since Trump took office in January, with both countries engaging in a tariff war that briefly sent duties on each other's exports sky-high. At one point the United States hit China with additional levies of 145 percent on its goods as both sides engaged in tit-for-tat escalation. China's countermeasures on US goods reached 125 percent. Beijing and Washington agreed in May to temporarily slash their staggeringly high tariffs -- an outcome Trump dubbed a "total reset". - Taiwan, South China Sea - Before becoming Secretary of State in January, Rubio had already been one of the most vocal critics of China on the American political stage for many years. Rubio and Wang are also likely to discuss US concerns over China's expansionary behaviour in the South China Sea and Beijing's growing military pressure on Taiwan. China claims the democratic self-ruled island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control. Like most countries, Washington has no formal diplomatic relations with the island. However, the United States is Taiwan's biggest arms supplier and has shown increasing support for Taipei in the face of Beijing's growing military pressure on the island in recent years. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused China in late May of "credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power" in the Asia-Pacific region. He also claimed that Beijing "trains every day" to invade Taiwan. In response, Chinese diplomats accused the United States of using the Taiwan issue to "contain China" and called on Washington to stop "playing with fire".

US targets attempts to dodge Trump tariffs with China in crosshairs
US targets attempts to dodge Trump tariffs with China in crosshairs

France 24

timea day ago

  • France 24

US targets attempts to dodge Trump tariffs with China in crosshairs

The issue is "transshipping," or having products pass through a country to avoid harsher trade barriers elsewhere, a practice Washington has accused Chinese companies of. "Goods transshipped to evade a higher Tariff will be subject to that higher Tariff," Trump warned in letters issued since Monday, days after unveiling a trade pact with Vietnam that promised steeper duties for such goods too. "The clause is less about Vietnam per se and more about signaling that rules-of-origin games across the broader Asian production network will attract a premium penalty," said Barath Harithas, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He told AFP the White House is likely making two points at once: closing a back door to China and putting the rest of Asia on notice. Noting that Vietnam was "the single biggest winner from Chinese supply-chain diversion since the first Trump tariffs in 2018," Harithas said the US administration is keen to avoid a repeat of this situation. Ten of the 14 countries first to receive Trump's tariff letters this week were in Asia and mostly Southeast Asia, which sits between Chinese component suppliers and western consumer markets. "Washington's message seems to be: 'Either help us police Chinese evasion or absorb higher duties yourselves,'" Harithas said. 'Whack-a-mole' "I think it is clear that transshipment of Chinese goods so far this year is massive," said Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. While there has been a drop in direct exports from China to the United States, this is "more than offset by" trade shifts elsewhere, he told AFP. In a recent report, Brooks noted that Chinese exports to both Thailand and Vietnam started surging "anomalously" in early 2025 as Trump began threatening widespread tariffs. It is unclear if all of these goods end up in the United States. But he cast doubt on the likelihood that domestic demand in both these countries rocketed right around the time that Washington imposed fresh duties, saying tariffs tend to instead bog down global trade due to uncertainty. Similarly, Chinese exports to the European Union, he said, also rose markedly in early 2025. "It's a little bit like whack-a-mole," Brooks said, adding that as long as Washington maintains different tariff rates for different countries, business will try to take advantage of the lowest levels. This in turn could be a reason that US inflation remains muted despite wide-ranging duties including a 10 percent rate on almost all US trading partners, and levels of up to 50 percent on sector-specific imports like steel and aluminum. Transshipment is not a China-specific issue. Concerns also flared in recent years over goods bound for Russia -- skirting European export controls -- after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Complications But it is difficult to draw a line defining product origins. While Washington may take issue with Chinese-headquartered companies moving production facilities to third countries, for example, many firms genuinely export components for value-added manufacturing to take place. In Vietnam, raw materials from the world's second biggest economy are the lifeblood of manufacturing industries. There is massive uncertainty over how an incoming 40 percent US tariff on goods passing through the country -- double the 20 percent rate applied to Vietnamese goods -- might be applied. Emily Benson, head of strategy at Minerva Technology Futures, said the Trump administration appears to be trying to simplify an otherwise complex web of legal definitions. "But whether or not that will work for other trading partners remains to be seen," she said. While products from China might be impacted, she believes the White House's intentions stretch beyond Beijing. "They're trying to load a bunch of negotiations on to this reciprocal (tariffs) vehicle," she added. "And they want other countries to play by the rules."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store