korean unification studies

North Korea has postponed the Arirang mass games according to Reuters. Apparently it is impossible to hold the mass spectacular under such conditions. Reuters reports the KCNA state broadcaster as stating:

“It has now become hard to continue the performance as working people in different parts of the country are all out to recover from the flood damage these days”

However, Richardson over at www.dprkstudies.org was speculating that the reason why the Leaders Summit was suspended but the Arirang Games were not suspended, was because the Roh administration would still pay hard currency, while if foreign tourists’ vacations were cancelled, they would not pay… Supposing the cancellation came after the foreign tourists arrived - Richardson may just be right. A visit to a very wet Pyongyang, no mass games and a struggling, hungry tourist ‘commissar’ guide to watch over you 24/7 all for around USD5600 - who could resist?