An Israeli tour group is still scheduled to depart for a trip to Pyongyang this week, as North Korea is set to mark the 85th anniversary of its People’s Army.
On the itinerary is a tour of the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang, the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and various parks and gardens before moving on to a tour of China.
The visit by the Tel Aviv-based “Tarbutu” tour group also follows the arrest of a third U.S. citizen this weekend as he was about to depart the country via Pyongyang Airport by North Korean security officials, who detained the dual American-North Korean citizen, and did not allow him to leave.
Pyongyang University of Science and Technology Chancellor Park Chan-mo told the Associated Press on Saturday that Tony Kim, 58, taught accounting at the university for about a month. He was detained by officials as he was departing with his wife for a flight to China.
Two other Americans have already been arrested and are being held in North Korea, including University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, arrested in January 2016 while a member of a tour group after he removed a poster from a wall. He was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor in a North Korean prison. American Kim Dong Chul was arrested less than a year earlier, in October 2015, while in the country on business.
Israeli government officials have warned their citizens that although North Korea is not listed as an enemy nation. Nevertheless. the Jewish State has no diplomatic ties with the country. As a result, it will be impossible to assist anyone who finds themselves in difficulty there.