Around 200 overseas runners are preparing to head to Pyongyang on April 13 to take part in its annual marathon for the first time in its 27-year history
Marathon runners pass by a long row of North Korean soldiers as they cross a bridge in Pyongyang as North Korea hosts the 26th Mangyongdae Prize Marathon Photo: AP
By Danielle Demetriou, in Tokyo
London, New York, Cape Town, Berlin – and Pyongyang. The North Korean capital has become the latest – and most unlikely – stop on the global marathon circuit, after opening up to foreigners for the first time in its 27-year history.
Around 200 runners from outside North Korea will head to Pyongyang to take part in the historic event, which will take place on April 13, the same day as the London marathon.
Participants will be offered a glimpse of the city's history, as they set off from the epic 70,000 seat Kim Il-sung Stadium, before looping four times around the city centre, taking in a string of communist monuments and landmarks in the process.
The decision to open up the event to foreigners reflects North Korea's growing desire to tap into the potentially lucrative overseas tourism market in a bid to boost the regime's financial fortunes.
A brand new luxury ski resort opened in January at Masik Pass in Kangwon province, while the government has also announced plans to create special trade and tourism zones across the country.
Kim Jong-un, North Korea's leader, is also clearly keen to boost the nation's sporting profile, resulting in foreigners being able to join the marathon, which is sanctioned as a bronze-label event by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Perhaps most surprisingly, international tourism companies have reportedly been inundated with requests from adventurous runners keen to tick Pyongyang off their list of global marathons.
"I think a lot of the attraction is the 'Pyongyang' part rather than the 'marathon' part," said Simon Cockerell, a Beijing-based agent for the Koryo Tours travel agency.
"A lot of the people going along to take part are interested in simply doing something a bit unusual, something that would cause a bit of cognitive dissonance in friends of theirs when they tell them they ran a marathon in North Korea."
Marathon runners pass by a long row of North Korean soldiers as they cross a bridge in Pyongyang as North Korea hosts the 26th Mangyongdae Prize Marathon Photo: AP
By Danielle Demetriou, in Tokyo
London, New York, Cape Town, Berlin – and Pyongyang. The North Korean capital has become the latest – and most unlikely – stop on the global marathon circuit, after opening up to foreigners for the first time in its 27-year history.
Around 200 runners from outside North Korea will head to Pyongyang to take part in the historic event, which will take place on April 13, the same day as the London marathon.
Participants will be offered a glimpse of the city's history, as they set off from the epic 70,000 seat Kim Il-sung Stadium, before looping four times around the city centre, taking in a string of communist monuments and landmarks in the process.
The decision to open up the event to foreigners reflects North Korea's growing desire to tap into the potentially lucrative overseas tourism market in a bid to boost the regime's financial fortunes.
A brand new luxury ski resort opened in January at Masik Pass in Kangwon province, while the government has also announced plans to create special trade and tourism zones across the country.
Kim Jong-un, North Korea's leader, is also clearly keen to boost the nation's sporting profile, resulting in foreigners being able to join the marathon, which is sanctioned as a bronze-label event by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Perhaps most surprisingly, international tourism companies have reportedly been inundated with requests from adventurous runners keen to tick Pyongyang off their list of global marathons.
"I think a lot of the attraction is the 'Pyongyang' part rather than the 'marathon' part," said Simon Cockerell, a Beijing-based agent for the Koryo Tours travel agency.
"A lot of the people going along to take part are interested in simply doing something a bit unusual, something that would cause a bit of cognitive dissonance in friends of theirs when they tell them they ran a marathon in North Korea."
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