Korean Escort: A rare glimpse into the hermit kingdom
Ever since I came to Seoul some 5 1/2 years ago, I had wanted to go to North Korea. Numerous efforts to arrange a visit failed, but just a few days before leaving South Korea for good in early January I received an invitation to join a tour to Kumgangsan, the scenic mountains just north of the Demilitarized Zone. Tours from South Korea to the North were launched by the company Hyundai-Asan in 1998, and at first were considered a political sensation. But in fast-moving South Korea, their appeal...
Korean Escort: World News (Asia Letter): Playing hide-and-seek with Pyongyang minder
I haven't played hide-and-seek since I was a little girl, but I had plenty of opportunity to do so during my brief visit to Pyongyang in North Korea. My playmates were Hanyong, my official North Korean 'escort' for the 36 hours I was in the country, and a lady in a purple two-piece suit whose name I never did find out. Hanyong is a handsome, 25year-old languages lecturer who teaches students Thai in the foreign college in Pyongyang. At least...
Korean Escort: Albright gets warm greeting in N. Korea Her trip could have great implications
PYONGYANG, North Korea -- By any measure, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's first day in North Korea produced an extraordinary day of diplomacy yesterday. The first visit to north Korea by a top American official began with a 10-minute power blackout -- commonplace, locals said -- less than an hour before her arrival. It climaxed with a stunning propaganda spectacle featuring a stadium filled with 100,000 performers presenting inspirational North Korean themes, including...
Korean Escort: ALBRIGHT STARTS HISTORIC NORTH KOREA VISIT WITH NEGOTIATIONS
By any measure, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's first day in North Korea produced an extraordinary day of diplomacy.The first visit to north Korea by a top American official began Monday with a 10-minute power blackout - commonplace, locals said - less than an hour before her arrival. It climaxed with a stunning propaganda spectacle featuring a stadium filled with 100,000 performers presenting inspirational North Korean themes, including "If the Party...
Korean Escort: FACES IN A CHANGING PICTURE
This is the first of a four-part series on how child adoption is changing. Articles Monday through Wednesday will profile Alan and Judy Prince, a couple that adopted 13 special-needs children; the Bosworths, a young couple with two Colombian babies, and the Schomakers, a white family that adopted two black sons. Marilyn and Bob Faust's goal for the past four years has been simple: to have a child. After endless temperature chart readings, doctors' appointments and...