North Korean leader Kim’s ‘bitter sorrow’ over deadly Chinese tour bus crash
North Korean leader has expressed ‘bitter sorrow’ over a tragic bus accident in the country which killed 32 Chinese tourists.
Thirty-two Chinese tourists and four North Koreans died in the accident south of Pyongyang when their bus plunged off a bridge.
In a rare public appearance, Kim visited the few survivors in hospital and what is even rarer is state controlled KCNA news agency publishing a negative news story in the first place.
"The unexpected accident brought bitter sorrow to his (Kim’s) heart and that he couldn’t control his grief at the thought of the bereaved families," KCNA reported.
"The North Korean people take the tragic accident as their own misfortune," it added.
North Korea’s openness in reporting the tragedy reflects China’s influence as its one true ally in the world.
The cause of the crash has not been disclosed.
China is usually quick to fire off warnings to countries over tour bus safety, as it has done in the past after deadly crashes in countries such as Thailand and South Korea.
After worldwide sanctions China is by far the largest source market for tourism into North Korea.
The US market has all but dried up after an outbound travel ban by the Trump Administration, yet once had a 20% market share of all inbound tourism to North Korea.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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