N Korea cancels beer festival due to drought

PYONGYANG, July 24: North Korea has cancelled a beer festival aimed at attracting foreign tourists due to a severe drought.
Koryo Tours, a Beijing based travel agency for western tourists who want to visit North Korea, on Monday posted on its website that the regime notified of the cancellation of the second Taedong River Beer Festival, scheduled to take place from July 26 until the end of August, reports Efe news.
“The reason for the cancellation is unclear and we don’t expect full information to be forthcoming but it is possibly down to the ongoing drought in the country that has caused a great deal of trouble,” the statement read.
The country has had to deal with an intense lack of rainfall in the western provinces, and North Korean media have reported that the regime needed to deploy tank trucks and pumping equipment at least to South Hwanghae province, one of the worst affected. The first ever Taedong River Beer Festival, held last year, was described as a great success and was strongly promoted by North Korean state media.
Earlier, the KC news agency had anticipated the introduction of a new local beer made from wheat for this year.
By holding the festival in the summer season, the Kim Jong-un regime hoped to attract a good number of foreign visitors, particularly tourists from the west.
According to a South Korean study, North Korea’s tourism industry attracts some 50,000 foreign visitors each year, 90 per cent of them are Chinese, and generates between 30 and 43 million dollars in foreign currency. (IANS)