U.S. runners defy travel warning on North Korea

Calum MacLeod | USA TODAY

BEIJING — As many as 100 U.S. citizens defied a State Department travel warning and visited North Korea this month to compete in a marathon that celebrated the birthday of the isolated regime's founder, Kim Il Sung.

The Americans left the capital of Pyongyang this week, praising the experience and the value of engaging with North Koreans, who live under a totalitarian system ruled for seven decades by Kim, his son and grandson.

The U.S. visitors, many whom live in Beijing and Asia, ran the marathon, half marathon and 10K races last Sunday, said Nicholas Bonner, co-founder of Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based travel agency that brought in nearly half of 600 foreign runners.

This was the second year that North Korea permitted foreigners to participate in the Mangyongdae Prize Marathon, named after Kim's birthplace. "This is the biggest ever total of U.S. visitors for one event," said Bonner, who has visited North Korea frequently since 1993.

About 150 Chinese runners competed in the races, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

A quarter of North Korea's estimated 5,000 to 6,000 Western tourists in 2013 were from the USA, according to Koryo Tours.

The U.S. State Department "strongly recommends against" traveling to North Korea, a repressive state where American citizens risk arbitrary arrest and detention. Last week, U.S. humanitarian worker Sandra Suh was deported from Pyongyang for "plot-breeding and propaganda," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

Last year, two other Americans, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller, were released after being imprisoned for months in North Korea. Bae, a Christian missionary who ran a tour company, was accused of crimes against the state and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Miller was charged with espionage after he was accused of ripping up his tourist visa at Pyongyang's airport and demanding asylum.

Another American, Jeffrey Fowle, spent five months in detention last year after he left a Bible at a club in North Korea.

Patty Hunter, 45, who hails from Linn, Mo., but now lives in Beijing, took that risk. She finished third in the half marathon, gaining a place on the victory podium before 40,000 cheering spectators in Kim Il Sung stadium. "It was a cool experience and very well-orchestrated, as you'd expect," said Hunter, the daughter of a Korean War veteran.

Earlier, government guides checked the runners in case they were carrying U.S., Japanese or South Korean flags, apparently so they wouldn't unfurl them at the stadium and embarrass the hosts. The same guides insisted on accompanying visitors when they left the massive hotel that had few working elevators and rooms that were cold and dark, Hunter said.

North Koreans benefit from the visit economically, and their exposure to U.S. citizens can change their attitudes about the USA, she said.

"A lot of the regime is built around anti-American rhetoric. It's good to expose them to normal folks," said Hunter, a mother of three. "We're all just trying to get through the day, with the same needs and wants."

Three other Americans, friends who work for U.S. firms in Beijing that they declined to identify, hailed the event as a safe and fascinating introduction to the hermit kingdom.

"What was fun was even the limited interaction that we were able to have with the people, tour guides, people in the hotel and restaurants," said Bruce Aitken, 45, from the Pacific Northwest. "It's a unique opportunity to see a place you wouldn't normally get an opportunity to see."

Photo restrictions are common in North Korea, "but the photo-taking was pretty liberal," and guides said they could shoot from the tour bus, an unusual concession, said Mark Smerznak, 43, from Stratford, Conn.

The athletes' tour focused on the Kim dynasty, now led by Kim Jong Un. Mike Keogh, 44, of New Orleans, said he enjoyed breaking the ice by giving candy to youngsters on the subway.

One senior citizen, in his 60s, joked about being a runner, slapping Keogh's thighs, until learning he was an American. "We're going to kill Obama," Keogh said, quoting the man, who gestured with guns and knives.

"America keeps nagging us," Keogh said the man told him. Keogh guessed the man's anger may stem from the Hollywood comedy The Interview, which depicts an assassination plot against Kim Jong Un. Sony Pictures Entertainment, which released the movie, was the target of a massive cyberattack that President Obama blamed on North Korea.

"The guide apologized for it," Keogh said about the man's comments. "Otherwise we felt welcome."

Pyongyang's few billboards and slow pace reminded the three friends of China in late 1980s and early '90s. "We commented on how quiet it was, because there's a lack of cars or even just voices," Keogh said. "Everyone walks everywhere. On major thoroughfares you'd see just a handful of cars."

They bought a pricey espresso at a new café, but most of North Korea remains desperately poor and under-developed.

"If you don't believe in the value engagement brings, then don't visit," said Bonner of Koryo Tours, which will donate part of each runner's fees to a charity providing nutrition for orphanages. "Tourism is part of the process of change" to reduce North Koreans' economic and political hardship, he added.

At their farewell dinner Monday, fueled by North Korean liquor, the guides bonded with their U.S. charges. "The guide said, 'You and me are the only people that can make a difference. The past is the past,' " Aitken said.