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N.Korea invites foreigners to Pyongyang golf tournament

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The North Korean flag is seen flying at the North Korean embassy in Beijing, March 27, 2018. How Hwee Young, EPA-EFE/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/10/13/20221013-northkorea.jpg"/><figcaption>The North Korean flag is seen flying at the North Korean embassy in Beijing, March 27, 2018. How Hwee Young, EPA-EFE/File</figcaption></figure></div> SEOUL — North Korea has invited foreign golfers to a tournament in Pyongyang, another tentative step in the reclusive country&#x27;s reopening after Chinese and Russian officials attended a military parade last month.The country has been under a rigid self-imposed COVID-19 blockade since early 2020 but there are increasing signs Pyongyang may be becoming more flexible on border controls, experts say.&quot;The Pyongyang Golf Course hosts an amateur golfers competition in spring and autumn every year,&quot; read a post from August 2 on Pyongyang&#x27;s official DPR Korea Tour website.&quot;Foreign amateurs can also take part in this competition held in spring and autumn in our country and develop friendship with Korean amateur golfers.&quot;The post also included an email address and phone number for its &quot;golf travel company&quot; -- under Pyongyang&#x27;s official tourism administration -- but did not say when the tournament would take place.In a separate post, Pyongyang said its agency, the Ryomyong Golf Travel Company, had developed attractions including &quot;an underwater golf course, archery ground and boating ground&quot;.The posts were shared after Beijing confirmed in July that North Korea had registered for this year&#x27;s Asian Games, to be held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in September.North Korea had registered for an overseas sporting event earlier this year but failed to send athletes.Cheong Seong-chang of the Center for North Korea Studies at the Sejong Institute told AFP recent signs indicate &quot;that Chinese tourism to North Korea will gradually resume in the future&quot;. MISSILES PAR FOR COURSE? The North&#x27;s state media has said Kim Jong Il -- current leader Kim Jong Un&#x27;s father and predecessor -- scored an incredible 11 holes-in-one the first time he ever played golf.Pyongyang&#x27;s golf course was reportedly built in the early 1980s and was officially opened in 1987 to celebrate the 75th birthday of the country&#x27;s founder, Kim Il Sung.It was financed by pro-Pyongyang ethnic Koreans in Japan.Today, the course &quot;covers an area of 196 hectares and has... 18 holes in total. More than 200 people can play there,&quot; the DPR Korea Tour website says.An Chan-il, a defector turned researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, said Pyongyang has &quot;established a department of golf&quot; at a key sports university in Pyongyang.&quot;North Korea has designated golf as an important means of earning foreign currency,&quot; An told AFP.However, according to South Korea&#x27;s Chosun Ilbo newspaper, there are signs that the North has also started using the course for its banned missile tests.Pyongyang&#x27;s March 9 launches of multiple short-range ballistic missiles were likely fired from Thaesong lake at the golf course to make it difficult for Seoul to &quot;pinpoint the launch origin&quot;, according to a military expert cited by the paper.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/11/18/22/fire-and-fury-north-koreas-banned-weapons-programs">Fire and fury: North Korea&#x27;s banned weapons programs</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/07/25/23/n-korea-tests-2-short-range-ballistic-missiles">N. Korea tests 2 short-range ballistic missiles</a></li></ul>In 2005, during a period of better ties, the golf course hosted a Korean Ladies&#x27; Professional Golf Association event.The winner, South Korea&#x27;s Song Bo-bae, told media at the time: &quot;The greens were much slower than the ones in South Korea, which made it quite challenging.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/07/27/23/n-koreas-kim-hosts-russian-defense-minister">N. Korea&#x27;s Kim hosts Russian defense minister at arms exhibition</a></li></ul>© Agence France-Presse<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PHTRuzWSd7Y?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>