This week's most unlikely story is brought to you by the pending de-nuclearization agreement to take place next week in Singapore between the two old adversaries, North Korea and the US. As we all know by now, Singapore will be the venue of the historical meeting between the leaders of the two nations – Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump. It is widely expected that the official treaty will be signed that will see North Korea dismantle their nuclear weapon reactors and facilities and in exchange for which, the US will withdraw their troops and arms from the military bases in South Korea.
That is what we knew. But here is the icing on the cake. That's not the only concession US will make – apparently, they are asked to invest into the future North Korean casino and tourism resort on the coastal region of Wonsan-Kalma where Kim Jong-un already began and oversaw the construction!
Yes, you read that right: international gambling and tourists hurling to North Korea, notorious for their isolationist politics.
How fast and unexpected the world changes, huh?
According to reports in the nation’s Donga Ilbo newspaper, the senior North Korea official who visited President Trump in his Oval Office at the White House last week proposed the cooperative project that is estimated to bring in about $50 million per year and should attract 2.6 million of South Korean tourists on annual basis! The construction, already underway by civilians and army men, should be finalized before April 15th next year. Apparently, Trump was very keen on the project and will most likely accept the proposal – after all, the North Korean delegate knew very well where to come knocking: Trump is the renowned casino mogul, having owned properties in Las Vegas and Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.
Surprisingly to some, the country is not completely devoid of gambling: there are a few casinos in capital Pyongyang and another one in Rason, near the border with China. The country also operates some betting websites, but they are, apparently, mostly used for stealing private data from users and are nothing but scams. Having an international casino resort funded by USA and open to tourists would mean having some proper regulations in place.
The meeting between the US and North Korean high officials will be the first summit of this kind in almost 70 years, since the Korean war.
If you're about to make the world at least a tiny bit safer than before by neutralizing the nuclear threat, you might as well do some business. What do you think of this story, will it ever come into fruition? Can you imagine North Korea becoming more open to foreigners, even if it's in the interest of the state for them to be spending a lot of cash? Let us know in the comments below…
Source:
“Report: North Korea's Kim Yong Chol proposed casino to Trump”, upi.com, June 5, 2018.