New smartphone app to travel around North Korea

Seoul, May 8 (IANS/EFE) A new app will bring North Korean tourism virtually to a smartphone through extensive photographs, write-ups and site maps of the most isolated country of the planet.

From Pyongyang's emblematic monuments to the narrow streets and routes not accesible by the otherwise restricted tourist guides of Kim Jong-un's regime can be found in the app "North Korea Travel" that was released Wednesday and is currently available in English.

Developed by a British start-up Uniquely.Travel, the app is as much for the people wanting to travel from the comfort of the couch as much as for their own use, as every year more and more tourists are flocking the country under guided trips.

"Open food streets, secret markets, business centres, the app shows even the corners previously thought to be strictly off-limits to foreigners," the company said in a statement.

All the places in the guided trip for smartphones are located using GPS by Curtis Melvin, a cartography expert from North Korea now banned by the state for helping to develop the app, according to Uniquely.Travel.

The start-up said that the app is a result of the inputs taken from various experts for defining places.

North Korea is gradually losing its reputation as the most inaccessible country of the world, as more than 20 agencies are said to be operating in the country and the number of tourists visiting is going up with each year, though no official data is available.

Tourists travelling to North Korea are often restricted to follow guided tours where agents make sure no one leaves the set itinerary.

--IANS/EFE

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