Boy, there sure is a lot of political *** kissing in the North Korea trip literature and program. That is a high cash and ethical price to pay for a single steamer and a subway trip.

I like the part that says, "please don't publish any of your pictures without permission, or our hosts will get into trouble".

Back in the 70's and 80's we struggled with steam trips to Eastern Europe and in the 90's with trips to Cuba. I think you could make the case that Westerners in those places showed the people there that the West was not a threat and our standard of living had something to do with our basic freedoms. There was a story that the Soviet Uion quickly banned the movie version of "The Grapes of Wrath" because Russians were shocked that "poor" Americans could still afford a car or pickup truck.

In the case of North Korea being there does none of that for the people and the money spent goes directly to support the military and the dictatorship.

I'm still looking for photos of the PRR T-1s and NYC 4-6-4s that were rumored to be over there.
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.