Is it ethical to take a tour of North Korea?

Today's launch of a new travel app for North Korea signals a growing interest in the country's tourism industry. But some people have concerns about touring an oppressive country run by a tryant, where money spent goes to the regime.

I was a little afraid to come here, but don't be afraid. It's all love. It's all love here.Dennis Rodman, on travelling to North Korea

North Korea may be "all love" for Dennis Rodman, but many of the country's citizens are just not feeling it. Defectors tell terrifying stories of prison labour camps, starvations, beatings, torture and executions.

Its human rights record is dire, but the country was closed for so long that it's become an irresistible destination for the adventurous traveller. The number of foreigners who want a glimpse of the country is growing, and several tour companies run regular tours.

One company is investing in the increased interest in North Korea is the web site and wire service, NK News. Today, it launched a new North Korea Travel App. Chad O'Carroll is the Project Manager for the app, and the Managing Editor of NK News.

Since the death of Kim Jong-il, there has been an increased sort of fascination with Kim Jong-un and the way he governs the country, and with that growing interest with what life is like in North Korea. The app is also trying to appeal to virtual tourist-type communities, who are interested in seeing what North Korea is like but don't want to go there...Chad O'Carroll, Project Manager for the North Korea Travel App

We discuss:

• Chad O'Carrolll is the Project Manager for the North Korea Travel App and the Managing Editor of NK News.
• Michael Podberezin visited North Korea in 2011.
• Kathleen Adams is a professor of Anthropology at Loyola University in Chicago.

Have thoughts you want to share on this discussion?

Tweet us @thecurrentcbc. Or e-mail us through our website. Find us on Facebook. Call us toll-free at 1 877 287 7366. And as always if you missed anything on The Current, grab a podcast.

This segment was produced by The Current's Sarah Grant and Josh Bloch.

***CORRECTION: Kathleen Adams has asked that we make the following correction regarding this interview: "I was asked about Cuba and mentioned the complexities of tourism to Cuba (which I do not see as akin to tourism to N. Korea or Burma). In addressing how tourism and poverty intersect there, I mentioned a 2004 visit and noted that we'd encountered professionals such as doctors and nurses supplementing their income by working in (tourism-oriented) prostitution. I should have stated that in 2004 we met many skilled professionals who were moonlighting in menial-tourism sector jobs. It was in 1995, on a study-visit during an earlier period of more extreme economic hardship in Cuba, that my husband (a Latin Americanist scholar) met a medical professional moonlighting as an escort/sex worker, not in 2004."