Posted on 08/09/2011 11:26:14 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Dutchman goes missing in North Korea
Published on 8 August 2011 - 4:14pm
Dutchman Willem van der Bijl has gone missing in North Korea, according to a report by a local Dutch TV station. The foreign ministry is apparently aware of the disappearance but can do little, given the closed nature of stalinist North Korea.
Van der Bijl runs a stamp shop in Utrecht and has visited North Korea on numerous occasions looking for postage stamps and propaganda artwork. His family have not heard from him for two weeks and are extremely worried.
P!
Makes one wonder why anyone from the civilized world wold be wondering around a iron fist regimed country like this? Seems like this dude was up to something.
“Makes one wonder why anyone from the civilized world wold be wondering around a iron fist regimed country like this? Seems like this dude was up to something.”
________________________________________
Well, if he is anything like the Dutch where I live, I would
have to say “good riddance”....No offense to any good FReeper Dutch ;)
There are neighborhoods you don’t go to, and there are 3rd world $hitholes you don’t go to.
The word in North Korea is that Dutchmen are pretty tasty.
“Makes one wonder why anyone from the civilized world wold be wondering around a iron fist regimed country like this?”
Really; kind of like those hikers getting caught in Iran. WTH were they doing there? I wouldn’t want to be within 100 miles of the border of a place like that.
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/08/10/2011081000680.html
Dutchman Missing in N.Korea
A Dutch stamp collector has not returned from a trip to North Korea, the Dutch broadcaster RTV Utrecht reported on Monday.
Willem van der Bijl of Utrecht visited the North on July 17 to buy North Korean stamps and propaganda art. He was supposed to return home on July 30 but has been out of contact.
Van der Bijl had been to the North several times before, but this is the first time he has not contacted his family for such a long time, they said.
After the family reported him missing on Aug. 3, the Dutch government asked Pyongyang through its embassy in Seoul and the North Korean Embassy in Switzerland to confirm his whereabouts, but to no avail. The Netherlands is reportedly considering dispatching its ambassador in Seoul to the North.
The Hague is having difficulty because it has no official communication channels with Pyongyang. No phone calls can be made from there to the Netherlands, so the loss of communication does not necessarily mean danger, a spokesman for the Dutch Foreign Ministry said.
But North Korea experts in the Netherlands are worried about his safety. Prof. Remco Breuker of Leiden University said it makes no sense that the North Korean regime cannot say where he is since it normally assigns guides to all visiting foreigners.
There is speculation that the Dutchman may have been arrested for trying to buy rare stamps from an individual North Korean, whom foreigners are banned from contacting.
If so, this could damage relations between the North and the EU, the Dutch press said. The EU has been talking with the North about ways of giving it humanitarian food aid worth 10 million euros (approximately W15.5 billion).
Ich bin ein Bijl Unseener.
The Philateling Dutchman?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.