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WORLD NEWS Monday 14 august 2017
North Korean tensions aren’t

deterring tourists from Guam

By GRACE GARCES BOR- and fury” if challenged. of our arrivals. And they’re
DALLO and TASSANEE VE- The North then threatened much closer to North Korea
JPONGSA to lob missiles near Guam. than Guam is,” Muna said.
Associated Press The Guam Visitors Bureau The agency has been re-
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) has heard reports of can- laying assurances from the
— Tourists haven’t been cellations, but Muna said it governor and defense offi-
deterred from visiting the doesn’t yet have any con- cials that Guam is protect-
tropical island of Guam crete figures on how many ed and safe, he said.
even though the U.S. terri- took place. Officials are still Trump told Guam’s Repub-
tory has been at the cen- expecting a strong August, lican governor the global A rainbow appears over Tumon Bay, Guam Sunday, Aug. 13,
ter of North Korean and Muna said. “Japan and Ko- attention would send more 2017. Residents of the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam face
U.S. threats during the past rea make over 90 percent tourists to the island.q a missile threat from North Korea.
week. Won Hyung-jin, an Associated Press
official from Modetour, a
large South Korean travel
agency, said several cus-
tomers called with con-
cerns, but they weren’t
worried enough to pay
cancellation fees for their
trips. “It seems North Korea
racks up tension once or
twice every year, and trav-
elers have become insensi-
tive about it,” Won said. His
company has sent about
5,000 travelers to Guam a
month this year, mostly on
package tours.
The U.S. territory has a
population of 160,000, but
it attracted 1.5 million visi-
tors last year. One third of
Guam’s jobs are in the
tourism industry.
Guam is a key outpost for
the U.S. military, which uses
it as a base for bombers
and submarines.
The island’s sandy beach-
es and aquamarine wa-
ters also make it a popular
getaway for travelers from
Japan and South Korea.
Guam is only about three
hours by plane from major
cities in both countries.
The number of South Ko-
rean travelers in particular
has been growing lately
because five low-cost air-
lines started flying to Guam
from South Korea, said
Antonio Muna, the vice
president of Guam Visitors
Bureau. This helped boost
arrival figures to a 20-year-
high in July, Muna said.
The threats came in a week
in which longstanding ten-
sions between the coun-
tries risked abruptly boiling
over. New United Nations
sanctions condemning the
North’s rapidly develop-
ing nuclear program drew
fresh ire and threats from
Pyongyang. President Don-
ald Trump responded by
vowing to rain down “fire