North Korea bands runners from foreign countries to participate in the Mangyongdae Prize Marathon help in the capital. Many people in Korea are afraid of Ebola and fear that people from other countries could come and affect people in their country. More than 400 applications were cancelled following the band.
I think this is a good idea to put a band on foreigners just so that people can be safe from the deadly virus. This can relate to history during the Great Migration many people had diseases causing them to spread to other people killing them.
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/23/asia/north-korea-marathon-ban/index.html
I can see how this would be a safe plan in protection of the people, however, it also seems like an extremely exaggerated fear. Yes, Ebola and other infectious diseases are a threat to any country, yet this is almost like if we banned any foreigners from entering the U.S. at all for fear of disease, when disease can and has spread on its own just as easily within the U.S. without outside help. North Korea is already relatively isolated from other nations
ReplyDeleteand with the high amount of controlled media and public knowledge, maybe this fear has grown into exponential proportions for other reasons? We don't know exactly, but I am glad that they are protecting their people from these circulating diseases.
- Sophia Davison