PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—Daniel Olomae Ole Sapit, a member of Kenya’s semi-nomadic Maasai tribe, is now well aware that Pyeongchang is not in North Korea.
Last fall, Mr. Sapit, a 42-year-old representative for indigenous cow herders in his native Kenya, was registered to attend a United Nations conference on biodiversity in Pyeongchang, a ski resort just south of the heavily fortified border that separates the authoritarian North from the capitalist South.
Instead, Mr. Sapit ended up in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
After several anxious hours struggling to explain the mix-up to North Korean immigration officials, Mr. Sapit was escorted on a flight back to China—and on to South Korea.
“Pyongyang and Pyeongchang,” Mr. Sapit recalls. “For an African, who can tell the difference?”
Heading to the 2018 Olympic Games? Choose Your Korea Carefully - WSJ
Last fall, Mr. Sapit, a 42-year-old representative for indigenous cow herders in his native Kenya, was registered to attend a United Nations conference on biodiversity in Pyeongchang, a ski resort just south of the heavily fortified border that separates the authoritarian North from the capitalist South.
Instead, Mr. Sapit ended up in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
After several anxious hours struggling to explain the mix-up to North Korean immigration officials, Mr. Sapit was escorted on a flight back to China—and on to South Korea.
“Pyongyang and Pyeongchang,” Mr. Sapit recalls. “For an African, who can tell the difference?”
Heading to the 2018 Olympic Games? Choose Your Korea Carefully - WSJ
