Gumball drivers set to enter NK tomorrow

More than a hundred participants in Gumball 3000, an annual international rally where luxury car owners join to drive around the world, are expected to visit hardly luxurious North Korea tomorrow.

Participants, who started their eight-day trip at San Francisco last Saturday, are expected to spend a night in Pyongyang on Wednesday before going on to China to watch the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“All participants will get to experience an unprecedented one night in North Korea as part of a global ‘friendship’ initiative, getting to watch the Mass Games (their version of the Olympics) en route to rejoin their cars in Nanjing,” the rally organizer said in its official Web site (http://www.gumball3000.ro).

Owners of 120 cars including Ferraris, Porsches, Corvettes, Range Rovers, Bugattis, Lamborghinis, low riders and electric cars kicked off their 4,830-kilometer (3,000-mile) journey through San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas. Each participant paid $120,000 to take part in the 10th anniversary rally, which will cover Hangzhou, Shanghai and Xuzhou in China before reaching the final destination, Beijing.

“Fueled by adrenaline, amusement and amity, the 2008 route from the West to the East, including the city of Pyongyang, North Korea, will be a real once-in-a-lifetime adventure,” Maximillion Copper, Gumball founder, said in a statement.

This year’s entrants include actor David Hasselhoff driving KITT from his 1980s “Knight Rider” television series.

By Jung Ha-won Staff Reporter [hawon@joongang.co.kr]