Daniel Olomae Ole Sapit only wanted to make it to a conference, never imagining the danger he would face.
It was October 2014, and this Kenyan from the Maasai tribe, an advocate for Indigenous communities and father of three, had everything ready for an event on biodiversity in Pyeongchang, South Korea. But his travel agency made an error that would completely change his day: it bought him a ticket to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. A single letter separated the two names, and no one noticed in time.
“There’s a lot of confusion between the two”, said Daniel Olomae Ole Sapit.
Sapit suspected that something was wrong as the plane descended and he didn’t see the city of Seoul through the window, but rather a small, run-down airport, with people digging trenches by hand.
North Korea, one of the most secretive countries in the world, strictly controls its airspace, and foreign visitors must have official visas. So, as you can imagine, it took no time at all for them to put Sapit in their sights.
He was detained for more than four hours and, thanks to a woman who noticed what was happening and spoke English better than the officials, Sapit managed to explain the mistake. He had to pay 500 dollars for an exit ticket and sign a document promising not to return without a visa. “I signed it very quickly”, said Sapit.
Finally, he was allowed to continue his journey to South Korea.
Today he tells his story as a friendly warning to anyone traveling: check your itinerary as you would a contract, because sometimes the destination of an entire life depends on a single letter.
He remains the only known Kenyan to have set foot on North Korean soil, making his story extraordinary.
In 2018, Pyeongchang, South Korea, hosted the Winter Olympics and, to avoid further confusion with Pyongyang, its name began to be promoted internationally as “PyeongChang”, with a capital C. But perhaps… it isn’t enough. 😅