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Kaesong, North Korea is north of the demilitarized zone which separates the two Koreas.David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press

The week's strange travel news.

Koryo Tours, a British company that offers trips to North Korea, said it's heard the isolated totalitarian state will now be open to foreign visitors all year long. In the past, none were allowed between mid-December and mid-January. A statement on the company's website noted: "This exciting news means that you can now spend Christmas and New Year's Eve in [North Korea]." What a great way to get away from the in-laws!

Not very stylish behaviour

A 47-year-old fashion designer reportedly got so drunk and rowdy on a flight to Shanghai last month that her plane was diverted to Alaska. Stephanie Heizmann Auerbach, who owns Stephanie & Co., was heading home on a Delta flight with her two children. According to crew members and first-class passengers, the designer chugged five glasses of wine just an hour and a half after leaving New York. Auerbach began cursing as she roamed the aisles, clambered on seats, and confronted others. She also snuck extra drinks from the galley. The plane landed in Anchorage and she was taken to a women's prison, while her children were allowed to stay on board to meet their father. There's a lesson here, always stop after the fourth glass.

You wanna park, you gotta pay

Do you hate the high cost of airport parking? It's unlikely you've ever been dinged as much as Jennifer Fitzgerald. The Chicago woman racked up $105,000 in fines at O'Hare International Airport after her ex-boyfriend abandoned her Chevy there in 2009. According to Fitzgerald, she couldn't get to the car since it was in an employee parking lot. However, in August, she reached an out-of-court settlement with the city of Chicago. She'll pay just less than $4,500, while her ex will give her $1,600. That's quite a discount. And no, her great-grandfather was not Al Capone.

Sources: Yonhap News Agency; Anchorage Daily News; Chicago Tribune.

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