Yun Ko-eun’s disconcerting and darkly funny novel The Disaster Tourist follows the misfortunes of Yona, a disgruntled coordinator for the travel company Jungle. Yona’s employer organizes guided tours to destinations that have been traumatized by disaster – earthquakes, floods, fires and war, amongst dozens of other categories. When she threatens to quit her job after a co-worker sexually harasses her, Jungle executives try to keep their veteran employee by offering her a free trip to the Southeast Asian island of Mui. This ‘opportunity’, Yona soon learns, is merely an extension of her work responsibilities; Mui’s tourist numbers have been decreasing for years, and Yona’s job is to determine if Mui should be removed from Jungle’s list of tour offerings. Upon her arrival, she finds herself swept up in a plan – spearheaded by the manager of the resort where she is staying – to save Mui’s status as a Jungle destination. But his plan to orchestrate an artificial catastrophe that will put Mui back on the map soon goes awry. As Yona debates the merits of putting the lives of Mui residents at risk for Jungle’s profit, she realizes that her own life is in jeopardy.
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