The US and other Western powers have a long history of trading fuel and food aid in exchange for a reduction in the number of fan conventions planned by the North Korean government.  Past events for Battlestar Galactica, Firefly/Serenity and Twilight fan communities were canceled at the last minute after intensive negotiations brokered by Singaporean mediators broke down.

Pentagon officials secretly fear a successful Doctor Who convention ruse and cancelation could send tensions on the peninsula soaring by spurring an accelerations of events like those of the spring of 2009, when 10 busloads of German tourists were left stranded at the South Korean side of the DMZ after a Buffy the Vampire Slayer convention they were scheduled to attend was canceled the day before it was set to commence.