Sharing the video of Zoom meeting held on September 22, 2020.

Tourism and Engagement in North Korea: How It Works

Speaker: Simon Cockerell

Tourism and cultural engagement with North Korea are fields with a great many restrictions applied from the DPRK side. However, the processes involved in arranging opportunities to visit the North and take part in various activities and projects are more complex and less fixed than many people imagine. Simon will speak on his experiences dealing with various different organisations in various different parts of North Korea both geographically and organisationally, will share how his company deals with their various partners, as well as with their clients, and how the demands of one side and the limitations of the other side can be made to meet somewhere in the middle.

When working in North Korea, an understanding that within the strict limits and rules there is space to make things happen is essential to having any success in doing more than just the basics. How to make filming trips different, how to provide unique experiences to tourists, how to maximise the potential for interaction between North Koreans and foreign visitors, all while staying out of trouble and also making sure that different local partners with different motivations and mandates are both happy and safe, are all often overlooked while the focus on North Korea is too often placed on the thoughts and decisions of just one person.