Lecturer: Simon Cockerell
Date: Tuesday, September 22. 07:30~09:00PM (Seoul)

We are inviting RAS members and friends to the RAS online lecture via Zoom

** Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82422555939?pwd=Ylp6dHVrNzdkb2t0RGZNbDdwSHlMdz09

Meeting ID: 824 2255 5939
Passcode: 101776

Tourism and Engagement in North Korea: How It Works

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.

Simon Cockerell, GM of Koryo Tours, has been working in DPRK tourism and
engagement for more than 18 years. Simon has visited North Korea more than
180 times for a wide variety of reasons and has been involved in expanding
tourism, arranging trips for school groups, sports teams, TV and film
crews, arranging the Pyongyang Marathon, and much more.