Experiences in North Korea, RAS Lecture
I'll be going to this tonight with Sara and some other people. You should join us. I got to talk to Simon yesterday and he has lots of insightful information on North Korea.
Dan
You can find events like this at www.korea4expats.com, which is run by the fabulous Anne.
The Royal Asiatic Society holds regular lectures on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at the Somerset Palace near Isa-dong. Exceptionally, because of the two holidays in January, this lecture is on the 3rd Tuesday and is the only RAS Lecture in January.
DATE: Tuesday 20 January
TIME: 7:30PM
VENUE: Somesert Palace, 2nd Floor Residents Lounge
COST: Free for RAS members /Non-members are asked to contribute W5,000.
About the Topic:
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is a place that any and all can locate on a map, name the leader of and know a good amount of information about (some true, some false) but yet despite being located in the heart of the world’s most economically dynamic region and surrounded by such major states as China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea, still maintains the distinction of being the least visited country in the world; a place that exudes mystery. A black-hole of certainty that regularly fills the world’s newspapers with rumour, claims, and counter-claims; a paradise for information speculators and an enigma for the great many people in East Asia and beyond that take a keen interest in events that take place between the Yalu River and the Korean DMZ.
Since 1993 Beijing-based Koryo Tours (http://www.koryogroup.com) has been the market leader in accessing the DPRK and organising group and individual tours for almost all nationalities. In the past few years this company has innovated not only in the field of tourism but has produced 3 award winning documentary films within North Korea with unprecedented access to the most fascinating stories and everyday life of the population of this mysterious country. In addition Koryo Tours have organised school trips, cultural exchanges, sports tours (the first soccer, volleyball, ice hockey, and even cricket tours of the North) as well as visiting the country every month to maintain a close contact and awareness of the ground realities of what life is like in the capital Pyongyang, and beyond
About the speaker:
Simon Cockerell, General Manager of Koryo Tours, has, since 2002, visited North Korea 70 times and travelled to all of the places it is possible to reach as a non-NGO, non-governmental worker. He will share with us his experiences and anecdotes in the broader context of explaining just what can be expected from a trip to the DPRK, what hoops must be jumped through to make it all happen, what sort of people go there, how the tourism system there works, and much more besides. Expect to hear rumours confirmed and debunked, unexpected and humanizing stories about the North Koreans that his company deals with, unusual tales of what you experience when you spend part of every month travelling around North Korea, and what being Air Koryo’s most regular flier does to a person.
Simon Cockerell is from the UK and has been based in Beijing, PR China for the past 8 years
For more information contact: raskb@kornet.net or telephone 02-763-9483.
Getting to Somerset Palace:
From Anguk Station (line number 3, Stop 328) go out exit No 6. OR from Jonggak Station (line number 1, Stop 132),go out exit No. 2. Somerset Palace is located in the same block as Jogyesa Temple and the Jongno-gu Office.
See attached map
Taxi Directions: [안국동, 한국일보사 앞에 내려주세요.]
Please visit: http://www.raskb.com
