North Korean Economy Watch

I Updated the information on Kimsoft:

The DPRK UN Mission in New York does not issue any visas at all under an agreement reached with the United States. Visas to Americans are issued by the DPRK Embassy in Beijing. You may contact Mr. Kim Ryong Hwan (A representative in Beijing of the Korea International Travel Company, Fax 011-86-1-532-4862) for visa or travel information.
Non-Koreans can reach Pyongyang by train or air by way of Moscow or Beijing. Some Japanese and Koreans resident in Japan are allowed to come to Wonsan by ship.

1. Short-term teaching or other works in N Korea: A letter of recommendation or introduction from Graham Bell, the Eugene Bell Foundation, the Carter Center or a Christian church organization may enhance the chances. If you are a Korean compatriot, all you have to do is either to make a stopover at the UN Mission and identify yourself or to send a letter to the Overseas Compatriots Aid Committee in Pyongyang.

A. Contact the DPRK New York UN Mission by email or smail or phone or Fax or go to New York to visit the mission:

Permanent Representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the United Nations
515 East 72nd Street, 38-F, New York, N.Y. 10021
Telephone: (212) 972-3106
FAX (212) 972-3154

B. Write a letter direct to his or her target university or institution in North Korea, offering to teach English, history, engineering and etc. Upon receiving a positive response or letter of invitation, you are to visit the North Korean Embassy in Beijing (Phone: 532-1186 visa section: 532-4148 or 6639).

2.  Travel to the DRPK:
*Koryo Tours: http://www.koryotours.com/
*I visited with the Korean Friendship Association: http://www.korea-dpr.com/

A. AIR KORYO, Flughafen Schoenefeld, D-12521, Berlin, Germany: Fax: +49 (0) 30 – 60 91 36 65.
B. Korea Publications Exchange Association, Ri Chang Sik, Fax: +850-2-3-814 632.
C. National Directorate of Tourism, Central District, Pyongyang, DPR Korea Tel: (2) 381 7201. Fax: (2) 381 7607.
D. Kumgangsan International Tourist Company, Central District, Pyongyang, DPR Korea, Tel: (2) 814 284. Fax: (2) 814 622.
E. General Delegation of the DPRK, 104 boulevard Bineau, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, Tel: (1) 47 45 17 97. Fax: (1) 47 38 12 50. Telex: 615021F.
F. Regent Holidays UK, 15 John Street, Bristol BS1 2HR, Tel: (0117) 921 1711. Fax: (0117) 925 4866. 
G. David Hunter — Edwards and Hargreaves Holidays Ltd, Portland House, 1 Coventry Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England LE7 7HG, Fax 01858 433427 Tel: 01858 432123
H. Mr. Pak Gyong Nam, Manager — SAM Travel Service, Korea International Travel Company, Central District, Pyongyang, DPR of Korea, Tel: 850-2-817201, Telex: 5998 RHS KP, Fax: 850-2-817607
I. North Asia Consultancy & Services Co, Ltd is in a position to organise business missions into NK for European businessmen.NACS is organising on a regular basis sectorial fact finding missions to North Korea on behalf of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in (South) Korea.

3. Information:
The European Union Chamber of Commerce : Tel : 822-543-9301~3; Fax : 822-543-9304; E-Mail : [email protected]

Young Koreans United of the USA, P.O. Box 12177, Washington, DC 20005-0677, tel. 202-387-2420

International Korean Alliance for Peace and Democracy, 2530 1/2 South Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016, tel. 213-733-7785.

Travel Time email, 1 Hallidie Plaza, Suite 406, San Francisco, CA 94102, USA ; phone +1-415-677-0799, fax +1-415-391-1856, 1-800-956-9327 (1-800-9-LOW-FARE) toll-free in the USA

Chugai (Phone: 81-3-3835-3654, Fax: 81-3-3835-3690) based in Tokyo. It is affiliated with Chongryun, the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan. It arranges package tours to Pyongyang every month.

The Kumgangsan International Group ( email or Web Page) handles investments in N Korea. This group also makes travel arrangements. It is operated by Ms. Park Kyung Youhn, a Korean-American woman, who is not associated with Chongryon.

Ryohaengsa Korea International, Pyongyang, Korea; Tel. (850) 2-817 201, Fax (850) 2-817 607

The DPRK Committee for the Promotion of External Economic Cooperation, Jungsongdong, Central District, Pyongyang. FAX 011-850-2-3814664 and Tel: 011-850-3818111,2,3 & 4.

4. Research and Other Scholarly Works: At present, no institution, center, school or university in the DPRK is ready for “official exchanges” with American counterparts. Such exchanges will likely come only after the two ‘enemy’ countries have signed a peace treaty and established diplomatic relations. However, Kim Il Sung University has established a sister rela tionship with Seton Hall University. American scholars and authors are allowed to examine North Korean archives on an individual basis. Contact the Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, Kim Il Sung University, the Party Revolutionaly History Institute or the Asia-Pacific Peace C ommittee.

5. Check with the DPRK UN Mission for the phone and fax number of other agencies: The DPRK UN Mission is not the only gate to North Korea. Americans and other foreigners are being invited to visit the DPRK by way of many other organizations in the States, Japan and other parts of the world.

North Koreans are being invited to visit the United States not necessarily through the good offices of the New York mission. Any American host can establish a direct access to North Korea by mail, fax, and phone or by personal courier.

Warning: There are ‘horror’ stories of bureaucratic bungling by the DPRK Beijing Embassy vis-à-vis invited American guests. They are partly true and partly untrue. A possible explanation is a poor communication between the prospective visitor, th e UN mission and the DPRK. The DPRK Embassy in Beijing makes it the iron rule not to issue a visa even to a carrier of a written invitation from a DPRK organization unless it has been instructed to do so by the Foreign Office in Pyongyang.

The prospective visitor is advised to make it double sure with the host organization or the UN mission that the host organization has arranged for issue of a visa through the Foreign Office and that a visa is ready in Beijing (Phone: 011-86-1-6532-1186 or 1189, FAX: 011-86-1-6532-6056. Visa Section: 011-86-1-6532-4148 or -6639).

This entry was posted on Monday, February 27th, 2006 at 5:17 pm and is filed under Foreign direct investment, International trade, Tourism, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.