Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries
Template:Short description Template:Infobox Korean name
The Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (CCRFC; Korean: Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Category handler) is a North Korean organization tasked with organizing cultural exchange with other countries.[1]
Overview
The committee was founded when the North Korean state was declared. It was modeled after its Soviet equivalent, the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.[2] Initially the organization sought to generate goodwill toward North Korea abroad, but after the North Korean famine it has concentrated on acquiring resources.[3] It seeks hard currency from tourism, cultural diplomacy, and foreign direct investment.[2] The current chairwoman is Kim Jong-suk and vice-chairman So Ho-won.[4][5] It is based in Pyongyang.[6]
Ideals
The committee supports the Korean Friendship Association and other friendship societies. The staff of the committee leads a relatively cosmopolitan life with access to foreign travel, people, and goods. Its personnel includes higher-ups in the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and the state security apparatus. The staff arrange business deals with foreigners to evade international trade restrictions and receive a share of the proceeds. Although these deals have had limited success, the committee remains influential as a point of contact for journalists and other foreign visitors, whose guides may be representatives of the committee.[2] Its activities overlap and to some extent compete with those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[3]
In relation to Japan, one of the countries with which North Korea does not have diplomatic relations in East Asia, the association is often the North Korean organization that welcomes non-governmental delegations when they visit North Korea. One example is the visit to North Korea by a group from Sakaiminato City in Tottori Prefecture, which had a friendship city relationship with Wonsan City.[7]
See also
- Politics of North Korea
- Foreign relations of North Korea
- Culture of North Korea
- Alejandro Cao de Benós
- Ministry of External Economic Relations
References
External links
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