The Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (CCRFC) is a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

n organization tasked with organizing

cultural exchange Cultural diplomacy is a type of public diplomacy and soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose ...

with other countries. The committee was founded when the North Korean state was declared. It was modeled after its

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

equivalent, the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Initially the organization sought to generate goodwill toward North Korea abroad, but after the

North Korean famine The North Korean Famine (), also known as the Arduous March or the March of Suffering (), was a period of mass starvation together with a general economic crisis from 1994 to 1998 in North Korea. During this time there was an increase in defec ...

it has concentrated on acquiring resources. It seeks

hard currency In macroeconomics, hard currency, safe-haven currency, or strong currency is any globally traded currency that serves as a reliable and stable store of value. Factors contributing to a currency's ''hard'' status might include the stability and ...

from tourism, cultural diplomacy, and foreign direct investment. 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 The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...

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. Its activities overlap and to some extent compete with those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The current chairwoman is

Kim Jong-suk Kim Jong-suk (; 24 December 1917Suh Dae-sook. Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. – 22 September 1949) was a Korean anti-Japanese guerrilla, a Communist activist, North Korean leader Kim I ...

and vice-chairman So Ho-won. It is based in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

References

External links

* Foreign relations of North Korea North Korean culture Korea friendship associations {{NorthKorea-stub

See also

References

External links