ENTREPRENEURSHIP, BUSINESS, AND ECONOMIC REFORM IN NORTH KOREA
BY JONGSOO LEE
What is the current state of entrepreneurship, business activity, and economic reform in North Korea? For a perspective on these matters, Jongsoo Lee interviewed Geoffrey See, founder of the Singapore-based Choson Exchange, who serves on the Global Future Council on the Korean Peninsula at the World Economic Forum.
Jongsoo Lee: Your website states: “Choson Exchange supports entrepreneurs and business-minded individuals in North Korea through workshops, internships, mentorships, and scholarships inside and outside of the DPRK.” From your experiences in training and working with North Koreans, how would you rate their entrepreneurial and business skills and abilities? In what areas, if any, do they still have room to grow?
Geoffrey See: Over a decade of work, we have trained close to 3,000 North Koreans in economic policy, business, and entrepreneurship. We bring volunteers to the country to lead workshops on these topics. Since COVID-19, we started an online program to deliver programs to our audience. Over the last decade, we have seen an increasing sophistication among North Korean entrepreneurs in terms of the businesses they operate, their scale, and their ability to cooperate with foreign partners. When we started, many North Koreans we met were in trading businesses or restaurants. Over time, we have seen new concepts, such as convenience store chains, property development, manufacturing, or even e-commerce take root.
Read the full interview at The Diplomat.
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Jongsoo Lee is a Pacific Council member, Senior Managing Director at Brock Securities, and Center Associate at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University. He is also Adjunct Fellow at Hawaii-based Pacific Forum. He can be followed on Twitter at @jameslee004.
This article was originally published by The Diplomat.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and speaker and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Pacific Council.
