Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries
The Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries is a North Korean organization tasked with organizing cultural exchange with other countries.
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. Initially the organization sought to generate goodwill toward North Korea abroad, but after the North Korean famine it has concentrated on acquiring resources. It seeks hard currency from tourism, cultural diplomacy, and foreign direct investment.
The committee supports the Korean Friendship Association and other friendship societies, and to a lesser degree leftist organizations the likes of National Lawyers Guild. 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. Staff are likely to be motivated to increase exchanges with foreign countries because they will directly benefit from it. The committee is considered a powerful organization. Relations between the committee and the Foreign Ministry of North Korea are somewhat strained.
The current chairwoman is Kim Jong-suk and vice-chairman So Ho-won. It is based in Pyongyang.
