CE Updates, Reports
Choson Exchange
Our 2023 Annual Update

Three years into the pandemic, Choson Exchange thrives with online programmes in North Korea

Our 2023 Annual Update
Our Blog, CE Updates
Choson Exchange
2023 Update: Choson Exchange launches 6 more ...

After successfully delivering 8 online programmes to North Korea since the start of the pandemic, we look forward to returning in-country and continuing to develop a hybrid approach to fostering entrepreneurship in-country

2023 Update: Choson Exchange launches 6 more online programmes with students in North Korea

Inter-Korean Talks 2018: Is a Thaw in Sight?

Inter-Korean Talks 2018: Is a Thaw in Sight?

We bring volunteers to train North Korean entrepreneurs inside the country. As such, any de-escalation of tensions is good news to us. Inter-Korean talks began Tuesday morning at the DMZ. While talks are good, they are only a start. In this case, the crux of the issue is still the nuclear/ICBM standoff, and these talks are only a starting point to find a way to resolve the issue. Without compromise on some or all sides, this precious momentum could still easily stall. But as David Carden, the first US resident Ambassador to Southeast Asia points out, sometimes talking about an expanded range of issues alongside the core issue could create negotiating space.

The Economic Aspects of Kim Jong Un’s New Year Address

The Economic Aspects of Kim Jong Un’s New Year Address

Every new year day, DPRK or North Korea publishes a New Year’s Address from Kim Jong Un that sets the focus for the year ahead. Much has been said on two aspects: Kim Jong Un’s “nuclear button”, a deterrence message (“I will launch my weapons at a notice if you threaten me”) and the rapprochement aspect with South Korea. Some consider the suggested North Korean attendance at Pyeongchang an off-ramp now that North Korea has achieved a threshold deterrence capability, while others consider it a peace offensive meant to split the US-South Korea-Japan alliance.

Privacy Policy

This privacy policy sets out how Choson Exchange will store and use information relating to you.

Whether you join us on a workshop, subscribe to our newsletter or just browsing our website, we want you to know that we are fully committed to protecting your privacy. Once you choose to provide us with any information by which you can be identified, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

If you have questions about how we use your data or what we do to protect your privacy, please don’t hesitate to email us at team@chosonexchange.org.

How we use your information

When you provide your contact details to us (either via the website ‘contact us’ form, or via email), you’ll need to provide consent for us to process your information. This consent is our legal basis for processing.

We gather a basic level of information when you provide us your information (hereafter referred to as ‘Contacts’.  For those who go on to join us as workshop leaders (hereafter referred to as ‘Workshop Leaders’ we require further information.

Contacts

Type of information and How we use it

  • Name: Newsletter; Share with selected donors and auditors
  • Email address: Newsletter
  • City: Production of annual reports
  • Expertise: Share with selected donors and auditors
  • Nationality: Share with selected donors and auditors; production of annual reports
  • Contact history: To ensure you only receive the information you have requested, and to ensure that we contact you for workshops and events which may interest you

WORKSHOP LEADERS

Type of information and How we use it

  • Name: Newsletter; Share with selected donors and auditors; share with partners in North Korea
  • Email address: Newsletter; share with partners in North Korea
  • City: Production of annual reports; share with partners in North Korea
  • Expertise: Share with selected donors and auditors; share with partners in North Korea
  • Nationality: Share with selected donors and auditors; production of annual reports; share with partners in North Korea
  • Signed legal waiver: Share with auditors
  • Resume/Curriculum Vitae: Share with partners in North Korea
  • Powerpoint slide deck for workshop presentation: Share with partners in North Korea
  • Previous programms attended: Production of annual report
  • Contact History: To ensure you only receive the information you have requested, and to ensure that we contact you for workshops and events which may interest you

Website visitors

When you use our website (www.chosonexchange.org) we will also collect the following information. 

Type of information and How we use it

  • Your device’s IP address: To set your default options such as currency and language; To protect our website from fraud or malicious software; to review website traffic load
  • The type of device you are using to access our website: To ensure that our website is displayed in the correct format for your device
  • How you reached us: To review website traffic load

Internal use

We will also use any/ all of the above information for our own internal analysis to help us better understand our contacts and potential volunteer base, and how people use our website.

Sharing your information

We will never sell, distribute or lease your data to any third party, except with those as detailed below.

In order to fulfil our obligations to our donors and auditors, and to provide you with a highly personal level of service, we do share Contact data with the following data controllers:

  • Podio, who we use to manage our contacts.  Podio use Amazon Web Services to host our customer data in Dublin, Ireland.
  • Mailchimp, who we use to distribute our email newsletter and follow-up emails
  • Selected donors and our auditors will also on occasion receive basic information on Contacts as detailed above.

If you choose to go on to become a Workshop Leader with us, we will also share:

  • Your signed legal waiver document with our auditors
  • Supporting documentation for your trip (resume/ curriculum vitae, passport scan and your workshop presentation) with our partner organisation in North Korea.

Email marketing

If you opt-in to receive marketing emails from us, we’ll send you a monthly email keeping you up-to-date with news of our recent workshops and upcoming events.

In order to receive emails from us, you only need to provide us with your email address.

If you have attended a workshop with us before, we may use this information to send you emails about upcoming alumni events.

Rest assured that we will never make opting-in a condition of receiving a service from us.

You can opt-out of receiving marketing emails from us at any time by:

  • Clicking the ‘Unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of any of our marketing emails
  • Contacting us at team@chosonexchange.org

Cookies

A cookie is a small text file which asks permission to be downloaded onto your computer or smartphone when you visit a website. It allows the website to recognise your device each time you access the website.

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience, and to analyse web page traffic to make sure that you and other customers can find what you’re looking for easily.

You can disable cookies within your internet browser settings.

Retaining your information

We will keep your personal information until you tell us otherwise.  This helps us to provide you with a personalised service each and every time you contact us.  Upon request, we will delete all information held against you.

Your rights

When it comes to your personal information, you have the following rights:

  • The right to be informed about how we use your information
  • The right to access any information we hold about you
  • The right to correct any inaccurate information that we hold about you
  • The right to request that we delete information that we hold about you
  • The right to request that we stop processing your information i.e. using it for any or all of the purposes set out in this privacy policy
  • The right to access your information in such a way so that it can easily be transferred from environment to another in a safe and secure way
  • The right to object to, and opt-out of our email marketing at any time

We will always ensure that our services are made available to you in a way that makes it easy for you to exercise any of these rights, at any time. If you have any questions or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us.

Countries outside of the European Union

As we are an international organisation, some data will necessarily be passed on to parties who operate outside of the European Economic Area.  The details of what data is passed to what parties is detailed above. As with all of our data transfer, this is carried out in a secure way and only the information stated above will be provided.

How to contact us

We welcome all feedback, good or bad.

If you

  • Have any questions about how we collect and use your information
  • Would like a copy of the information we hold about you
  • Would like to update or remove any of the information we hold for you
  • Would like to exercise any of your rights explained above

you can email us at team@chosonexchange.org

This privacy policy was last updated on 30 May 2018.

Digital Detox Week in the DPRK

Digital Detox Week in the DPRK

From the moment you board the flight from Beijing, things feel different.  Like any flight, you expect to have to set your phone to airplane mode, but the feeling of going off-grid is tangible.  A final “see you in week!” text and Facebook update as the plane pushes away from the gate, and an air of resignation when the attendant asks you politely to switch off.  Some speculatively check for coverage upon landing at Pyongyang Sunan airport, but as foreign SIM cards can’t connect to the local network, there isn’t much point.

Green Peppers & Sleek Slides: The Pyongsong Startup Bootcamp

Green Peppers & Sleek Slides: The Pyongsong Startup Bootcamp

While Pyongyang remains the most glitzy and booming city in North Korea, Pyongsong has emerged as one of the country’s most important trading hubs. It’s also home to a growing community of ambitious entrepreneurs. So when the latest group of CE volunteers arrived in the DPRK earlier this month, there was a sense of excitement — and a room full of North Koreans who were eager to show the progress they had made over the past year.

How Does It Feel To Be in North Korea during Rising Tensions?

How Does It Feel To Be in North Korea during Rising Tensions?

'Things seem relatively normal in Pyongyang. Families and friends were out having dinner and drinks, going to the grocery store, etc. and there was no real sense of anxiety. I found it very striking actually how orderly everything in the city was. No one was particularly rowdy and everyone minded their own business. Not chaotic at all.' - Hear from one of our recent workshop leaders about what it is like to be in North Korea during this intensive situation.

July Workshop on Real Estate & Urban Development in Pyongyang

July Workshop on Real Estate & Urban Development in Pyongyang

The Choson Exchange team just returned from a two-day workshop for more than 100 local participants in Pyongyang, hosted by three professionals with real estate and investment backgrounds.The team introduced the concept of the Business Model Canvas as a lean tool to plan out businesses, and explain the role innovation plays in modern urban development. CE volunteers presented examples from Vietnam, London and Singapore. They also shared their experiences in financial projection, investment strategy, and managing real estate projects.

Interest rates at North Korean Banks

Interest rates at North Korean Banks

At our workshop on entrepreneurship in real estate in August, we came across a banking brochure in our hotel in the DPRK. The bank offers fixed deposit interest rates of 7-12% annualized for a range of foreign currencies including US Dollars, Euros and Chinese Yuan. We do not know in practice how this would work since we never visited the bank, and Koreans we talked to seemed skeptical about getting money back from banks.