Lessons from Introducing OpenCourseWare in North Korea

One of our aims is to introduce OpenCourseWare in North Korea. We presented the concept behind OpenCourseWare and demonstrated some course materials in Economics, Physics and Mathematics during a trip to Pyongyang this year. It was very warmly received with a senior Party member arranging for us to meet the dean of a university to explain the materials in greater details. What I found interesting about the process was:

1. The North Koreans we met were very interested when we mentioned the big-name American universities that contributed to OpenCourseWare. The people we met were aware of famous American universities and seemed interested in what they had to offer.

2. It was only after the high level party official expressed his interest in the OpenCourseWare materials that people were willing to ask more about the materials. Hierarchy obviously matters a lot and having a top-level person give his approval made others willing to act on introducing these materials into the system.

Photos from September 2010 Projects in Pyongyang

(Pyongyang, North Korea) Small group workshop on finance and economic strategy

We have put a limited set of photos from our workshops and OpenCourseWare display in Pyongyang in September this year on our Facebook album page. Do take a look - you will have to register as a Facebook fan by clicking the Facebook page link on the column on the right side of this website.

Internship Program in London for Young North Koreans

We are exploring opportunities for young North Koreans fluent in English to participate in an informal internship or research assistantship in the fields of business (esp. finance), economic development, or law to gain professional understanding and exposure to these fields. The organization should be located in London. Ideally, we hope to attach them to a mentor from an established organization willing to take a strong interest in the educational and professional development of the intern. The mentor is likely to have a strong interest in North Korean issues. The period of internship can last up to a year. While compensation is not necessary (but much appreciated), the host should be able to cover transportation costs to and from work as well as lunch expenses at the minimum.

The program can be informal and non-contractual in nature. Please feel free to contact CEteam@chosonexchange.org if you have leads on possible hosts.

Met Mongolian State Secretary (of Wikileaks fame)

I recently met the Mongolian State Secretary who is mentioned in the recently leaked US cables. The Mongolians received a North Korean delegation and Mongolian diplomats passed on messages from the North Koreans to the US indicating a desire for bilateral dialogue. The Mongolians also highlighted a desire by North Koreans to shift their focus to the economy. I discussed the possibility of support for our knowledge-sharing programs in a variety of ways with the State Secretary.

Oct-November Update

Over the past two months, we have been having a series of meetings to prepare ourselves for our main project for next year. We intend to focus on one key economic institution in North Korea to help develop the institution. In preparation for this, we have - began consultation with experts in development finance, economics and law - met in Singapore with involved parties to understand whether the country would be a suitable venue for potential exchanges - began sharing our work with interested audiences through a series of conferences and at universities

We are now focusing on developing our fundraising materials to help ensure that our work becomes more sustainable.

North Korean President Cites Singapore as Ra-Son Gold Standard

North Korea recently released new promotional materials marking its vision for Rajin Sonbong in the northwestern part of the country. According to the Chosun Ilbo article, President Kim Il-Sung previously said: "Rajin-Sonbong must become a better city than Singapore when you establish an economic and trade zone there."

I can't think of better advertising for Choson Exchange as a Singapore-based organization supporting economic and commercial education in North Korea.

North Korea Launches PDA

I don't read Russian but a friend forwarded the following link with the heading "North Korea Develops Own PDA."

Conference Call with North Koreans on Overseas Education

We recently took a conference call with a North Korean to discuss Choson Exchange's work in knowledge-sharing and training in Pyongyang. The feedback was helpful as we work to compile our operational model and strategy to include in the fundraising materials we are currently preparing. Some of the points raised by our counterparts were:

1. The desire for scholarships for North Korean students to study in Singapore 2. The desire for CE to expand our current programs in finance/business/economics in Pyongyang to cover certain institutions

We promised to study these requests.

Delivering Customized Economics/Business Materials to DPRK

As part of our effort to reach out and inform audiences in the DPRK on the latest thinking on economics policy and business, we are distributing a reader in the DPRK with the following articles. Instead of shipping books to the DPRK, we focus on creating customized materials to be delivered to individual DPRKeans through our contact visiting the Ministry of Light Industry. Improving the Business Environment

1. Doing Business 2010, World Bank 2. Improving Performance at State-Owned Enterprises, McKinsey Quarterly

Managing Foreign Direct Investment

3. Making Foreign Investment Work for China, McKinsey Quarterly 4. Development Finance Report 2009 - Outlook on Foreign Direct Investment, The World Bank

Commercial & Corporate Finance

5. Basel III and Risky Banking, Knowledge@Wharton 6. ABC’s IPO Underscores the ABC of Banking in China, Knowledge@Wharton

E-Commerce

7. Can China Compete on IT Services, McKinsey Quarterly

Infrastructure Development

8. Private Sector Investment Opportunities for Public Infrastructure, McKinsey Quarterly

Knowledge@Wharton Knowledge Partnership

Thanks to the generosity of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, we will now being able to share cutting-edge business knowledge with North Koreans through borrowing articles from its Knowledge@Wharton publication.

The Wharton School is considered one of the top business school in the world, and has been consistently ranked number 1 by the Financial Times for the last 10 years and number 2 this year (which incidentally is also one of the preferred international newspapers among political elites in North Korea).