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North Korea might seem to be a country stuck in turmoil and disaster ― but close watchers of the country's internal dynamics know that over the past 20 years, new social and economic institutions began to grow and the knowledge of the outside world began to spread as North Koreans have increased their interactions with foreigners.
The foreign activities have remained largely unknown to the general public. However, recently a new website, www.engagedprk.org, revealed a strikingly large scale of foreign activities in North Korea. While the North Korean sobriquet of the ''hermit nation" is not completely unwarranted, in recent decades there have been a lot of foreigners working in North Korea ― the organizations and groups were counted in the hundreds, and the total number of projects exceeded 1,000.
The website captures activities from 1995, which is around the time North Korea started inviting foreign organizations to assist during their "Arduous March." The arrival of the numerous foreign NGOs and aid groups was vital to ensure the survival of the North Korean people. Soon afterwards, NGOs as well as commercial companies and international aid agencies began to work not only on famine relief, but also on other issues, including education, public health, infrastructure development and even microfinance.
Hard-liners may wonder, after seeing all of these foreign activities, if engagement has made any difference. The answer is "yes." The presence of the NGOs and commercial companies in North Korea is something to be encouraged by those who care about the people there and the future of their country.
To start with, without the involvement of the aid agencies and NGOs, there would be a lot less North Koreans around. During the famine of the late 1990s, foreign food aid and, also, medical assistance played a major role in saving, perhaps, millions of lives. It is estimated that some half million North Koreans perished in 1996-2000, but without foreign aid the death toll may have been higher.
Now the economic situation in North Korea has improved, and there is less need for straightforward food assistance. But emergency and development assistance continues to help children and expectant mothers, as well as victims of nearly annual flood disasters.
But can we see such assistance as a support for the regime? Not exactly. The "regime" we commonly think of are the elite in the central government, living in Pyongyang. However, the North Korean government that foreigners interact with consists of midlevel bureaucrats and technocrats, as well as provincial officials.
By interacting with foreign groups, they learn how things are done outside their country's borders, and in some cases they discover new and effective alternatives to their common methods. The likely result of such discovery is that a growing number of North Koreans will be open to change and adopting international standards. In other words, the presence of outsiders ― their technologies and their goods ― is a factor that can help North Koreans meet their own goal of being a prosperous nation.
There is another dimension in the issue, which is frequently overlooked. When North Korea increases its integration with the international community, it will face a great number of challenges, one of which will be the acute disparity in knowledge of international standards and norms of the modern world. For decades, the North Korean population has been cut off from the outside world, so when things start opening, it may be difficult for them to adjust to different technological and social demands. Additionally, foreigners may find it challenging to work with a country that functions with highly different rules.
This is another reason why one should welcome the presence of foreign aid and business projects in North Korea. Such projects make possible interaction between foreigners and North Koreans, thus giving both sides opportunities to learn something about how to effectively operate with international standards in North Korean society. These early relationships are paving the way to set helpful precedents for both North Koreans and foreigners.
Therefore, one can only hope that an increasing number of NGOs and foreign businesses will be present in the North as the country slowly changes for the better. One should not be naïve: there are no quick fixes, and changes are going to take years and even decades. However, without such interactions, changes will be even more difficult, or simply impossible.
Prof. Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. You can reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com.
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