Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries

{{Short description|North Korean cultural exchange committee}}

{{Infobox Korean name

| image = Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries logo.gif

| context = north

| hangul = 대외문화련락위원회

| hanja = 對外文化連絡委員會

| rr = Daeoe munhwaryeollak wiwonhoe

| mr = Taeoe munhwaryŏllak wiwŏnhoe}}

The Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (CCRFC; {{Korean|hangul=대외문화련락위원회}}) is a North Korean organization tasked with organizing cultural exchange with other countries.{{Cite web |title=Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries |work=North Korea Tech |date=11 January 2011 |access-date=11 February 2019 |url= http://www.northkoreatech.org/the-north-korean-website-list/committee-for-cultural-relations-with-foreign-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.{{Cite web |title=North Korea's Cultural Relations Strategy |work=North Korean Economy Watch |date=2 March 2008 |access-date=11 February 2019 |url= http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2008/03/02/north-koreas-cultural-relations-strategy/ }} Initially the organization sought to generate goodwill toward North Korea abroad, but after the North Korean famine it has concentrated on acquiring resources.{{Cite web |title=Philippines donates to DPRK school |work=North Korean Economy Watch |date=7 July 2011 |access-date=11 February 2019 |url= http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2011/07/07/philippines-donates-to-dprk-school/ }} It seeks hard currency from tourism, cultural diplomacy, and foreign direct investment.

The committee supports the Korean Friendship Association and other friendship societies. 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. The staff arrange business deals with foreigners to evade international trade restrictions and receive a share of the proceeds. Although these deals have had limited success, the committee remains influential as a point of contact for journalists and other foreign visitors, whose guides may be representatives of the committee. Its activities overlap and to some extent compete with those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The current chairwoman is Kim Jong-suk and vice-chairman So Ho-won.{{Cite web |title=Science Book Fair Opens |work=North Korea Leadership Watch |date=12 September 2018 |access-date=11 February 2019 |url= http://www.nkleadershipwatch.org/2018/09/12/science-book-fair-opens/ }}{{Cite web |title=DPRK-Cuba Solidarity Committee Meets |work=North Korea Leadership Watch |date=23 February 2018 |access-date=11 February 2019 |url= http://www.nkleadershipwatch.org/2018/02/23/dprk-cuba-solidarity-committee-meets/ }} It is based in Pyongyang.{{cite book|title=Worldwide Government Directory with Intergovernmental Organizations 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQWhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA890|year=2013|publisher=CQ Press|isbn=978-1-4522-9937-2|page=890}}