Abstract
This paper assesses the nature and the level of North Korean foreign contacts with academic, training, and dialogue operations by examining sixty-six cases of such contacts. Several characteristics appear noteworthy regarding the pattern and the nature of North Korea's recent engagement. First, North Korean foreign contact increased dramatically in 1998. Second, North Korean sponsoring organizations now include both governmental and non-governmental groups. Third, North Korean participants have come to include many technocrats and experts, unlike the past pattern of repeat visits by a relatively small number of individuals. Fourth, hosting organizations that are either international organizations or non-profit organizations funded most of the North Korean visits. Fifth, North Korea has been pursuing recent engagement mainly in substantive and pragmatic fields rather than in the areas where symbolic representation has a value. Sixth, contacts for training programs and study tours are not limited to socialist or former socialist countries but encompass many capitalist systems. The US hosted the largest number of delegations, followed by China, Thailand, Switzerland, and Hungary. Seventh, Japan and South Korea are noticeably excluded from the diversified hosting groups. Eighth, North Korea lends to prefer training in social sciences such as finance and business management in politically friendly countries while technical training in such areas as energy, medicine and agriculture is not restricted to these countries. North Korea carefully selects contacts to focus only on the areas that are expected to contribute to enhancing regime legitimacy and the stabilization of the ruling system.