May 5, 2006 

This year’s spring 2006 Teachers’ Conference served as a day-long introduction to North Korea for over 30 educators in the greater New York area.

The conference was opened by Alexander Vorontsov, a visiting fellow at the Center for Northeast Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, who presented a lecture titled “Socioeconomic Reform in North Korea: Achievements, Obstacles and Prospects,” which discussed the impact the collapse of the Soviet Union had on North Korea’s economy. Randall Ireson, DPRK development assistance coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee’s agricultural assistance program gave the second presentation, titled “Doing Aid in North Korea: Glimpses of Ordinary Life.” Ireson did a PowerPoint presentation showing his first-hand experience with aid work in the country. He also discussed how North Korea’s much-publicized food shortages during the 1990s could help spur important agricultural reforms.

The presentations were followed by a screening of Dutch filmmaker Pieter Fleury’s documentary North Korea: A Day in the Life, which took the teachers through a day in the life of a North Korean family. The film was followed by a question and answer session led by Vorontsov, Ireson and Fred Carriere, the vice president and executive director of The Korea Society.