South Korea
Unity through business
COULD THE MEETINGS INDUSTRY BE THE CATALYST FOR UNIFICATION BETWEEN
NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA? CMW’S STUART WOOD INVESTIGATES
hey might be the most
closely guarded meeting
rooms in the world.
In the de-militarised zone
between North and South Korea, there sit
two bright blue buildings, in a tiny chunk
of land walled off by trees. This is
Panmunjom or Truce Village, and it
straddles the de facto border of the two
countries, demarcated by a line in the
sand.
In April 2018, Panmunjom was the site
of an inter-Korean summit between
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. In June of
this year, US President Donald Trump
also visited the site for an impromptu
meeting with the North Korean leader,
taking several steps into North Korean
territory and shaking hands with
Chairman Kim.
Understandably, access to Panmunjom
is highly limited. Just two weeks before
Trump’s visit, CMW is in South Korea
for a tour of the country’s MICE and
“
A late-
night
karaoke
session,
ideally with
some chimek
(fried chicken
and beer) is
an essential
Seoul
experience for
visitors.”
Above:
Bulguksa
Temple,
Gyeongju
hospitality venues, and our trip to the
DMZ is scheduled to take us to
Panmunjom. But with just a day’s notice,
our tour guide breaks the news that our
visit has been declined, and we won’t be
able to take a step into the most secretive
nation on the planet.
Tensions, it seems, are still high.
going forwards.”
It’s a sentiment which is shared by Han
Shinja, Vice-Chair of the Korea MICE
Association. Han was part of the team
which helped to organise the April 2018
inter-Korean summit, and believes MICE
can be a crucial diplomatic tool for
bringing people together. “We have to
make an effort to understand North
Korean MICE, to exchange with them,”
she says. “If we can do so, our industry
can usher in a new era of co-operation
and communication.”
The idea is a fascinating one: could
North Korea, a country whose repressive
policies have left it isolated and with a
crippled, highly sanctioned economy, be
gradually opened up by MICE business?
Could this most inaccessible of countries
become an actual tourist destination, and
how many people would want to visit, if
convinced they would be safe?
Stephanie, our tour guide, speaks
candidly about the divide between North
and South Korea. For many it remains an
Bridging the line in the sand
24 hours earlier, we are sitting in the
main hall of Incheon’s Songdo ConvensiA
in South Korea, for the opening ceremony
of the Korea MICE Expo 2019. Kim
Kyung-sung, President of the South and
North Korea Sports Exchange
Association, is speaking about the
possibility of bridging that line in the
sand with a weapon more powerful than
military might: business.
“The MICE industry can offer a
platform for exchange and co-operation
between North and South Korea,” he says.
“I believe we will be able to build an
economic community with North Korea
ISSUE 102
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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