Current status of North Korean exhibition industry and strategy for exchange & cooperation in inter-Korean exhibition industry

The complexities of peace surrounding the Korean Peninsula, such as the 2018 Inter-Korean(South-North) Summit, the breakdown of the US-North Korea Hanoi Summit in 2019, and the subsequent reunion of Panmunjom US-North Korea, call for a new approach to inter-Korean exchange and cooperation. In a broad sense as part of the tourism industry, ‘exchange & cooperation in exhibition industry’ has already been carried out , and is an industry that can be easily accessed from the industrial side of the manufacturing. Therefore, research on exchange and cooperation in the exhibition industry is a timely and necessary field in establishing a new inter-Korean relationship. As a preliminary stage of exchange and cooperation, it is necessary to first grasp and understand the current status of the exhibition industry in North Korea. Therefore, this study primarily summarizes the current status of the North Korean exhibition industry in a comprehensive manner, and systematically analyzes both aspects of hardware and software in the North Korean exhibition industry to identify the characteristics of the North Korean exhibition. Furthermore, it aims to contribute to the development of the unified Korea's exhibition industry by seeking ways of exchange and cooperation and drawing implications. Exchange & cooperation in the exhibition industry between the two Koreas should not only take both industrial and human exchange, but also need to be promoted step by step in a politically less burdensome area. First of all, it is necessary for the two Koreas to form an ‘visitors group’, visit mutual exhibitions, and then exhibitors participate in the mutual exhibition. Furthermore, as a part of building a joint infrastructure for the exhibition industry, it can lead to discussions on the construction and operation of the exhibition convention center, which brings various meanings for inter-Korean exchange & cooperation. Bilateral human-material exchange will be an effective means of resolving mutual hostility between the two Koreas and building trust. The exchange & cooperation of the exhibition industry through this natural process can contribute to the formation of peaceful relations between the two Koreas and to solidify the international peace image.