"North Korea - What does it really look like?" by Walter L. Keats, President and Founder of Asia Pacific Travel

Friday November 25, 2011 starting from 12:00 noon at The Grand Hyatt Tokyo 

Have you ever wondered what really is happening in North Korea and what life must be like for North Koreans isolated from the rest of the world? Communications between the government and its peoples, to say the least, are very different from what we in Japan are used to. Our guest speaker, Walter Keats, will throw some light on what’s happening in this unique country.

Since 1995 when Americans were first allowed to visit the DPRK as "tourists" Walter Keats has visited North Korea (DPRK) 28 times and South Korea (ROK) about 30 times since 1972, following the tourism opportunities that come up.  There are no Americans in the US government who have been to the DPRK anywhere near that many times and most certainly not to as many places in the DPRK as Walter has visited.

During these trips Walter visited a broad range of sites in the DPRK, including the standard political sites, museums, educational facilities at all levels, cultural performances of all kinds including the Arirang mass performances that feature over 100,000 performers, agricultural cooperatives, light industry facilities, historic sites including UNESCO World Heritage sites, public transportation systems including the subway in Pyongyang, the railway and road travel by car, van and bus.

The conclusion that he has drawn from all these visits plus considerable additional study, reading, and discussions with others who are considered "specialists" on North Korea, some in academia, some in the government, some in think tanks, some in business, some working for NGOs, is that we are pursuing a counterproductive policy towards the DPRK.  Their songun (military first) system needs a bogeyman, and American, South Korea and Japan have been playing perfectly into the story they tell their isolated people.  Walter believes we need to focus on reducing tensions on the Korean peninsula primarily by concluding a peace treaty ending the Korean War, one that would include at a minimum the U.S. on behalf of the U.N. Command, South Korea, and North Korea.  Such a treaty would make it tremendously difficult for the DPRK to justify continuing their policy of songun, to continue to field a million-man army, and to claim a need for nuclear weapons.

In his presentation he will focus on images of life in the DPRK that is accessible to foreigners, while providing commentary on how these images may differ from the reality in other parts of the DPRK.

Walter L. Keats is the President and Founder of Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. (APTL), a tour operator specializing in custom, upscale individual and small group travel to East Asia. APTL was one of the first U.S. tour operators to arrange commercial tours to China beginning in 1978 and has been designated as the sole agent in the U.S. for the Korea International Travel Company in North Korea.  Mr. Keats attended Harvard College, majoring in Social Anthropology, and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He earned his Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) designation and his Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation.

APTL is the only American company directly authorized by the Korea International Travel Company in Pyongyang to arrange for tourists from America and other countries to visit the DPRK.

So come join us for what promises to be a fascinating presentation about what life is really like in North Korea something that as we live so close by should be of interest to many of us.