Mark Cohen's Adventure - InterNACHI in North Korea

[Mark Cohen]

It not possible to fly from Seoul to Pyongyang because the two countries are still technically at war, but I flew back to Beijing, and had previously arranged for a visa so I could fly to Pyongyang.

I met with a man who is some kind of assistant in the ministry of housing, and their official position is that in this "workers' paradise" residential and commercial structures are always constructed properly, so they are skeptical that there is any real need for a large number of inspectors or for that kind of training.

Unofficially, they know they could learn a great deal from us. They are also interested in learning about building codes. I think if we could bring a group over here later this year we might make some inroads, and it would be a coup for InterNACHI.

Actually stayed in a pretty nice hotel here. More to say, but not in this email.

[Larry J. Michael]

I will volunteer to go.