North Korea will host its own blockchain and crypto conference next spring. The program may indeed be a little cryptic still – but the blockchain doesn’t seem to feature strongly.
North Korea, the reclusive state run by the Kim dynasty, will – after all – hold its own blockchain and crypto conference. Initially set for October, the event has been moved to April 2019 instead.
The way it was moved to a later date speaks volume about the local approach to openness: the old dates have simply been removed and the new one published without further comment on a website that incidentally claims to be the official webpage of North Korea. In truth, it is run by Alejandro Cao de Benós, the special envoy of the government and president of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA).
Taking in the Sights
The event will last for eight days and participants have to fork out a respectable 3,300 euros ($3,732) each – or 3,363,503 won, the local currency. Alternatively, you could afford a month’s rent of a furnished 85-square-meter apartment in one of Pyongyang’s nicer areas, 6,000 kilos of tomatoes, 15,000 eggs or 18 40-inch flat-screen TV sets.
Apart from the two-day event, the conference fee includes an obligatory tour, with a war museum, a university campus and a beer brewery as major attractions – the «Economist» reported that beer was the only useful good that North Korea was better at than its neighbor in the South.
Tricky Means of Communication
Internet access however is not included. Neither is roaming. Because they both don’t exist. Apart from at the 3-star-hotel, which the organizers have arranged for participants to stay at. For $5, participants of the conference can used the internet for an hour and they can also make telephone calls.
Of course, if you prefer a little privacy than using a public communications facility, you may want to opt for a North Korean SIM card instead – however, buying one of those the organizers say is not really worth it given the short time participants will stay in the country.
U.S. Citizens Are Welcome
Participants will be able to take their own laptop, smartphone or tablet – and U.S. citizens are welcome to sign up. Potential participants from South Korea, Japan and Israel aren't, and neither are journalists.
The schedule of the conference has yet to be published. Christopher Emms, the CEO of Token Key, an ICO and blockchain firm, presented himself as organizer via his LinkedIn account. He was looking for speakers and participants.
