Just a year ago, many feared the Korean Peninsula may descend into war — but with a fresh start between old enemies at the inter-Korean Summits and the US-DPRK Summit, that fear turned into optimism. Alas, it didn’t last, and we are again facing a familiar stalemate. Despite the cycle of mistrust, events on the Korean Peninsula in 2018 have led us to hope for a better future.

While rockets got bigger and sanctions became tougher in 2017, an enthusiastic group of local frontier entrepreneurs continued launching startups that make life better for people in the DPRK. Our latest Annual Report describes the challenges we faced and progress we made in one of the most difficult geopolitical environments in the world.

The year 2015 started on a challenging and demoralizing note: DPR Korea imposed a 21- day quarantine on all visitors to the country, amounting to a near travel ban. Despite the uncertainty, we continued planning for programs.