A thematic analysis of tourism scholarly articles in North Korea: Focusing on the articles published in ‘Economic Research’ in 2012~2019

The purpose of this study was to explore how the scholarly discourses on tourism studies emerged and evolved within North Korea by analyzing the main research themes that appeared in a North Korean scholarly journal, “Economic Research”, from 2012 to 2019. A total of 40 scholarly articles containing the terms “tourism,” “hotel,” and “travel agency” in their titles were analyzed, covering the period from Kim Jong-un's inaugural era in 2012 to right before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. Using thematic analysis, the tourism articles published in Economic Research were divided into two main periods: from 2012 to 2016, which focused on a basic understanding and general overviews of the tourism industry, and from 2017 to 2019, when more detailed topics related to tourism management were explored and an increasing number of articles were published. Additionally, new themes such as ecotourism and international tourism market trends emerged during the second period. The diversity of research themes and the inclusion of international case studies suggest that North Korean scholars are actively collecting and analyzing materials and information on current tourism trends. The findings of this study provide insights into how North Korea perceives and accepts tourism as a socioeconomic phenomenon and are expected to contribute to the sustainable development of inter-Korean tourism exchange and cooperation in the future.