Sanctions-hit N. Korea to hold investment seminar, trade expo in Sept.

North Korea will hold a seminar on investment for foreigners at its tourism zone on the east coast and host a trade expo in Pyongyang late next month, a Canadian nonprofit agency said Thursday.

The move is seen as part of the North's move to earn hard currency as it faces economic hardship under a series of UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear and missile provocations.

The biennial investment seminar for foreigners will be held on Sept. 22-26 in the international tourism zone spanning from the eastern port city of Wonsan to Mount Kumgang, said Paektu Cultural Exchange, a China-based organization owned by a Canadian national.

This file photo, unveiled by North Korea`s state news agency on May 27, 2015, shows an investment seminar in the Wonsan-Mount Kumgang international tourism zone in North Korea. (Yonhap)

North Korea has been struggling to attract foreign investment by designating the Wonsan-Mount Kumgang area as a special zone for nurturing tourism. In May 2015, the country held an investment seminar there to develop the zone.

PCE said that in the cited period, participants could attend the 2017 Pyongyang International Trade Fair, a biannual event aimed at luring foreign investment and promoting exports.

They also have an option to attend an air festival in Wonsan to be held during the same weekend, it said.

Mount Kumgang was the venue for an inter-Korean tourism program until Seoul suspended the project in July 2008 following the killing of a South Korean tourist by a North Korean soldier. (Yonhap)