Michael Spavor

Michael Peter Todd Spavor is a Canadian consultant who has worked extensively in North Korea. He is director of Paektu Cultural Exchange, an organization that promotes investment and tourism in North Korea.[1]

Michael Spavor
Spavor pictured in 2010
Born
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Websitepaektuculturalexchange.org

In December 2018, while he was living and working in Dandong on the Chinese side of the China–North Korea border, Spavor was taken into custody by Chinese officials.[2] His arrest is widely interpreted as retaliation for Canada's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.[3][4]

History

Michael Spavor was born in Calgary, Alberta. He has a degree from the University of Calgary in international relations, focusing on the Korean Peninsula and East Asian Studies, and has studied International Trade and Political Science at Kangwon National University in South Korea.[5] Spavor is fluent in Korean, including the North Korean dialect,[3] and French.[5]

Spavor's ties with North Korea go back to at least 2001,[3] when he first visited the country. In 2005, he became the managing director of a Vancouver-based NGO and spent six months working as a teacher at an affiliated school in Pyongyang. In the same year, he met American defector James Joseph Dresnok in Pyongyang.[6] Spavor is friends with Kenji Fujimoto, Kim Jong-il's Japanese former sushi chef, whom he first met in Japan in early 2016 and again in April 2016.[7]

In South Korea, Spavor attended Kangwon National University and worked for the Korea Tourism Organization and Seoul Tourism Organization. He also was a council member of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch from 2010 to 2013, giving lectures and leading cultural excursions.[8] He gained attention for restoring and living in a hanok in Bugahyeon-dong in western Seoul,[9] and appeared in a music video for the K-pop group SES.[10]

From 2010 to 2013 Spavor worked for the Pyongyang Project, a Canadian non-profit that organized educational exchanges in North Koreans and provided scholarships for North Korean students overseas, and in 2015 he founded Paektu Cultural Exchange.[11]

Spavor has strong personal ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.[3] In September 2013, Spavor facilitated the second visit of Dennis Rodman to North Korea and became one of the few Westerners to have met Kim while in the city of Wonsan. Spavor later organized Rodman's 2014 visit.[12][13] Spavor has been involved in the financial development of Wonsan, which is a high priority for Kim Jong-un, who has invested at least $150 million into the city.[3]

Paektu Cultural Exchange

In January 2016, Spavor and Paektu Cultural Exchange sought a European Order for Payment against the betting company Paddy Power for failing to fulfill their contractual obligations after they pulled sponsorship for a basketball event to be held in North Korea.[14]

In March 2016 Spavor organized the Pyongyang International Friendship Ice Hockey Exhibition (PIFIHE), bringing around 20 foreign hockey players[15] to North Korea, including two Canadian residents of South Korea, for a series of games and other workshop events.[16]

In 2017, during a qualifying match between the North and South Korean women's ice hockey teams for the 2018 Winter Olympics, Spavor was assaulted by South Korean security officials as he tried to display the North Korean flag.[17]

Outside of sports exchanges, Spavor also played a role in the restoration of the Ryongwang Pavilion in Pyongyang, spending four years on the project alongside the Prince Claus Fund and North Korea's National Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.[18]

Spavor is often consulted by analysts and journalists for insights into North Korea.[3] He has, however, been reluctant to comment on politics and human rights in North Korea.[1]

Detention in China

In December 2018, China detained Spavor and Michael Kovrig, another Canadian national, on charges of endangering state security. The arrests came shortly after Canada had arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, in what is becoming an escalating diplomatic row between the two countries.[3]

Spavor and Kovrig are reported to be held in isolation without being allowed outdoors, kept under lighting and surveillance 24 hours a day, with 6 to 8 hours of interrogations per day.[19] China has allowed three consular visits as of February 1, 2019.[20] During Spavor's detention, his friends noticed suspicious activity on his social media accounts, leading them to believe Chinese interrogators were accessing his accounts.[21]

In mid-December 2018 a GoFundMe campaign was started to raise funds for Spavor to help with any legal and travel costs following his release,[22] but after it reached C$10,000 three weeks later on 7 January 2019 the crowdfunding platform terminated the campaign without notice or explanation.[23] The campaign was reinstated later.

Andrei Lankov, an expert on North Korea, expressed surprise over Spavor's arrest in this "hostage game", saying that Spavor "is from very humble origins [and] definitely not the son of a CEO of a major Canadian company".[24] Friends describe Spavor as "only pursuing his love for Korea"[25] and "not really interested in politics... more passionate about things on a smaller scale ― people-to-people interactions, and friendship among citizens of different countries, regardless of geopolitical climate or issues."[26]

References
  1. "Michael Spavor: The detained Canadian close to Kim Jong-un". BBC News. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  2. 北朝鮮交流事業のマイケル・スパバ氏 中国でのVIP待遇から一転スパイ罪（1/2）. KoreaWorldTimes (in Japanese). 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  3. Smith, Josh; Ljunggren, David (13 December 2018). "Detained in China: Canadian businessman known for ties to North Korean leader". Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  4. Clarke, Donald (December 17, 2018). "China is holding two Canadians as hostages. It's not even denying it". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  5. "About PCE - DPRK Academic Exchanges | DPRK Cultural Exchange | DPRK Investments". Paektuculturalexchange.org. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  6. Michael Spavor. "Interview with the late Joe Dresnok's two sons about their father's death and legacy. (And my chance meeting with him) | the Paektu blog". Paektuculturalexchange.org. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  7. Michael Spavor. "PART 3: FINDING FUJIMOTO: How Fujimoto and I first met | the Paektu blog". Paektuculturalexchange.org. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  8. An, Sonjae (2013). "2013 COUNCIL THE KOREA BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY". Transactions. 88: 4.
  9. "Hanok, built by nature". G-Korea (2). Arirang. 16 January 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  10. Carruth, David (July 2010). "North of the Border" (10). 10 Magazine. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  11. Lee, Jeong-ho (14 December 2018). "DEC 14 2018 TRANSLATING CHINA POLITICS He built a career on North Korea. Now China's come for him". Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  12. Fifield, Anna (2017-03-25). "North Korea's leader is a lot of things — but irrational is not one of them". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  13. "The Canadian behind Dennis Rodman's travels in North Korea". Macleans.ca. 2013-12-01. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  14. Mark Paul (2016-01-22). "Paddy Power's Pyongyang problem". Irishtimes.com. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  15. Dunbar, Jon (21 March 2016). "Ideological barrier melts down with skating, shooting and body checks". The Korea Times. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  16. Dunbar, Jon (3 March 2016). "Canadian brings hockey to North Korea". The Korea Times. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  17. At the Olympics, It’s Not Just North Koreans Rooting for North Korea
  18. "4-Day Pyongyang, Mass Games, Trade Fair, DMZ & Film Festival Tour". Paektu Cultural Exchange. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  19. Vanderklippe, Nathan (10 April 2019). "Two Canadians detained in China for four months prevented from going outside, official says". Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  20. "Detained Canadian Michael Spavor gets third consular visit in China". 1 February 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  21. Hotham, Oliver (2 January 2019). "DPRK consultant's social media activity hints at invasive Chinese interrogation". Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  22. Small, Kaylen (18 December 2018). "GoFundMe campaign created for Michael Spavor, Canadian detained in China". Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  23. Bronskill, Jim (7 January 2019). "Friend worried about detained Canadian after fundraising effort shut down".
  24. Berlinger, Joshua (13 December 2018). "Second Canadian detained in China as diplomatic spat intensifies". CNN. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  25. Dunbar, Jon (20 December 2018). "China, release our friend". The Korea Times. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  26. Zwetsloot, Jacco (30 December 2018). "My life at a Korean law firm (part 44)". The Korea Times. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
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