Travis Jeppesen - See You Again in Pyongyang: A Journey into Kim Jong Un’s North Korea

THE FIRST WORDS I published on my travels to the DPRK focused on the countrys visual art and culture. Much of that early material was expanded upon in this book. I want to thank David Velasco at Artforum and Lindsay Pollock, Richard Vine, and Cathy Lebowitz at Art in America for commissioning and editing those initial pieces.

After my study trip to Pyongyang in 2016, Spring Workshop in Hong Kong provided me with a luxurious landing pad, a place to spend a month sorting through hundreds of pages of diaries and notes Id accumulated. It was a nurturing place to start work on a book. I am indebted to Defne Ayas, who recommended me for the residency, and the entire staff of Spring Workshop, especially Mimi Brown and Christina Li.

I flew from that urban megalopolis halfway across the globe to the forested environs on the outskirts of Vilnius, Lithuania, where I was hosted by the art center Rupert. There, I had the dual task of beginning the earliest draft of the book while simultaneously preparing for an exhibition that opened the same month. It was an invigorating and productive few weeks of work of the most gratifying sort, and Im grateful to Juste Jonutyte and the entire staff of Rupert for allowing it to happen.

In 2017, I was an international research fellow at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Seoul, where a good chunk of the books first draft was written. The experiences I had living and working in this fabulous city enriched and expanded my understanding of the depths of the Korean experiencehistorically, culturally, linguistically. I met many former residents of North Korea, most of whom I sadly cannot name; each forced me to make profound revisions to my understanding of life above the thirty-eighth parallel and collectively made me realize just how multifaceted, misunderstood, and unsummarizable those diverse life experiences really are. Their contribution to my project is inestimable. From my time in Seoul, I particularly wish to thank Sun Mu, Jang Jin Sung, Kim Kyung-mook, Kim Bom-hee, Dirk Fleischmann, Bartomeu Mari, Misa Shin, Barbara Cueto, Emily Bates, Son Kwang-ju, Park Hee-jung, Choi Sun, Yeo Gyeong-hwan, Eugene Kwon, and Emma Corrall.

Finally, the Hordaland Kunstsenter welcomed me as writer-in-residence in Bergen, Norway, while I was completing the final draft. Many thanks to Scott Elliott and Anthea Buys for the kind invitation and support.

Thanks to Alek Sigley and Tongil Tours for making the study trip happen. Also to Simon Cockerell and Koryo Tours for organizing my first visits to the DPRK. Pernille Skar Nordby was on one of those trips, and I gained much from reading her subsequent MA thesis on North Korean architecture. To John Monteith, who was with me on my first visit to North Korea, and whose photographs adorn these pages. And special thanks to Tom Masters for inspiring my interest in the country to begin with.

Miek Coccia has been more than just an agenta sounding board, a therapist, and, most of all, a friend. Certainly this book never would have seen fruition were he not nearby every step of the way.

Many thanks to Paul Whitlatch for his immediate and enthusiastic interest in the project and for his editorial insights that were vital in the manuscripts final revisions. And to the entire team at Hachette, especially Lauren Hummel, Carolyn Kurek, Joanna Pinsker, and Odette Fleming.

To my great friend and mentor Bruce Benderson, who knows more than me about the potential richesses that can be mined from getting lost. To Bertie Marshall for hosting me in London. To my late friend Brian Tennessee Claflin, who was both my muse and my biggest cheerleader and who knew I eventually would write this book. To all the friends in Berlin and elsewhere who have put up with my hours-long rants and conversations about North Korea over the years, thank you so much. To my parents, Debi and Jon Jeppesen, and my grandmother, Elizabeth Blackburn, for enduring it all. To Wang Ping-Hsianghome is wherever you are.

To all the friends in Pyongyang I cannot namesee you again someday.