FNK 1, Tim Beal

My first "Friend of North Korea", profile looks at Victoria University Senior Lecturer, Tim Beal.


According to his website, After completing an MA(Hons) in modern Chinese studies at the University of Edinburgh, Tim Beal went on to do a Diploma in Business Administration followed by a PhD on China's terms of trade. He subsequently studied Japanese at Sheffield University and was Ferranti Research Fellow at the Centre for Japanese Studies at Stirling University.

He has taught on subjects ranging from Chinese politics to international marketing at universities in Britain, Japan, China and New Zealand, where he moved in 1987. He is a senior lecturer in the School of Marketing and International Business where he currently teaches mainly international marketing, consumer behaviour and Internet marketing.

He was foundation director of the Centre for Asia/Pacific Law and Business at Victoria University of Wellington, 1992-98. He was Secretary of the NZ Asian Studies Society 1995-8 during which time he edited the 2nd edition of the NZASIA Directory of Asian Studies. He created the society's website and a web version of the Directory.

He is currently Chairman and Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Research Institute of New Zealand, Member of the Editorial Board of the NZ Journal of Asian Studies,and of International Quarterly Journal of Marketing, member of the Korea/NZ Business Council and a co-ordinator of The Asia Forum. He is a contributing author to PRNewsAsia

North Korea has been a big focus of Beal's work, especially since he first travelled there in 1998, with Trevor Harvey, hosted by the Korean Society for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

In 1999 Beal became Co-Editor,of "Pyongyang Report", with Don Borrie

In July 2001, Beal joined another delegation to North Korea.

The five-person delegation was led by Graham Kelly, MP, Chair of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and included fellow VUW academic Dr Stephen Epstein. It was hosted by the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and had a meeting with Yang Hyong Sop, Vice President, Presidium of Supreme People's Assembly, and officials in various areas including tourism, education and cultural exchange. The group also had extensive meetings with members of the international aid community in Pyongyang.

Tim Beal, has been the long time Secretary of the NZ-DPRK Society and since 2003 has been on the co-ordinating committee of its off-shoot the Korea Peace Committee.

He also maintains the DPRK-North Korea website


In 2005 Beal published a book on his beloved land, "North Korea: The Struggle against American Power"

The book was published London's "Pluto Press", well known for their stable of Marxist and leftist authors, including Noam Chomsky, Sheila Rowbotham, Pierre Bourdieu, Jean Baudrillard, Frantz Fanon, Hal Foster, Augusto Boal, Susan George, Israel Shahak, Antonio Gramsci, John Pilger and Manning Marable.