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2017.06.28
| Won | Pyongyang | Sinuiju | Hyesan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Rate | 8,070 | 8,050 | 8,095 |
| Rice Price | 5,800 | 6,000 | 5,900 |
It appears that the North Korean leadership is trying to limit the scale of ‘special admissions’ to the country’s best universities for the children of officials. This is being done, according to an inside source from the North Korean capital, in order to expand admissions for ordinary families and burnish Kim Jong Eun’s reputation as a man of the people.
The Pyongyang source told Daily NK on the 22nd, “New orders were recently handed down by Kim Jong Eun placing a limit on the number of children from the Central Party Secretariat list entering Pyongyang universities. It stated that children of ordinary workers and families from rural regions should have more opportunity to get into good universities.”
Thanks to North Korea’s discriminatory social system based on loyalty to the Kim family, it has long been overwhelmingly the children of loyal elite families who get admitted to ‘prestigious’ universities, while even the most talented children struggle to get into a good university if their family background is open to question.
However, “Of late there have been more ordinary people demanding that their children be able to enter prestigious universities,” the source went on to explain. “It seems that North Korea, which has been promoting Kim Jong Eun as a ‘people’s leader’, wants to dispel these popular complaints.”
The ‘Central Party Secretariat’ mentioned by the source refers to a list of positions appointed by the Central Party authorities. This includes not only all posts in the Central Party, but also: state ministry portfolios and other core Cabinet positions; provincial, municipal and county administrative officials; and senior military posts. It also encompasses officials and managers overseeing the work of large industrial enterprises.
The source explained, “This order has been issued because cadres with power and money have been using it to buy college admission rights for their children from the universities. It has now become more difficult for cadres, even if they do have money and power, to get their children into a central university unless they have some talent.”
The source continued, “Obviously officials are complaining about this order, but the authorities have told them that it is part of making sure that Kim Jong Eun’s New Year Address is properly implemented in terms of creating a ‘scientifically and technologically powerful state’.”
However, he added, this has not stemmed the flow of anger. “The cadres will likely fight back, because a child’s education is not something they will yield over,” he said. “We will have to wait and see whether the policy can be implemented well or not.”
North Korea has a handful of universities that are considered superior to the rest. These include Kim Il Sung University, Kim Chaek University of Technology, International Relations University and Kim Hyong Jik College of Education.
Parents are told that background does not matter and that school grades are the deciding factor in admission decisions, but in reality admission can be bought and sold by those with power and money.
The Pyongyang source told Daily NK on the 22nd, “New orders were recently handed down by Kim Jong Eun placing a limit on the number of children from the Central Party Secretariat list entering Pyongyang universities. It stated that children of ordinary workers and families from rural regions should have more opportunity to get into good universities.”
Thanks to North Korea’s discriminatory social system based on loyalty to the Kim family, it has long been overwhelmingly the children of loyal elite families who get admitted to ‘prestigious’ universities, while even the most talented children struggle to get into a good university if their family background is open to question.
However, “Of late there have been more ordinary people demanding that their children be able to enter prestigious universities,” the source went on to explain. “It seems that North Korea, which has been promoting Kim Jong Eun as a ‘people’s leader’, wants to dispel these popular complaints.”
The ‘Central Party Secretariat’ mentioned by the source refers to a list of positions appointed by the Central Party authorities. This includes not only all posts in the Central Party, but also: state ministry portfolios and other core Cabinet positions; provincial, municipal and county administrative officials; and senior military posts. It also encompasses officials and managers overseeing the work of large industrial enterprises.
The source explained, “This order has been issued because cadres with power and money have been using it to buy college admission rights for their children from the universities. It has now become more difficult for cadres, even if they do have money and power, to get their children into a central university unless they have some talent.”
The source continued, “Obviously officials are complaining about this order, but the authorities have told them that it is part of making sure that Kim Jong Eun’s New Year Address is properly implemented in terms of creating a ‘scientifically and technologically powerful state’.”
However, he added, this has not stemmed the flow of anger. “The cadres will likely fight back, because a child’s education is not something they will yield over,” he said. “We will have to wait and see whether the policy can be implemented well or not.”
North Korea has a handful of universities that are considered superior to the rest. These include Kim Il Sung University, Kim Chaek University of Technology, International Relations University and Kim Hyong Jik College of Education.
Parents are told that background does not matter and that school grades are the deciding factor in admission decisions, but in reality admission can be bought and sold by those with power and money.
