The North Korean government has ordered each of the country’s province to select around ten students as candidates for an overseas study program, Daily NK has learned.
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Monday that, “After the central government gave special orders for ten or so people to be chosen as initial candidates for studying overseas, the provincial department of education has been picking the cream of the crop from the No. 1 High School, which is known for its outstanding students.”
While the order to select students for studying overseas was supposed to be a state secret, the news was leaked by cadres with children in the provincial party committee’s organization and education departments, the source said.
North Hamgyong Province reportedly plans to complete its selection of ten talented students from the No. 1 High School by the end of this month.
After receiving the students’ applications, the provincial state security agency will carry out background checks over a three month period. The students judged to have a reliable songbun, or social status, will then be instructed to wait until mid-October under the care of the provincial party committee’s organization department.
“The students who are selected for studying abroad will complete coursework in Pyongyang and then be sent to China and other countries next spring,” the source said. “The government’s policy is to keep selecting more bright students to study abroad each year.”
Prior to this, students from Pyongyang were the main candidates for study abroad programs. However, the government is now seeking to recruit students from areas outside the capital city to encourage competition with Pyongyang-based candidates during the preparatory phase with a view to ensure truly talented students are selected, the source explained.
In short, since opportunities were only going to the sharpest students from Pyongyang, talented people in the provinces were not being given a chance to shine. That prompted some members of the government to propose recruiting students from the provinces as well, the source said.
Following this initial round of provincial recruitment, the government plans to select even more people from the provinces next time around.
“Since the government needs to send its sharpest minds to other countries to gain much-needed proficiency in the areas of diplomacy, economics, defense and science, it stressed that selections should be based entirely on talent and songbun, and that choosing students who have given bribes or who are the children of cadres would go against government policy,” the source said.
Currently, the organization department of North Hamgyong Province’s party committee is pushing the department of education to move forward with the selection of candidates. It is also instructing the provincial state security agency to carry out background checks conscientiously and truthfully with the understanding that it will be held responsible for any issues that arise following its report.
Interestingly, the source told Daily NK that party cadres and donju (as members of the wealthy entrepreneurial class are known) have little interest in arranging for their children to study abroad.
“People don’t like being under an endless cloud of suspicion from the Ministry of State Security after getting back from overseas,” the source explained, adding, “Cadres in particular don’t want their children going outside of the country.”
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