North Korea recently conducted a nationwide selection of outstanding students for transfer into major universities as part of efforts to cultivate experts to run economic growth zones in the country.
With North Korea preparing to reopen as it watches global COVID-19 trends, the country appears to be actively cultivating economic officials to lead economic development zones in each province.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK on Dec. 21 that the authorities recently conducted a month-long campaign to recruit “outstanding students at light industrial colleges and commercial colleges in Pyongyang and the provinces for transfer into major universities.”
The recruitment drive ended on Dec. 14.
The source said prior to drive, universities across the country were allotted recommendations in accordance with a Cabinet-approved plan to select outstanding students majoring in light industry, commerce, accounting, statistics and management for transfer into “specialized departments for economic zone development” to be created at Kim Il Sung University, People’s Economy College and Jong Jun Thaek University of Economics in Wonsan from the first semester of next year.
The students selected in the month-long campaign have reportedly received notices transferring them to major universities from the first semester of next year.
In particular, North Korean authorities reportedly called the effort “2023’s ratified task to establish principles to cultivate talent for [North Korean-style] economic development through trade, an area of particular interest to Kim Jong Un, the president of the State Affairs Commission.”
Kim reportedly approved the effort, emphasizing that the most important thing is to “prepare workers to lead the nation’s new economic development” by “boldly and generously selecting the best talent on a nationwide scale and giving them world-class skills.”
Pyongyang plans to give the students transferred into the universities intensive basic training in economics, management, trade, accounting, law and finance, as well as send them overseas for study.
The move suggests the authorities intend to reinvigorate the country’s economic development zones — the engines driving economic development of the Kim Jong Un era — by focusing on developing new generation talent to operate and manage economic development zones while dealing with foreign investment companies.
The source said the top talent was selected, regardless of which school they went to or which year of study they were in.
“The authorities called on those selected to strive to develop their skills, telling them that the state would take charge of sending them abroad to study, getting them into graduate school and turning them into the economic officials of the future,” he said.
The source further reported that the selected students are becoming objects of envy “with rumors going around that the state plans to send them overseas for study.”
“In the past, if you asked kids what they wanted to be, they said artists, donjuLiterally "masters of money," donju refers to people who hav... More or cadres, but now, kids educated by open-minded parents say they want to be scientists or researchers,” he added, using a term to describe the country’s wealthy entrepreneurial class.
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