North Korean authorities have intensified swimming education in Pyongyang’s middle schools, citing war preparedness, as teachers face unprecedented scrutiny of their aquatic skills.
Speaking anonymously, a Daily NK source in Pyongyang said Monday that middle school teachers in the capital’s Songgyo District underwent swimming ability evaluations at the district’s Ri Kwang Su Senior Middle School in mid-July.
“Teachers are evaluated on their swimming abilities every year, but this time, the evaluations were stricter than ever,” the source said. “The reason is the urgent situation in which a war could break out at any time with South Korea and the United States intensifying their war exercises.”
The evaluations followed an education ministry order for stricter swimming assessments, citing the need for enhanced aquatic training due to the current geopolitical climate.
The district party committee’s education department issued a separate order, referencing the Korean War when North Korean soldiers reportedly drowned while retreating across the Nakdong River during the Battle of the Busan Perimeter due to inability to swim.
“You have to swim 50 meters to pass,” the source explained. “Previously, evaluations were often ignored or conducted as a formality by a selected middle school PE teacher. This year, the district people’s committee conducted the evaluations themselves.”
In past years, teachers could sometimes pass by bribing the evaluator with expensive cigarettes. This year, with committee officials evaluating, many teachers failed.
Officials from the district party committee’s education department oversaw the evaluations, rebuking those who failed: “If teachers can’t swim, how can we teach students? Have you forgotten the lessons of the Nakdong River, especially when war could break out at any time?”
Principals and party secretaries of schools where teachers failed were also criticized by the authorities.
Songgyo District’s party committee and people’s committee are now inspecting student swimming lessons during summer vacation.
“Schools without pools use the Taedong River,” the source said. “Officials are strictly monitoring these lessons, which they didn’t do before. Authorities are emphasizing swimming education more than ever, aiming to turn students into capable warriors for potential wartime scenarios.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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