{"id":325336,"date":"2026-07-28T02:51:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T17:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=325336"},"modified":"2026-07-27T18:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T09:10:09","slug":"hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/","title":{"rendered":"Hyesan school shifts cooking exam costs to students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A technical senior middle school* in Hyesan, Ryanggang province, is drawing parent complaints over a new requirement. Students in its hotel cuisine class had to supply their own ingredients for a final exam in July 2026. It is the latest sign that North Korean vocational schools are shifting basic educational costs onto families, a source in the province told Daily NK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The source said the school ordered hotel cuisine students to bring ingredients for the exam on July 11. Students worked in groups of seven or eight, each preparing a dish assigned by their instructor. They then cooked the meals themselves in the school&#8217;s kitchen facility as part of the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each group collected an average of about 10,000 North Korean won for ingredients, the source said. Groups assigned meat-heavy or oil-heavy dishes paid more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Parents said paying for ordinary side dishes would not have been a major issue. But they argued the hotel cuisine exam calls for relatively expensive, upscale dishes rather than everyday fare, making the cost harder to bear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-wealthier-families-shrug-off-costs-poorer-households-push-back\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Wealthier families shrug off costs, poorer households push back<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wealthier parents were largely unbothered by the requirement. They saw it as a chance for their children to try an unusual and special dish, the source said. Parents with less money reacted with irritation instead, questioning what practical use the training would have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those parents also noted that graduates rarely go on to work in related fields. That, they said, casts doubt on the program&#8217;s practical value. The source described this as part of a broader resignation among North Korean people: job assignments are decided by the state, not by individual interest or ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The school had already struggled to run cooking classes during the semester because of supply problems, according to the source. Workers renovated the kitchen last year and installed a wood-burning stove and electric rice cookers. But the school still could not secure a stable ingredient supply for practice sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a result, students who did not arrange their own ingredients often could not take part in cooking practice at all, the source said. The curriculum calls for cooking practice two or three times a semester. Most of those sessions were skipped. Students got hands-on cooking experience mainly during the final exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The source summed up the dynamics driving the arrangement. &#8220;Practical training is actually determined by the school&#8217;s financial situation and the ability of students&#8217; families to bear the burden,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;Schools know they&#8217;re supposed to hold cooking practice two or three times a semester. But they can&#8217;t keep telling students to prepare ingredients, so they skip regular practice and make up for it with a single session during the final exam.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>*A technical senior middle school is a vocational-track institution in North Korea&#8217;s secondary education system that trains students in specific occupational skills, roughly equivalent to a vocational high school.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20260724-4\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<!-- Daily NK \u2014 A Note to Readers \u2014 End of Article Pattern -->\n<div style=\"background:#1a1a1a;border-top:3px solid #cc0000;padding:0;margin-top:32px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;\">\n  <div style=\"padding:20px 24px 24px;\">\n\n    <!-- Header row -->\n    <div style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:12px;margin-bottom:14px;\">\n      <span style=\"background:#cc0000;color:#fff;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:9px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.15em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:3px 8px;flex-shrink:0;\">A Note to Readers<\/span>\n      <div style=\"flex:1;height:1px;background:#333;\"><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Intro line -->\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:15px;color:#fff;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.4;margin:0 0 12px;\">Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n\n    <!-- Body -->\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13px;color:#bbb;line-height:1.75;margin:0 0 16px;\">\n      Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.\n    <\/p>\n\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13px;color:#bbb;line-height:1.75;margin:0 0 16px;\">\n      Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea &mdash; discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.\n    <\/p>\n\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13px;color:#bbb;line-height:1.75;margin:0 0 20px;\">\n      Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what&#8217;s happening inside one of the world&#8217;s most closed societies.\n    <\/p>\n\n    <!-- CTA row -->\n    <div style=\"border-top:1px solid #333;padding-top:16px;display:flex;align-items:center;gap:16px;flex-wrap:wrap;\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/how-we-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\n         style=\"background:#cc0000;color:#fff;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.08em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:9px 16px;text-decoration:none;flex-shrink:0;\">How We Report<\/a>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/830d12539ead\/dnkweeklybriefing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\n         style=\"background:transparent;color:#cc0000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.08em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:9px 0;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #cc0000;flex-shrink:0;\">Subscribe to Our Weekly Briefing<\/a>\n    <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- End Daily NK \u2014 A Note to Readers -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A technical senior middle school* in Hyesan, Ryanggang province, is drawing parent complaints over a new requirement. Students in its hotel cuisine class had to supply their own ingredients for a final exam in July 2026. It is the latest sign that North Korean vocational schools are shifting basic educational costs onto families, a source [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":259,"featured_media":50779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,1360],"tags":[271,703,709,729,738,767,1694,1857],"class_list":["post-325336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-society","tag-ryanggang-province","tag-education","tag-poverty","tag-students","tag-hyesan","tag-food","tag-wealthy","tag-non-tax-burdens"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hyesan students fund own cooking exam | North Korea News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Hyesan school had hotel cuisine students buy their own ingredients for a 2026 exam, fueling complaints over North Korea&#039;s education costs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hyesan school shifts cooking exam costs to students\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Hyesan school had hotel cuisine students buy their own ingredients for a 2026 exam, fueling complaints over North Korea&#039;s education costs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-27T17:51:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/\u5de1\u9053\u5de5\u51fa\u54c1_photo_by_Xundaogong_-_panoramio_106.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eun Seol\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eun Seol\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eun Seol\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4bfafdaf27e9f609b2d373ede23cac4\"},\"headline\":\"Hyesan school shifts cooking exam costs to students\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-27T17:51:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":492,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/\u5de1\u9053\u5de5\u51fa\u54c1_photo_by_Xundaogong_-_panoramio_106.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ryanggang province\",\"education\",\"poverty\",\"students\",\"hyesan\",\"food\",\"wealthy\",\"non-tax burdens\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hyesan students fund own cooking exam | North Korea News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/\u5de1\u9053\u5de5\u51fa\u54c1_photo_by_Xundaogong_-_panoramio_106.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-27T17:51:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"A Hyesan school had hotel cuisine students buy their own ingredients for a 2026 exam, fueling complaints over North Korea's education costs.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/\u5de1\u9053\u5de5\u51fa\u54c1_photo_by_Xundaogong_-_panoramio_106.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/\u5de1\u9053\u5de5\u51fa\u54c1_photo_by_Xundaogong_-_panoramio_106.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533,\"caption\":\"A panorama photo of the North Korean city of Hyesan taken in 2013. (Wikimedia Commons)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hyesan school shifts cooking exam costs to students\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Daily NK English\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/top_logo@1x.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/top_logo@1x.png\",\"width\":272,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Daily NK English\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"description\":\"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.\",\"email\":\"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net\",\"telephone\":\"82-2-732-6998\",\"legalName\":\"DailyNK\",\"foundingDate\":\"2004-12-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4bfafdaf27e9f609b2d373ede23cac4\",\"name\":\"Eun Seol\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png\",\"caption\":\"Eun Seol\"},\"description\":\"Eun Seol completed her doctoral coursework at the University of North Korean Studies and focuses on education and cultural issues in North Korea. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish(at)uni-media.net.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/eunseolenglish\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hyesan students fund own cooking exam | North Korea News","description":"A Hyesan school had hotel cuisine students buy their own ingredients for a 2026 exam, fueling complaints over North Korea's education costs.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hyesan school shifts cooking exam costs to students","og_description":"A Hyesan school had hotel cuisine students buy their own ingredients for a 2026 exam, fueling complaints over North Korea's education costs.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2026-07-27T17:51:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":533,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/\u5de1\u9053\u5de5\u51fa\u54c1_photo_by_Xundaogong_-_panoramio_106.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Eun Seol","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eun Seol","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/"},"author":{"name":"Eun Seol","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/e4bfafdaf27e9f609b2d373ede23cac4"},"headline":"Hyesan school shifts cooking exam costs to students","datePublished":"2026-07-27T17:51:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/"},"wordCount":492,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/\u5de1\u9053\u5de5\u51fa\u54c1_photo_by_Xundaogong_-_panoramio_106.jpg","keywords":["Ryanggang province","education","poverty","students","hyesan","food","wealthy","non-tax burdens"],"articleSection":["News","Society"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/","name":"Hyesan students fund own cooking exam | North Korea News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/\u5de1\u9053\u5de5\u51fa\u54c1_photo_by_Xundaogong_-_panoramio_106.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-27T17:51:00+00:00","description":"A Hyesan school had hotel cuisine students buy their own ingredients for a 2026 exam, fueling complaints over North Korea's education costs.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/\u5de1\u9053\u5de5\u51fa\u54c1_photo_by_Xundaogong_-_panoramio_106.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/\u5de1\u9053\u5de5\u51fa\u54c1_photo_by_Xundaogong_-_panoramio_106.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"caption":"A panorama photo of the North Korean city of Hyesan taken in 2013. (Wikimedia Commons)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hyesan-students-fund-own-cooking-exam\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hyesan school shifts cooking exam costs to students"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization","name":"Daily NK English","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","width":272,"height":90,"caption":"Daily NK English"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"description":"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.","email":"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net","telephone":"82-2-732-6998","legalName":"DailyNK","foundingDate":"2004-12-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"1","maxValue":"10"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/e4bfafdaf27e9f609b2d373ede23cac4","name":"Eun Seol","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png","caption":"Eun Seol"},"description":"Eun Seol completed her doctoral coursework at the University of North Korean Studies and focuses on education and cultural issues in North Korea. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish(at)uni-media.net.","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/author\/eunseolenglish\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325336"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":325339,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325336\/revisions\/325339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}