{"id":43221,"date":"2019-12-23T15:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T06:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=43221"},"modified":"2026-04-05T12:33:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T03:33:58","slug":"kim-il-sung-university-graduates-ordered-doctoral-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/kim-il-sung-university-graduates-ordered-doctoral-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Kim Il Sung University graduates ordered into doctoral programs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued an order for the top students in next year\u2019s cohort of graduates from Kim Il Sung University to be automatically enrolled into the university\u2019s three-year graduate (doctoral) programs. The order was issued on the eve of the eighth anniversary of his father Kim Jong Il\u2019s death on Dec. 17.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As with other top universities in North Korea, Kim Il Sung University nominates the students with top scores in each department and places them in a special \u201celite\u201d category.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There have been similar cases of compulsory graduate school enrollment for top students in the past. These &#8220;forced enrollments&#8221; have occurred at science and engineering schools such as Kim Chaek University of Technology and the Institute of Natural Science in Pyongyang. However, sources say that to enforce graduate school enrollment for all of the top scoring students in every department at North Korea\u2019s top general university is unprecedented.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>KEEPING THE &#8220;MOUNT RYONGNAM LINE&#8221; ALIVE<\/p>\n<p>Sources explained that the order is likely linked to broader policies of the North Korean leadership to help cultivate the next generation of leadership.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe move is also linked to the deeper aims of the Party, and its goal of selecting the top students at Kim Il Sung University\u2014those who best embody the spirit of the \u2018Mount Ryongnam line,\u2019\u201d one source explained. In other words, the underlying intent can be traced back to Kim Jong Un\u2019s hopes that in these changing times, when youth are already five generations removed from the revolution, there will be those who step up to keep the spirit of the \u201cMount Ryonnam line\u201d alive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In North Korea, those who fought alongside Kim Il Sung against the Japanese colonial forces\u2014that is, the first generation revolutionaries\u2014and their children are referred to as the \u201cMount Paektu line.\u201d Those who worked alongside Kim Jong Il during the years he established a monolithic ideological system and system of unitary leadership\u2014that is, both classmates at Kim Il Sung University as well as graduates of the university who would later become top brass\u2014are referred to as the \u201cMount Ryongnam line.\u201d The moniker comes from Kim Il Sung University\u2019s location at the foot of Mount Ryongnam, in the Taesong district of Pyongyang.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amid gradual generational shifts, all of the above can be seen as part of a project to select an elite group of graduates from Kim Il Sung University to cultivate into future Party leaders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_43196\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-43196\" style=\"width: 741px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-43196\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/\uae40\uc77c\uc131\uc885\ud569\ub300\ud559.jpg\" alt=\"kim il sung university elite\" width=\"741\" height=\"494\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/\uae40\uc77c\uc131\uc885\ud569\ub300\ud559.jpg 741w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/\uae40\uc77c\uc131\uc885\ud569\ub300\ud559-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/\uae40\uc77c\uc131\uc885\ud569\ub300\ud559-696x464.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/\uae40\uc77c\uc131\uc885\ud569\ub300\ud559-630x420.jpg 630w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 741px) 100vw, 741px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-43196\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The main entrance of Kim Il Sung University. \/ Image: Kim Il Sung University website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAll of top graduates from each of the departments at Kim Il Sung University have become part of Kim Jong Un\u2019s scheme, and their transcripts marked accordingly. Regardless of what they or their families want, they are now obligated to attend graduate school,\u201d said a source.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>MIXED REACTIONS FROM STUDENTS<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This new policy has provoked a variety of reactions among the students of the university. Depending on where the students are from, these reactions generally fall into one of two camps. According to sources, the Pyongyang students due to graduate at the top of their class next year (March 2020) are at a loss: the recent measure has effectively thrown a wrench in their plans after graduation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The top graduating students who originally hail from the provinces outside of Pyongyang, however, see this policy as an opportunity for social advancement. In their mind, explained sources, a degree from the graduate program of the university will guarantee that they will be able to live in Pyongyang. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students with a four-year bachelor\u2019s degree from Kim Il Sung University who also complete the three-year postgraduate program at the same university are generally placed in research positions or given professorships, guaranteeing them residency in Pyongyang.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, there remain a few students from the provinces whose responses are more ambivalent, because of their difficult financial situation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFor the past four years, students from the provinces have used up all the money their families could afford, and if they attend another three years of graduate school, they must ask their families for more money,\u201d said a source. \u201cMost of these students will try to get through their graduate school program by tutoring wealthy Pyongyang children or children near their university so they can eventually settle down in Pyongyang.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>*Translated by Violet Kim<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued an order for the top students in next year\u2019s cohort of graduates from Kim Il Sung University to be automatically enrolled into the university\u2019s three-year graduate (doctoral) programs. The order was issued on the eve of the eighth anniversary of his father Kim Jong Il\u2019s death on Dec. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":43222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[644],"tags":[274],"class_list":["post-43221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-analysis-and-opinion","tag-pyongyang"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kim Il Sung University graduates ordered into doctoral programs - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kim Jong Un ordered that top students from Kim Il Sung University to be automatically enrolled into the university\u2019s graduate (doctoral) programs.\" \/>\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\/kim-il-sung-university-graduates-ordered-doctoral-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kim Il Sung University graduates ordered into doctoral programs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kim Jong Un ordered that top students from Kim Il Sung University to be automatically enrolled into the university\u2019s graduate (doctoral) programs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/kim-il-sung-university-graduates-ordered-doctoral-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-23T06:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-05T03:33:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/\uae40\uc77c\uc131\uc885\ud569\ub300\ud559_3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"741\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"495\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kim Jeong Yoon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kim Jeong Yoon\" \/>\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\\\/kim-il-sung-university-graduates-ordered-doctoral-programs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/kim-il-sung-university-graduates-ordered-doctoral-programs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kim Jeong Yoon\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/87590c84b4b4d71a34931a2f64cc1878\"},\"headline\":\"Kim Il Sung University graduates ordered into doctoral programs\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-23T06:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T03:33:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/kim-il-sung-university-graduates-ordered-doctoral-programs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":752,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/kim-il-sung-university-graduates-ordered-doctoral-programs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/\uae40\uc77c\uc131\uc885\ud569\ub300\ud559_3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"pyongyang\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Analysis &amp; 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