Kim Il-sung University

Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university built in North Korea.[2] It is located on a 15-hectare (37-acre) campus in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. Along with the main academic buildings, the campus contains 10 separate offices, 50 laboratories, libraries, museums, a printing press, an R&D centre, dormitories and a hospital.[3] There is a sizeable computer lab, but it has only limited internet access.[4] The university is named in honour of Kim Il-sung,[2] the founder and first leader of North Korea.

Kim Il-sung University
Mark of Kim Il-sung University
TypePublic
Established1 October 1946 (1946-10-01)
PresidentThae Hyong-chol
Location
Ryongnam-dong, Taesong District, Pyongyang
,
North Korea[1]

39°3′29″N 125°46′6″E
CampusRural
Websitewww.ryongnamsan.edu.kp
Building details
Kim Il-sung University
Chosŏn'gŭl
Hancha
Revised RomanizationGim Il-seong Jonghap Daehak
McCune–ReischauerKim Il-sŏng Chonghap Taehak

Kim Il-sung University has around 16,000 enrolled students, and provides courses in the fields of social sciences, law, arts and sciences.[5] In the spring of 2017, Kim Il-sung University set up specialist Japanese language and literature courses.[6] Courses in both the department of social sciences and the department of natural sciences take five years to complete.[3]

History

On 25 May 1946 the Preparatory Committee was composed by the founding universities. In July 1946, the interim People's Committee of North Korea decided to establish a University (ordinance No. 40). Kim Il-sung proclaimed on 1 October 1946 the founding.

In 1948, four university faculties (Faculty of Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Medicine) were separated from Kim Il-sung University, to form the origin of Pyongyang University of Technology (currently Kim Chaek Industrial University), Sariwon Agricultural University and Pyongyang University School of Medicine.

Buildings at the Paeksong Revolutionary Site near Pyongsong, to which many students from Kim Il-sung University were moved during the Korean War, for reasons of safety.

During the Korean War, the university was located at Baeksong-ri under Mount Jamo in Suncheon-gun, which was far from the centre of the city. By late 1955, the reconstruction of the main building on the Pyongyang campus was in progress and soon the university moved back to the centre of Pyongyang.

After the war, Kim Il-Sung University became known as a hotbed of intellectual dissent. Academics supported more intellectual freedoms than Kim loyalists, and disadvantageous factions within the Workers' Party of Korea were over-represented in university staff. Following the Revolutions of 1956 in Hungary and in Poland, North Korean exchange students were quickly repatriated from the affected countries. The students started asking "improper" questions on campus, causing alarm.[7] After that, up to one hundred students and several prominent staff members were purged. The purging of the university gave further impetus to purges against functionalists all over the country.[8]

By the end of 1970s more than 50,000 students graduated annually from the university. In addition, the university was an important asset of for the Korean People's Army to train its personnel. Since the 1970s, English courses have been taught at the university.

Until 2004, Pak Kwan-o, an authority on nuclear physics and current Chairman of the People's Committee of Pyongyang (de facto Mayor), had been serving as the president for 17 years.[9] Since 2009, its president was Song Ja-reeb.[10] The current president since 2014 is Thae Hyong-chol.[11]

According to Korean Central Television, North Korean students can take classes at and download lectures from Kim Il-sung University via the Mirae public WiFi network, beginning in 2018.[12]

Departments

Social sciences
  • History
  • Philosophy
  • Government and economics
  • Law
  • Politics
  • International Relations
  • Korean language
  • Foreign languages
  • Kim Il-sung Revolutionary History
  • Kim Jong-Il Revolutionary History

Natural sciences
  • Physics
  • Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Geography
  • Chemistry
  • Geology
  • Atomic Energy
  • Automation
  • Computer Technology

Notable alumni
This alumni, faculty and related people list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Kim Il-sung University, c. 1960

See also

References
  1. University, Kim Il Sung (2016). "Ryongnamsan". ryongnamsan.edu.kp. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  2. York, Rob (12 December 2014). "Kim Il Sung University has new website". NK News. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  3. http://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=553237
  4. Wingfield-Hayes, Rupert (4 May 2016). "A rare look inside North Korea's Kim Il Sung University". BBC News. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  5. "Kim Il Sung University". Young Pioneer Tours. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  6. "Prestigious Pyongyang university now running specialist Japanese language and literature courses". Japan Times. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  7. Lankov 2002, p. 96.
  8. Lankov 2002, p. 97.
  9. [“北 평양시장 경질...전 김일성대 총장 박관오씨 새로 임명 [North, Replaced the Mayor of Pyongyang... New mayor is Pak Kwan O, Former President of Kim Il Sung University],” Donga Ilbo, 5 April 2007, www.donga.com]
  10. Yoon Geun Young, “정운찬 전 서울대 총장, 김일성대 총장 만나고파 [Former President of Seoul National University, Jeong Un-chan Wants to Meet the President of Kim Il Sung University],” Newsis, 8 March 2009, http://news.naver.com
  11. "State leadership bodies elected". The Pyongyang Times. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  12. Ji, Dagyum (14 November 2018). Hotham, Oliver (ed.). "Smartphone-capable WiFi on show at Pyongyang IT exhibition, state TV reveals". NK News. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. North Korean students can also take courses from Kim Il Sung University and Kim Chaek University of Technology, take exams, and download lectures.
  13. Choe Sang-Hun and Martin Fackler (14 June 2009). "North Korea's Heir Apparent Remains a Mystery". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  14. Kim, Song-A (9 May 2007). "Photos of Kim Jong Il's Brother, Kim Pyong Il and Recent Visits". Daily NK. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  15. Kim Hee-Jin (19 March 2014). "Abductee's daughter is favorite of Kim's sister". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  16. "Thae Jong Su (T'ae Cho'ng-su)". North Korea Leadership Watch. 24 February 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2019.

Works cited
  • Lankov, Andrei N. (2002). "Kim Takes Control: The 'Great Purge' in North Korea, 1956-1960". Korean Studies. 26 (1): 87–119. doi:10.1353/ks.2002.0010. ISSN 1529-1529.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Further reading
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