South, North Korea to set up info-tech college in Pyongyang

A college of information technology will come into being in Pyongyang under the joint auspices of the South and North Korea to train manpower to launch an information society in North Korea. The school faculty would consist of South Koreans.

Some scholars and intellectuals took part in education exchanges in the past but this was the first time the South and North Korea agreed to set up a jointly sponsored college. The Seoul government offered to help establish a school specializing in information science and technology following the landmark inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang last June 15.

The Northeast Asian Foundation for Educational and Cultural Cooperation said on Sunday that Rev. Kwak Seon-Hi, foundation chairman, had agreed with North Korea to launch the school. He made public a certificate of accreditation and a letter of appointment for the head of the proposed college, both of which were issued by the North Korean ministry of education.

The foundation named Kim Jong-Kyeong, president of Yanbian University of Science and Technology, as dean of the planned college in the North Korean capital.

The institute will open a graduate school for 500 students in September 2002 and inaugurate an undergraduate college for 3,000 in April 2003. Curricula for the three departments of information-communication technology, biology-chemistry and commerce-economics would follow the model of the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

North Korea promised to offer a one-million-square-meter site in Pyongyang for the project and representatives from the South and North Korea will join hands to design, build and manage the school.

Analysts believe that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il was deeply impressed by the advanced information technology he witnessed during his tour of Shanghai early this year and it stoked his interest in fostering cutting-edge technology in his country.

Lee Jin-Yeong ecolee@donga.com