S. Korean Professors to Teach Undergraduate Students in North

About 50 South Korean professors are expected to teach North Korean students in Pyongyang, North Korea, and professors will reside in the capital city during their courses. There have been cases where South Koreans have stayed in special districts such as Mt. Geumgang and the Kaesong special economic zone, but it is the first time for South Korean professors to hold their own classes in Pyongyang University, which people are expecting to be a new turning point in the exchanges between the North and the South.

The vice president of Yanbian University of Science and Technology, Lee Seung-ryul, now attending the Third World Korean Business Convention being held from October 26 to October 28 on Jeju Island, met a reporter from Dong-A Ilbo on October 27 and explained the “Management Plan for Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.”

According to Lee, with the approval of the two authorities of the North and the South, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology is now under construction in Boseong County of Nangnang district in Pyongyang. The university will open in September 2005, and offer International Technology (IT), Biotechnology (BT), and Master of Business Administration (MBA) courses. In the beginning, it will start with 100 undergraduate students, but in a few years, the number is likely to increase up to 2,500 including college students.

Its faculty will consist of approximately 100 professors working in South Korea and foreign countries, including the U.S., Japan and China. Also, a few North Korean professors will be included.

“About half the number of the total professors who will teach in the North will be those currently giving lectures in Korea. Some of them are already preparing for classes in Pyongyang,” said the vice president.

“The approval given by the North Korean authorities indicates the heightened necessity for the education of advanced science and technology. Through this opportunity, I expect the market economy and global standard will naturally spread among students and locals in the North,” he added.

bonhong@donga.com