Kim Il Sung University graduates ordered into doctoral programs
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued an order for the top students in next year’s cohort of graduates from Kim Il Sung University to be automatically enrolled into the university’s three-year graduate (doctoral) programs. The order was issued on the eve of the eighth anniversary of his father Kim Jong Il’s death on Dec. 17.
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 “elite” category.
There have been similar cases of compulsory graduate school enrollment for top students in the past. These “forced enrollments” 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’s top general university is unprecedented.
KEEPING THE “MOUNT RYONGNAM LINE” ALIVE
Sources explained that the order is likely linked to broader policies of the North Korean leadership to help cultivate the next generation of leadership. ......
[Source: Daily NK]
