A foreign university in Pyongyang has opened its doors and started classes. PUST, the Pyongyang University of Science & Technology was created by Christian South Koreans for educating students in North Korea with foreign professors and tools. The general ambition of the university is to enlighten a new generation of young North Koreans to raise their economy and modernize technologies in the isolationist state. North Korea authourities can review all of the curriculum, and has hand selected the first 160 students to attend the school. One of the founders, Park Chan-Mo, believes the creation of the university in such a reclusive and authoritarian state is a miracle from god. Park was arrested in North Korea in 1998 under suspicions of spying but was later released, and was approached in 2000 by the same man who ordered him arrested about the school project. 16 professors from the USA and Europe have arrived for teaching at the fledgling institute, none from South Korea however, as tensions are still high on the peninsula. The school will specialize in IT, industrial management, biotechnology, architecture & engineering, and health care, and all curriculum will be in English. The school has pointed out that it is not training North Koreans in sensitive subject matter such as nuclear technology. Visit the website for the school, hosted in North Korea on their recently popularized .kr top level domain.
Source: PUST.kr and the New York Times.
