Prestigious Pyongyang university now running specialist Japanese language and literature courses

Kim Il Sung University set up specialist Japanese language and literature courses in the spring of 2017, it was learned Saturday from the university.

The training course for Japanese researchers was established at the prestigious institution in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, at a time when the rogue state was repeatedly testing nuclear weapons and launching ballistic missiles. That period continued until the fall of 2017 and led to heightened tensions with the United States.

There is a possibility that it was judged necessary to strengthen the development of such experts in view of future diplomacy with Japan. Japan and North Korea maintain no diplomatic relations.

The Department of Japanese Language and Literature was established in the university’s Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature. Many of the around 20 students enrolled are graduates of the high school affiliated with the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies, and have previously studied Japanese.

North Korea has traditionally run a specialized Japanese language course at the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies.

However, with the recent deterioration of Japan-North Korea relations, graduates of the course have found limited opportunities for employment, leading to a drop in the number of enrollments.

An official at Kim Il Sung University said of the establishment of the Department of Japanese Language and Literature, “It seems that the absence of specialists in the language and culture of neighboring countries was against the national interest.”

In August, the department interacted for the first time with Japanese university students who accompanied a nongovernmental organization that was conducting a cultural exchange in North Korea.

It was realized at the request of Kim Il Sung University, which came to know that the NGO had been organizing exchanges between Japanese university students and students of the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies for seven years.

Jong Ryol, a Japanese instructor at Kim Il Sung University, said, “There hadn’t been opportunities to actually use Japanese (at the university) so far, so I think that such encounters will be of benefit to us.”

First-year student Kim Jun Hak, 17, who aspires to be a teacher, said, “I want to increase the number of Japanese-speaking human resources to help normalize diplomatic relations.”

A 23-year-old male Japanese graduate school student from Osaka City University who took part in the exchange in North Korea, said, “To boost mutual understanding, the opportunity to approach each other directly is important.”