Study in North Korea

Who this applies to

Students at DPRK universities. Korean medium (PUST English). State-controlled, single-party system.

Governing authority

Ministry of Higher Education (DPRK); Workers' Party of Korea oversight.

Degree system

Bachelor 4–5 yrs · graduate/doctoral. Heavily ideological curriculum; specialized technical universities.

Admission

How

State-allocated placement influenced by the 'songbun' (socio-political background) system + examinations; not open/merit-transparent; international students minimal (some at PUST).

Language

Korean (English at PUST).

Tuition

Public

State-funded (no tuition in the Western sense).

Private

PUST is privately/foreign-funded.

Note

System is opaque, ideology-driven and sanctioned-isolated; data verifiability is very low.

Student visa & residence permit

Tightly controlled; minimal foreign students (mainly PUST).

Scholarships

State.

Sources & references

• KISU — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Il_Sung_University (2026-06-12)
• PUST — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyongyang_University_of_Science_and_Technology (2026-06-12)