North Korea Recalling Students Abroad to Reinforce Ideological Control
North Korea has issued a sweeping mandate for all its students studying abroad to return home for intensive ideological education, according to a North Korean defector who spoke to Radio Free Asia. The move is part of a broader effort by Kim Jong Un‘s regime to reassert control over students who have been exposed to foreign influences during their time overseas.
The defector, identified only as Kim for safety reasons, revealed that this directive, issued in July, is driven by fears that prolonged exposure to freer environments might have undermined the students’ allegiance to the regime. The order affects several hundred North Korean students in countries like China and Russia, many of whom have been studying abroad since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The North Korean government is concerned that the students’ extended stay outside the country has exposed them to ideas contrary to the regime’s ideology. Historically, students have been summoned periodically for loyalty training, but the pandemic disrupted this practice. Now, Pyongyang aims to address this gap with a mass return of students for re-education.
Experts suggest that the students’ exposure to greater freedoms abroad has led many to resist returning home. Cho Han-Bum from the Korea Institute for National Unification noted that this could lead to heightened instances of students going into hiding or even defecting.
Kim Geumhyuk, a former North Korean student now in South Korea, highlighted that students who have been away for years may harbor negative sentiments towards the regime, raising concerns about their potential impact upon return.
Analysts predict that the recall order could prompt a new wave of defections as students seek refuge in South Korea or elsewhere to escape the repressive environment they left behind.
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