North Korean, German universities sign exchange agreement

Kim Il Sung University, North Korea’s most prestigious institution of higher learning, has established an exchange and cooperation relationship with Germany's Free University of Berlin in the field of humanities and sociology, reports Yonhap News.

The German university said that it signed a protocol on exchange and cooperation with Kim Il Sung University in a ceremony held in Pyongyang in North Korea. It noted the signing ceremony was attended by Thae Hyong-chol, president of the North Korean university, and Lee Eun-Jeung, head of the Institute of Korean Studies at the Free University of Berlin.

It is rare for Kim Il Sung University to establish an exchange and cooperation relationship with a university outside the old socialist countries. In addition, the Pyongyang university's German department and the Free University of Berlin's Institute of Korean Studies signed a memorandum of understanding on conducting joint research. For their first project, the North Korean university plans to cooperate on the German institute's research on seowon, one of the most common educational institutions during the Joseon Dynasty.
Full report on the Yonhap News site