Pyongyang University of Science and Technology

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Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) is North Korea's first institution of higher education founded, operated and partly funded by associations and people outside the country. The PUST has been jointly planned and constructed by forces from both the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Republic of Korea, along with significant contributions from groups and individuals from other nations, in particular China and the USA. The university is situated in the southern part of Pyongyang, about ten minutes by car from the city centre. It will have its official opening in September 2007, and plans to enroll up to 200 higher-level students per year, from both parts of Korea. Plans also include the hiring of up to 250 faculty members from prestigious universities and research institutions in South Korea, China, the United States, and other countries. The teaching will be in English and Korean. As a high-profile prestigious joint venture university, the PUST is seen as an important contribution to the Korean reunification process, in both practical and symbolic terms.

Among the explicit and practical goals of PUST is to contribute significantly to the coming years of North Korean economic development, by training top professionals in engineering, information technology, and international business, necessitating also a high level of fluency in foreign languages (including Chinese, Japanese, English, German, French). Master and PhD degrees will be awarded in architecture and design (A&D); computing, electronics and communication technology (CEST); agriculture and food engineering (AFE); materials and mechanical engineering (MME). In addition, a separate School of Business will award Master degrees in business administration (MBA).

After introductory negotiations, the PUST project was started in 2001, on the initiative of Professor Kim Chin Kyung, endorsed in a personal meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jung-Il. Professor Kim's earlier accomplishments include being Founding President of Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST) in the North-Eastern part of China, but inside the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, founded in 1992. The PUST will cooperate with YUST and draw on their experiences. The PUST construction plans were politically troubled and slowed down in 2005 and 2006, in connection with the 2006 North Korean nuclear test, but later on resumed and have led to their conclusion.