A new stamp issued in commemoration of the successful second test launch
of the "Hwasong-14" intercontinental ballistic missile is seen in this
undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency
(KCNA) in Pyongyang on August 31, 2017. Source: KCNA/via Reuters
EXCHANGE students from North Korea are reportedly learning important
skills towards developing the rogue state’s controversial nuclear
weapons programme.
According to an explosive investigation by the Wall Street Journal,
the rapid development of North Korea’s missile programme has been aided
by its citizens travelling abroad to study in areas beneficial to
nuclear and weapons research – in breach of 2016 United Nations
sanctions.
Many of these students have reportedly gone to China, which even granted
them government-funded scholarships that covered all tuition, free
housing and stipends of around CNY3,000 per month (US$450).
North Koreans have largely studied engineering, physics, mathematics,
metallurgy, material and space-related sciences – all of which could
assist Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. Kim Jong Un’s regime, however, has
insisted its research is home-grown.
“They were easy to recognise from their clothes and their looks,” one Chinese postgraduate from the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) said of North Korean students to the WSJ.
HIT is one of China’s leading engineering schools focused upon
“classified” defence and space-related research and is located in the
northern Heilongjiang Province, located geographically close to North
Korea.
Over the weekend, Pyongyang launched a test of an H-bomb 10 times
stronger than those previously tested by the regime and much more
powerful than the bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki during World War II.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un participates in a meeting with the
Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the
WorkersÕ Party of Korea in this undated photo released by North Korea’s
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang September 4, 2017.
Source: KCNA via Reuters
North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva this week warned of more “gift packages” for the US.
China is North Korea’s largest trading partner and is seen by many
observers as having the most influence over the hermit state. Goods
produced in North Korea are being labelled “made in China” and exported overseas, a Reuters investigation revealed last month.
“We should be very concerned about North Korean researchers abroad,
particularly in China,” said Katsuhisa Furukawa, a member from 2011-2016
of the UN panel of experts monitoring sanctions enforcement on North
Korea, as quoted by the WSJ.
Moreover, North Korean students are reportedly suspected of downloading
57,000 papers from subscription-based databases from HIT and another
Chinese university – in violation of library regulations.
Last year, Kim Jong Un urged students and staff at the Kim Il-sung University in
Pyongyang to advance the institution into becoming “world-class” via
hosting more international academic seminars and joint research projects
with overseas universities.
**This article originally appeared on our sister website Study International.
