NSU welcomed a delegation fr om Kim Il-sung University from Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The delegation was headed by the President of the University and the Minister of Higher Education, academician Thae Hyong Chol.
The delegation visited the new building of NSU and had a meeting with NSU Rector Prof. Mikhail Fedoruk, the administration of the Humanities Department and that of the Center for Korean studies at NSU. The parties discussed prospects for developing cooperation between our universities.
Mikhail Fedoruk welcomed the guests from the DPRK and went on to talk about the history and achievements of NSU. He pointed out our close relationships with the research institutes of SB RAS and NSU taking part in the program for increasing international competitiveness of Russian universities (Program 5-100). Thae Hyong Chol was also informed about international Master’s Programs at NSU. In his speech, Mikhail Fedoruk noticed that the tradition of learning the Korean language and culture has been developing at NSU for quite a long time. It started back in 1997 at the Humanities Department, wh ere they have been training specialists in Korean history, archaeology and culture ever since. It culminated in launching the Center for Korean Studies at NSU in 2008, and the tradition has been actively supported.
The President of Kim Il-sung University, Thae Hyong Chol, thanked Mikhail Fedoruk for the warm welcome and said that 2015 became a significant year in developing relationships between Russia and the DPRK. It is the year of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Second World War, the 70th anniversary of Victory over Japan, which liberated Korea from Japanese rule, and the Year of friendship with Russia. The President emphasized that we have had active cooperation in the area of education. While visiting Russia, Thae Hyong Chol had paid visits to Kim Il-sung University’s partners and was glad to come to NSU in order to further develop the partnership relations.
The parties negotiated some prospects of developing partnership relations and signed the Agreement on Cooperation. Thus, NSU has become the third university (after MSU and Far Eastern Federal University) to sign partnership agreements with the leading university in North Korea.
According to the agreement, the relationships are going to develop in such areas as exchange of graduate and postgraduate students and research assistants, as well as exchange of the faculty. The students of the Humanities Department at NSU who study the Korean language and culture are going to take study placement at Kim Il-sung University, with Korea students taking courses at NSU. As the Minister of Higher Education of the DPRK, Thae Hyong Chol expressed great interest in training Korean students and postgraduates at NSU studying the subjects of Natural Sciences programs.
The President highlighted that the Korean side paid special attention to the Agreement signed as it would allow Kim Il-sung University to develop joint programs in different areas of science and education with one of the leading research universities in Russia. Summarizing the talks, Mikhail Fedoruk expressed confidence in successful partnership relations between Kim Il-sung University and NSU and implementation of the agreements discussed.
Thae Hyong Chol proceeded to have a meeting with students and professors of NSU.
Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university established in North Korea under the personal attention of Kim Il-sung. In 2016, the University is going to celebrate its 70th anniversary. The University currently includes 3 educational institutes (the Law College, the Literature College, the Computer Science College), 13 faculties (including the Economics, History, Philosophy, Foreign Languages and Literature, Physics, Mechanics and Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Atomic Energy, Physical Training and Teacher Training faculties) and more than 10 research institutes and centers.
