North Korean defectors head back to school in the South to ‘re-educate’ themselves

In North Korea, much of the curriculum is devoted to the official biographies of the Kim leadership, so students learn to ‘appreciate the love and care of the great leaders’

The education system means North Korean escapees enter the South with a lack of basic knowledge normally learnt at primary and middle schools

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Adult students in a class at Wooridul School in Seoul. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:30pm, 13 Jul 2019Updated: 1:16pm, 13 Jul 2019

One of the first things North Korean defector Ri Kwang-myong, 31, did after reaching the South was to go back to school – 12 years after finishing his education.

North Korea claims a 100 per cent literacy rate and boasts that its free compulsory education indicates the superiority of its socialist system.

But those who escape from the impoverished country often struggle in the South from a lack of basic knowledge.

Lessons at North Korean schools are peppered with praise for the leadership, defectors say, and for many, education is also disrupted by grinding poverty or their long journey to freedom.

Although I studied in the North and graduated, I don’t know much.

Ri Kwang-myong, defector

Ri is among a handful of adult students at Wooridul School in Seoul, an educational haven for North Korean students too old, or lagging academically and so unable to go to appropriate state schools.

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