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From the linked 38north.org article: > An older version of the app, version 1.1, was previously detailed by Alek Sigley, an Australian student who previously l

From the linked 38north.org article: > An older version of the app, version 1.1, was previously detailed by Alek Sigley, an Australian student who previously lived in Pyongyang while studying at Kim Il Sung University. How does that work? Do they just let foreigners into their University? And does this get accepted in any western state? Also, good luck ever working for a defense company or anything sensitive after that, I guess.

psittacus 2y ago
There is some information here and in references, but it's sparse on how he entered the university. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detention_of_Alek_Sigley https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detention_of_Alek_Sigley
__jonas 2y ago
They do, yes: http://www.ryongnamsan.edu.kp/univ/en/education/international-education http://www.ryongnamsan.edu.kp/univ/en/education/internationa...
- duxup 2y ago
  > Studying at Kim Il Sung University, foreign students and apprentices can not only acquire the Korean language but also have a better understanding of Korea's time-honored history and its thrilling reality. “Thrilling reality” is an interesting end to that sentence.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
404mm 2y ago
I’m still stuck on the “why” and perhaps even “what”.
wruza 2y ago
And does this get accepted in any western state? What do you mean “accepted”? Is it illegal to learn in a country even if it’s a dictatorship? Last two Kims and The Sister got education in Europe, btw. New kids will do so too and then will return to reign.
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  As in “does anyone recognize the degrees awarded”, I think.
  - zaphirplane 2y ago
    Does any university Credit the units. Is closer
- astrange 2y ago
  > What do you mean “accepted”? Universities have to be accredited for other universities to accept their transfer credits. If companies want you to have a four-year degree then they have to believe you when you say you have one. > Is it illegal to learn in a country even if it’s a dictatorship? It's illegal for US citizens to do a lot of things with North Korea specifically, if you don't have permission first. That's how economic sanctions work.
  - hulitu 2y ago
    > That's how economic sanctions work. Those are political sanctions desguised as economic sanction.
    - astrange 2y ago
      The point is to make it harder for them to raise money to spend on building nukes. It's not meant to change their mind by making them feel bad or something.
    - Teever 2y ago
      They're not disguised at all. The stated purpose of these economic sanctions is to degrade the ability of an authoritarian regime from functioning to reduce the threat that it poses in the region and bring about political and economic change.
- echoangle 2y ago
  Sorry for the unclear question, I wasn’t sure how to phrase that and didn’t look it up to confirm. I meant „can you transfer any credits to a western university“.
mrtksn 2y ago
On my vacation in Cuba some years ago, I found out that there are quite many westerners going there to learns Spanish in Cuban educational institutions. There were also university students who were there to participate in vocational education in Cuba-specific product manufacturing like rum. AFAIK even in Soviet times there were friendship programs and partnerships with the West to build civil ties which facilitated student exchanges etc, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are for DPRK too. I also recall something about joint programs with Korea/DPRK/EU/US to do production in special zones inside DPRK. Except for Americans, the place was full of western tourists like me and my HSBC cards worked just fine. Those insulated places might not be as insulated as the general perception leads you to believe. The internet situation was PIA, though I hear its much better now.
- johannes1234321 2y ago
  The situation with North Korea is a lot different. North Korea is blocking itself quite up and very restrictive who can enter the country and what they can do.
- RobotToaster 2y ago
  > AFAIK even in Soviet times there were friendship programs There's the Korean friendship association https://korea-dpr.com/ https://korea-dpr.com/
- malermeister 2y ago
  Cuba also has the largest medical school in the world, specifically set up to train foreigners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_School_of_Medicine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_School_of_Medic... It's tuition-free and the state provides room and board. Part of the admission criteria is that you have to be from an underprivileged community and you take an oath to go back to serve that community. They have accepted folks from poor parts of the US, as well.
throawayonthe 2y ago
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DicIfTEx 2y ago
> How does that work? Do they just let foreigners into their University? Yep, looks that way: http://www.ryongnamsan.edu.kp/univ/en/education/international-education http://www.ryongnamsan.edu.kp/univ/en/education/internationa... (although I note that 'the US' is not included in the list of past students' nationalities). There is also a private university in Pyongyang funded by foreign Evangelicals, including from the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyongyang_University_of_Science_and_Technology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyongyang_University_of_Scienc...
jccalhoun 2y ago
This BBC article says it took a couple years for him to get in: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-48782235 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-48782235 It sounds to me like he is one of those people who just fell in love with the idea of this isolated country and then found out the truth the hard way.
mannyv 2y ago
Going to college in NK will definitely get you noticed. And the info you get from living there means you can be an instapundit expert on North Korea. "Well Jim, I lived there for 4 years. Let me tell you how North Koreans think.'
agtech_andy 2y ago
There was a graduate statistics seminar program in Pyongyang for a bit. https://community.amstat.org/sspa/communityblogs/blogviewer?BlogKey=5de1c2d3-5ce0-4c80-b0e8-d9a9a15ed4d4 https://community.amstat.org/sspa/communityblogs/blogviewer?... http://www.the-psi.org/psi-in-the-news.html http://www.the-psi.org/psi-in-the-news.html

psittacus 2y ago

There is some information here and in references, but it's sparse on how he entered the university. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detention_of_Alek_Sigley https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detention_of_Alek_Sigley

__jonas 2y ago

They do, yes: http://www.ryongnamsan.edu.kp/univ/en/education/international-education http://www.ryongnamsan.edu.kp/univ/en/education/internationa...

duxup 2y ago
> Studying at Kim Il Sung University, foreign students and apprentices can not only acquire the Korean language but also have a better understanding of Korea's time-honored history and its thrilling reality. “Thrilling reality” is an interesting end to that sentence.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

404mm 2y ago

I’m still stuck on the “why” and perhaps even “what”.

wruza 2y ago

And does this get accepted in any western state? What do you mean “accepted”? Is it illegal to learn in a country even if it’s a dictatorship? Last two Kims and The Sister got education in Europe, btw. New kids will do so too and then will return to reign.

ceejayoz 2y ago
As in “does anyone recognize the degrees awarded”, I think.
- zaphirplane 2y ago
  Does any university Credit the units. Is closer
astrange 2y ago
> What do you mean “accepted”? Universities have to be accredited for other universities to accept their transfer credits. If companies want you to have a four-year degree then they have to believe you when you say you have one. > Is it illegal to learn in a country even if it’s a dictatorship? It's illegal for US citizens to do a lot of things with North Korea specifically, if you don't have permission first. That's how economic sanctions work.
- hulitu 2y ago
  > That's how economic sanctions work. Those are political sanctions desguised as economic sanction.
  - astrange 2y ago
    The point is to make it harder for them to raise money to spend on building nukes. It's not meant to change their mind by making them feel bad or something.
  - Teever 2y ago
    They're not disguised at all. The stated purpose of these economic sanctions is to degrade the ability of an authoritarian regime from functioning to reduce the threat that it poses in the region and bring about political and economic change.
echoangle 2y ago
Sorry for the unclear question, I wasn’t sure how to phrase that and didn’t look it up to confirm. I meant „can you transfer any credits to a western university“.

mrtksn 2y ago

On my vacation in Cuba some years ago, I found out that there are quite many westerners going there to learns Spanish in Cuban educational institutions. There were also university students who were there to participate in vocational education in Cuba-specific product manufacturing like rum. AFAIK even in Soviet times there were friendship programs and partnerships with the West to build civil ties which facilitated student exchanges etc, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are for DPRK too. I also recall something about joint programs with Korea/DPRK/EU/US to do production in special zones inside DPRK. Except for Americans, the place was full of western tourists like me and my HSBC cards worked just fine. Those insulated places might not be as insulated as the general perception leads you to believe. The internet situation was PIA, though I hear its much better now.

johannes1234321 2y ago
The situation with North Korea is a lot different. North Korea is blocking itself quite up and very restrictive who can enter the country and what they can do.
RobotToaster 2y ago
> AFAIK even in Soviet times there were friendship programs There's the Korean friendship association https://korea-dpr.com/ https://korea-dpr.com/
malermeister 2y ago
Cuba also has the largest medical school in the world, specifically set up to train foreigners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_School_of_Medicine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_School_of_Medic... It's tuition-free and the state provides room and board. Part of the admission criteria is that you have to be from an underprivileged community and you take an oath to go back to serve that community. They have accepted folks from poor parts of the US, as well.

throawayonthe 2y ago

[dead]

DicIfTEx 2y ago

> How does that work? Do they just let foreigners into their University? Yep, looks that way: http://www.ryongnamsan.edu.kp/univ/en/education/international-education http://www.ryongnamsan.edu.kp/univ/en/education/internationa... (although I note that 'the US' is not included in the list of past students' nationalities). There is also a private university in Pyongyang funded by foreign Evangelicals, including from the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyongyang_University_of_Science_and_Technology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyongyang_University_of_Scienc...

jccalhoun 2y ago

This BBC article says it took a couple years for him to get in: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-48782235 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-48782235 It sounds to me like he is one of those people who just fell in love with the idea of this isolated country and then found out the truth the hard way.

mannyv 2y ago

Going to college in NK will definitely get you noticed. And the info you get from living there means you can be an instapundit expert on North Korea. "Well Jim, I lived there for 4 years. Let me tell you how North Koreans think.'

agtech_andy 2y ago

There was a graduate statistics seminar program in Pyongyang for a bit. https://community.amstat.org/sspa/communityblogs/blogviewer?BlogKey=5de1c2d3-5ce0-4c80-b0e8-d9a9a15ed4d4 https://community.amstat.org/sspa/communityblogs/blogviewer?... http://www.the-psi.org/psi-in-the-news.html http://www.the-psi.org/psi-in-the-news.html