It was reported on the 25th that graduates of the local doctoral program (our graduate school) at Kim Chaek University of Technology, considered a prestigious university in North Korea, are engaging in a fierce competition of bribes to remain in Pyongyang.
Daily NK’s internal source in North Korea reported, “The Kim Chaek University of Technology Party Committee decided on the 20th to finalize the additional placement of this year’s doctoral graduates by the 5th of next month,” and “Accordingly, this year’s doctoral graduates from the provinces are busy contacting university officials and moving about to be placed in Pyongyang.”
According to sources, as the number of people wishing to remain in Pyongyang increases, the cost of business (bribes) to be assigned to professors and researchers at Kim Chaek University of Technology has been steadily increasing since the end of last year, and currently, each person needs to come up with more than 10,000 dollars (about 13.35 million won).
The cost of deploying PhD graduates from local areas to Pyongyang, which started at $5,000 per person late last year, rose to $8,000 early this year, and has now skyrocketed to over $10,000.
It is said that local PhD graduates who want to be deployed to Pyongyang are feeling a great financial burden due to the announcement of this additional deployment deadline by the university party committee.
The source said that for graduates of the doctoral program who have worked hard to study, being assigned to Kim Chaek University of Technology as a professor or researcher and remaining in Pyongyang is not simply a matter of job or residence, but rather a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to obtain a better life and social status.
The source said, “For graduates of Kim Chaek University of Technology from the provinces, being assigned to Pyongyang is a crucial decision that determines their success and future,” adding, “They studied hard for three years and spent a lot of money, but now that money is more important than ability in their final assignment and costs continue to rise, they are extremely disappointed.”
Meanwhile, some university executives are known to have made sarcastic remarks such as, “With $10,000, you can get Pyongyang citizenship and a job, but if you don’t have that money, you can just live in the countryside,” and “Business costs will go up next year, so if you don’t have cheaper money than then, you shouldn’t even dream of moving to Pyongyang.”
This is a case that clearly reveals the structural problems of North Korean society, where one cannot expect fair treatment or compensation through individual effort alone, and it seems that a national rethink on the use of talent is urgently needed.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that local PhD graduates who did not achieve the desired results in this fall’s additional placement are likely to be assigned to local factories as field engineers.
Regarding this, a source said, “The doctoral program that required a lot of hard work becomes meaningless,” and “It is not only economic ability rather than academic achievement that is the determining factor in deploying to Pyongyang, but the ever-rising cost of business is bound to cause dissatisfaction among doctoral graduates from the provinces.”
In this situation, some within North Korea are criticizing that the gap between the country’s talent development policy and reality is growing wider as time goes by.
A source said, “During the first and second batches, some students gave up on being assigned to Pyongyang City due to lack of money and were sent down to work as field technicians at local factories. Some pointed out that the reality in which economic background determines an individual’s future more than academic achievements is undermining the essential value of education.”
The source added, “Some PhD graduates from the provinces who gave up on being deployed to Pyongyang due to a lack of funds complained, saying, ‘Isn’t the practice of prioritizing money over ability the same as a rotten and sick capitalist society that has been continuously taught by the state? ’”
Source: www.dailynk.com
