Soviet Influence on the North Korean Education System and Educational Practice

Abstract

All students of North Korean history are well aware of the important influence of Soviet patterns on institutions in the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (hereafter, the DPRK). In Particular, this influence is evident to a Russian who has spent the greater part of his life as a citizen of the Soviet Union and who is familiar with Soviet institutions. This knowledge of the Soviet Union is especially useful for understanding the historical roots of many North Korean traditions, historical roots that are sometimes overlooked by both Western and South Korean scholars. The aim of this article is to describe the nature of the influence of Soviet patterns on the North Korean education systems, its institutions, as well as educational practices. Historians in every country have their favorite topics which for some reasons are especially popular in a particular historical tradition. The history of education happens to be one such favorite topic among Korean scholars. Though until recently South Korean academics had not paid much attention to many aspects of North Korean history, the education is an obvious exception and one can find a plenty of Korean-language studies dedicated to the history and present position of education in the DPRK