North Korean Students Leave Beijing Schools
by Richardson ~ May 31st, 2007. Filed under: China, Economics, North Korea.Earlier this year there were rumors that North Korean’s overseas, particularly diplomats, defied an order from Kim Jong-il to return all but one child to North Korea. True or not, there is now a rumor that all North Korean students in Beijing have been recalled:
All North Korean students studying in Beijing have returned to their home country, and some have dropped out of their schools, sources said on Wednesday. According to Peking University, 19 North Korean students from that school left for home before the weeklong May Day holidays starting May 1. None had returned as of Wednesday… Many other North Korean students have apparently submitted applications to drop out and have returned to their home country.
Currently there are very few North Koreans studying in Beijing. About 200 North Korean studied in the Chinese capital in the 1980s, but now only 50 or 60 are studying there on North Korean and Chinese scholarships.
This could be related to earlier report of a recall, or, noting that the students hadn’t returned yet, it could be that they have been delayed for whatever reason.
The overall decline in students studying in Beijing could be due to a combination of factors; a) a lack of funds, b) the ongoing attempt to stem ideological contamination (see Lankov’s essay, PDF), and to a much lesser extent, c) the trend of North Korea sending more students to other nations.
At this point there isn’t enough information to nail down a more specific reason.
June 1st, 2007 at 1:40 pm
It would be interesting to know the extent to which the PRC would take interest in “enforcement” of a recall order from the Pyongyang government. That is: if Pyongyang said “come home” and some NK students were maybe not inclined to go, would the PRC authorities decide to help them pack ?
I would assume because of, if nothing else, presence of family back home, most students would obey a recall order, but I find it curious there aren’t reports or evidence of at least some non-compliance, unless the PRC is seeing that there isn’t any.
June 1st, 2007 at 2:09 pm
I haven’t read anything suggesting that China is involved in the current rumored recall of students/children, but assume that if NK security services went to their Chinese counterparts and asked for assistance with individuals, the Chinese likely would help.
June 4th, 2007 at 10:02 am
[...] Woman a Dead-ringer for Mao Zedong 4 Richardson, Hamilton, James C. [...] • North Korean Students Leave Beijing Schools 2 Richardson, El Jefe Maximo • North Korea Complains About Rice Delay 2 [...]