I begin today’s blog by asking you to pray for a rescue that is currently in progress. I cannot say much more than that due to the sensitive nature of the work, but we will let you know when the rescue is complete and the North Korean’s are safe.
I have been writing about the education system in North Korea. It is astonishing and stunning to see what education really is in North Korea-a system of idol worship. Today we look at college and university in North Korea. Though the country is destitute, they actually do have universities with students enrolled in them. They do not have many universities, but they do exist.
In the west when a student graduates high school, they immediately are asked by friend and family, “what are you going to do now?” “Are you going to go to college?” The graduate has a host of options now available to them. They can go choose a place they would like to work for and apply. They can go to school. They can even go to school and work. Not so in North Korea.
When a student in North Korea graduates what would be the equivalent of our High School, they have no choice. The government tells them where they will work. Most will never have a chance at going to college or university. They are not even given the option to do so. Further studies are only available to one group of graduates: those whose family is loyal to the regime.
A student may have talent, perfect grades, incredible aptitude, and a strong desire to further their studies in a certain subject, but it matters nothing if they do not have perceived loyalty to the regime. Perceived loyalty-because it only matters what the regime thinks. If in your family history there was a person who somehow sinned against the regime, then your chances of college are ruined. If you have a distant relative who fought for the South in the Korean war, your chances are ruined. If you have family who have Japanese ancestry, your chances are ruined. And if you have family who became Christians, your chances are definitely ruined.
Loyalty to a regime is what gets you into college. Loyalty is what advances you in every area of life in North Korea. As a result, high school graduation is not as big of a deal in North Korea. You finish school and go work for the state where they tell you to, when they tell you to.
This creates a society that doesn’t dream, that doesn’t hope; they only work. They don’t innovate because that would involve thinking for themselves-a thing that could be perceived as disobedience to the regime. To suppress the desire to innovate is to suppress the image of God in man.
