The Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies is a five-year
university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
in
Pyongyang
Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...
,
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
, specializing in
language education
Language education refers to the processes and practices of teaching a second language, second or foreign language. Its study reflects interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary approaches, usually including some applied linguistics. There are f ...
.
History
The university was split off from
Kim Il-sung University in 1964.
North Korea's state-run
Korean Central News Agency
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) () is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946, and now features ...
gives its foundation date as 15 November 1949.
It does not have as high a reputation as those of Kim Il-sung University's foreign languages division, which trains members of the political elite; most graduates go on to become working-level diplomats or work in the intelligence service.
Structure
In total, 22 languages are taught at PUFS. The university has separate colleges for students of
English,
Russian,
Chinese, and
Japanese; the so-called "Ethnic Languages College" offers instruction in a further 18 languages:
Hungarian,
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
Malay,
Khmer,
Thai,
Lao,
Persian,
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
,
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
,
German,
Bulgarian,
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
,
Polish,
French,
Italian,
Portuguese,
Romanian, and
Spanish.
Notable students, faculty, and alumni
*
Charles Robert Jenkins, American defector and former
English teacher; his daughters Brinda and Mika formerly attended as students
* James Dresnok, son of American defector
James Joseph Dresnok
James Joseph Dresnok (, November 24, 1941 – November 2016) was an American defector to North Korea, one of seven U.S. soldiers to defect after the Korean War.
After defecting, Dresnok worked as an actor in propaganda films, some directed by ...
*
Ri Yong-ho
*
Thae Yong-ho, defector from North Korea, formerly North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom; current member of the National Assembly in South Korea
See also
*
List of universities in North Korea
References
* Danahar, Paul. "Meeting North Korea's 'Generation Next'" BBC News. BBC, 13 Feb. 2010. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
External links
Meeting North Korea's 'Generation next' a UK Wired News interview with a British Council ESL teacher at the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies
Class Report from North Korea, another interview with a different British Council ESL teacher at the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies
Educational institutions established in 1964
Education in Pyongyang
Universities in North Korea
1964 establishments in North Korea
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