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North Korea launched its digital distance education program in the early 2000s, marked by Kim Jong Il’s direct involvement. Up until two months before his death, he provided on-site guidance, promoting the use of science and technology databases in e-libraries. Real-time online lectures became available to factory workers through Kim Chaek University of Technology as early as 2007. Under Kim Jong Un, these services expanded significantly, with key universities designated as centers for online education across fields such as machinery, light industry, construction, chemistry, and medicine. The Science and Technology Complex in Pyongyang now connects its extensive database to local e-libraries and Science and Technology Distribution Rooms in factories and enterprises nationwide. This system aims to bridge educational gaps across regions, schools, economic sectors, and production units. The COVID-19 pandemic further underscored the importance of digital distance education, accelerating the adoption of North Korea’s information technology-based education model.
Mr. Yonho Kim (Associate Director of the GW Institute for Korean Studies)
Mr. Yonho Kim is the Associate Director of the GW Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS) and an Associate Research Professor of Practice. He oversees GWIKS’s Korea-related policy programs—Korea Policy Forum, North Korea Economic Forum, and GWIKS North Korea Program—fostering knowledge-sharing and network-building among experts and policymakers in Washington, Seoul, and beyond. As part of his broader portfolio, he serves as the editor for GWIKS’s flagship publication, NKEF Policy and Research Paper Series, and the US-ROK Policy Brief.
He specializes in North Korea’s digital transformation and U.S. policy towards North Korea. Kim is the author of several significant works including North Korean Phone Money: Airtime Transfers as a Precursor to Mobile Payment System (2020), North Korea’s Mobile Telecommunications and Private Transportation Services in the Kim Jong-un Era (2019), and Cell Phones in North Korea: Has North Korea Entered the Telecommunications Revolution? (2014).
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