IV.

Education and Cultural Activity

Education and culture in North Korea are under state control and are utilized by the governing Korean Workers’ Party regime to indoctrinate and foster its ideology.

A.

Education

Education is free and compulsory in North Korea for the first ten years of schooling. In the late 1980s, some 1.5 million pupils were enrolled annually in elementary schools, and another 2.8 million students attended vocational and secondary schools. Statistics for subsequent years are unavailable. The principal institution of higher education is Kim Il Sung University (founded in 1946) in P’yŏngyang. Total enrollment in some 280 institutions of higher education exceeds 300,000. The literacy rate is estimated at about 99 percent.

B.

Cultural Life and Institutions

Cultural activity is aided, encouraged, and shaped by the government in consonance with its political goals. Historical museums and libraries are located in many of the larger counties. The government has also formed national symphony, theater, and dance companies.

C.

Communications

The government-run Korean Central News Agency is the principal distributing source of news in North Korea; several daily newspapers are published. Radio broadcasting is under the auspices of the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee. Television broadcasting was instituted in 1969, with programming limited to the evening.