On the 4th, the Ministry of Unification announced that it would closely monitor North Korea’s movements as North Korea issued a compulsory summons order for overseas students to receive ideological education for the first time in five years.
Regarding the background of such measures resuming in 5 years, an official from the Ministry of Unification said in a written briefing that day, “It appears that measures which had been halted and suspended due to COVID-19 are gradually resuming in the old way.”
North Korea has regularly called overseas students to Pyongyang for ideological education, but it was suspended due to the border closure implemented in 2020 amid COVID-19. Ideological education on-site was known to have been conducted periodically.
The government is closely monitoring the impact that North Korea’s measures will have on international students if they are implemented. Following the reopening of North Korea’s borders, the replacement of diplomats and residents abroad began in earnest, leading to a series of defections by overseas elites.