North Korea is revising its guidelines for monitoring students studying abroad, with authorities emphasizing the critical importance of controlling overseas scholars.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK recently that the Ministry of State Security “plans to quietly deliver new management policies for overseas students to security departments at foreign missions by month’s end, following orders from the Central Committee’s Organization and Guidance Department.”
The policy overhaul comes after authorities discovered several North Korean students planning to defect this year and caught family members of past defectors attempting to contact the outside world through the North Korea-China border.
According to the source, the revised policies classify overseas students into three categories: defectors, attempted defectors, and ordinary students, with state security agents managing each group differently.
The new policy introduces one-on-one interviews between state security agents and family members of students who defected while abroad.
Most notably, the latest policy includes measures to track, manage, and potentially forcibly repatriate North Korean students who defected while studying overseas.
The Ministry of State Security views these students as “state assets” representing significant party investment. The ministry reserves the right to intensify surveillance of their families in North Korea, operate surveillance networks targeting fugitive students, or even orchestrate their forced return.
“Under the policy changes, state security agents will conduct regular face-to-face interviews with families of students who fled abroad and report their activities,” the source explained. “They plan to strengthen systems to monitor and prevent these families from contacting the outside world.”
The ministry will also introduce a “mutual indirect evaluation” system conducted monthly for students considered flight risks. These evaluations, submitted twice monthly by other students or embassy staff, will assess the subject’s academic performance, ideological commitment, statements, and behavior.
The system regularly rotates subjects and evaluators while punishing false reports, creating an evaluation structure that prevents collusion among students.
Even ordinary students showing no problems face increased scrutiny under the revised policy. A new Ministry of State Security-led reporting system will track students who miss mandatory inspections or events at overseas missions, documenting their reasons for absence and whereabouts.
“Students abroad have many opportunities to encounter foreign culture, so authorities constantly worry they might defect,” the source noted. “The Ministry of State Security considers these students ‘high-value state assets’ representing significant party investment and is determined to prevent any escapes.”
“The ministry wants the revised policy to reflect its determination to retrieve students who have already defected, given the substantial investment made in them,” the source added. “This policy will be communicated in full to current overseas students, apparently to intimidate both them and their families by emphasizing potential consequences.”
April 28, 2025 at 05:13AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)