North Korean authorities have ordered intensive inspections at universities nationwide, including in Pyongyang, after seven students at Kim Chaek University of Technology were arrested.
A source in Pyongyang said central authorities issued the directive on Aug. 3, after Kim Chaek University students were arrested by the National Intelligence Agency for developing new circumvention technology to bypass the state’s internet firewall, watch South Korean videos and distribute them. “The central authorities have designated the rapid spread of South Korean culture among science and technology talent as a serious threat to the system,” the source said.
According to the source, the directive expressed fury that science and technology talent had used their skills to increase threats to the system, and warned that authorities would make an example of the students to root out the ideological deviation that has become widespread among the intelligentsia.
Central authorities said such incidents could occur not only at Kim Chaek University, known as the cradle of North Korea’s science and technology sector, but at any university in Pyongyang and across the country, and demanded harsh inspections. They specifically ordered thorough searches of laptops and mobile phones used by students, as well as any other electronic devices they might be hiding.
Authorities also instructed officials to closely monitor students who had previously been caught violating rules or who behaved suspiciously, as well as students who moved around in groups, and to ruthlessly arrest anyone showing even minor signs of suspicious activity. They also stressed the need to establish a system in which classmates monitor and report on each other at all times, to crush any infiltration of South Korean culture and any attempt to form dissident organizations before they can take root.
Campuses on edge
The source said that following the directive, the State Intelligence Bureau, the Ministry of Social Security, the anti-socialist inspection group (a task force that investigates behavior deemed a threat to socialist ideology) and university party committees have all been mobilized to examine the operating systems on students’ laptops and mobile phones, digging up records that had already been deleted. “An atmosphere of walking on thin ice has emerged on campuses,” the source said.
Inspectors have reportedly been raiding university dormitories and research labs at all hours, overturning drawers and searching bags, a scene that has played out daily.
Inspectors are focusing their investigations on students who are enrolled but not attending classes, while also conducting full inspections and certification checks of network equipment. Amid concerns that highly skilled students could develop new circumvention technologies, authorities are reportedly also monitoring the communication equipment and program development environments universities use for research.
Still, some within universities are responding to the tight inspections with skepticism. “No matter how much they threaten students with guns and knives, or search their computers and phones, it’s impossible to fully control the curiosity and longing of young students who have already opened their eyes to the outside world,” the source said.
Reporting from inside North Korea
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August 24, 2026 at 07:49PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)