Administrative staff 2,800 Number of students 16,000 Academic staff 1,200 | President Song Ja-reeb Campus Urban Phone +7 927 559-40-98 Founded 1 October 1946 | |
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Established 1 October 1946 (1946-10-01) Notable alumni Kim Jong‑un, Kim Jong‑il, Ri Sol‑ju, Zhang Dejiang, Andrei Lankov Similar Kim Chaek University of Techno, Kim Il‑sung Military University, Pyongyang University of Scienc, Pyongyang University of Foreig, Pyongyang University of Music | ||
Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. It is located on a 15-hectare campus in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. Along with the main academic buildings, the campus contains 10 separate offices, 50 laboratories, libraries, museums, a printing press, an R&D centre, dormitories and a hospital. There is a sizeable computer lab, but it has only limited internet access. The university is named in honour of Kim Il-sung, the founder and first leader of North Korea. Courses in both the department of social sciences and the department of natural sciences take five years to complete.
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History
On 25 May 1946 the Preparatory Committee was composed by the founding universities. In July 1946, the interim People's Committee of North Korea decided to establish a University (ordinance No. 40). Kim Il-sung proclaimed on 1 October 1946 the founding.
In 1948, four university faculties (Faculty of Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Medicine) were separated from Kim Il-sung University, to form the origin of Pyongyang University of Technology (currently Kim Chaek Industrial University), Sariwon Agricultural University and Pyongyang University School of Medicine.
During the Korean War, the university was located at Baeksong-ri under Mt. Jamo in Suncheon-gun, which was far from the centre of the city. By late 1955, the reconstruction of the main building on the Pyongyang campus was in progress and soon the university moved back to the centre of Pyongyang.
By the end of 1970s more than 50,000 students graduated annually from the university. In addition, the university was an important asset of for the Korean People's Army to train its personnel. Since the 1970s, English courses have been taught at the university.
Until 2004, Pak Kwan-o (박관오), an authority on nuclear physics and current Chairman of the People's Committee of Pyongyang (De facto Mayor), had been serving as the president for 17 years. Since 2009, the current university president is Song Ja Reeb (성자립).