University Founded By US Businessman In North Korea Facing Financial Difficulties
Is anyone shocked that yet another business venture in South Korea is facing financial difficulties?:
The founder of a unique university in North Korea is under scrutiny after the university suffered a series of financial difficulties, according to a source in the country.
Kim Chin-kyung, a U.S. citizen, founded Pyongyang University of Science and Technology with the cooperation of North and South Korean institutions, South Korean news service CBS No Cut News reported.
But the North Korean government is looking to replace Kim.
The source said dwindling funds from South Korea and the United States have contributed to the financial shortfall at the university.
PUST used to operate on a $100,000 monthly budget but that number was down to $50,000, the source said.
A loan Kim secured to build facilities on campus in late 2000 has yet to be paid, and an agreement to replace a 60,000-volt transformer at the school by Oct. 10, 2015, the anniversary to commemorate the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea, was never fulfilled, according to the source. [UPI]
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“Is anyone shocked that yet another business venture in South Korea is facing financial difficulties?”
PUST is a university in North Korea supported mostly by Evangelical Christians, so characterizing it as a South Korean business venture misses the mark by quite a ways. It’s one of the very few cross-border enterprises that has operated smoothly (up until now, at least) and one that didn’t suffer from the usual tit-for-tat political gamesmanship that happens with pretty much all foreign joint ventures in North Korea that involve South Korea and/or the US. Even more surprising (to me at least) is that most of the faculty are Christians teaching there as volunteers.
Professor Kim also founded Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST) in 1992 in northeastern China inside the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Probably based on the success of YUST, Professor Kim was able to convince Kim Jong Il that creating a similar university in North Korea was a good idea.
My guess is that in spite of trying not to let politics interfere with this, the Christian groups backing this finally decided that things like North Korea’s nuclear weapons development was just too much and it was time to pull the plug.