First University of People in DPRK

 Pyongyang, October 1 (KCNA) -- October 1 of this year is the 80th founding anniversary of Kim Il Sung University. It is the first university of the people built in the DPRK on the initiative of President Kim Il Sung.
After the liberation of Korea (August 15, 1945), the President wisely led the construction of the university, after acquiring a deep insight into the fact that only when cadres to shoulder the Korean revolution are trained, can it possible to build a prosperous, independent and sovereign state.
One day in November 1945, the President met officials in the field of education and said that it is urgently needed for the actual conditions of the country to found the university and that if the university is established, it is possible to train cadres to work in all fields of politics, economy and culture at the same time.
Noting that if the university is established first, many universities will be built in a short span of time on the basis of it, he said that the university will become a strong cadre-training base of the country and a parent body of universities.
The President stressed the need to make the university a genuine people's university that gives educations to the sons and daughters of the working people and trains cadres for the working people.
At that time when the building of a new country was undergoing, there were not many teachers who would stand on the platform of the university and those who had basic knowledge to receive higher education, and there were no university building, dormitory and educational facilities to speak of.
The President energetically led the preparations for the founding of the university by mobilizing the efforts of the patriotic people.
He chose the site of the university, sent the rice donated out of patriotism by a peasant to the construction of the university building, and set up a preparatory committee for founding the university so that the work of building the university could be conducted on a nationwide scale.
In July next year he made sure that an important decision on founding the university was declared and paid great efforts to found the university including the issue of selecting teachers and students.
Under the leadership of the President, a genuine people's university was born on October 1, 1946.
The Korean people named their first proud university after Kim Il Sung, the august name of the peerless patriot.
The foundation of Kim Il Sung University opened up a new history of training the sons and daughters of the people as pillars shouldering the future of the new Korea and Juche-oriented higher education and made it possible to build an independent people's state. -0-