By Kim Jae-heun
North Korea's Kim Il Sung University has signed an agreement with the Free University of Berlin on cooperation and education exchange programs in the humanities and sociology, the German school announced, Monday.
It said it had exchanged documents with the university in Pyongyang last Thursday.
It is rare for the North Korean university to form an official cooperative relationship with an institute from a country that is not a socialist state.
Kim Il Sung University President Thae Hyong-chol and the head of the Institute of Korean Studies at Berlin Free University, Lee Eun-jeong, attended the ceremony.
"The Free University of Berlin has long been making educational exchanges with Kim Il Sung University, which brought us to establish an official relationship to cooperate at this stage," Lee said during her speech at the ceremony. "We can now conduct more research in the fields that have not been much studied in North Korea."
The two schools will carry out joint research in the humanities and sociology. Also, the German language department at Kim Il Sung University signed a memorandum of understanding with the German university's Institute on Collaborative Works.
At first, Kim Il Sung University will help the institute's studies on "seowon," a lecture hall where scholars gathered for learning during the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom. Researchers from the German school will have access to ancient documents at the North Korean university related to seowon.
During her stay in the North, Lee also visited several well-preserved seowon sites including Sungyang Seowon.
She also participated in an international conference at the North Korean school, where scholars from 10 countries including China, Russia, England, Vietnam and Germany shared their knowledge in politics, economics, medical science and history.
Lee said it will be possible one day for South Korean universities to collaborate with the North Korean school if they try to build relations step by step.
"It was possible for the Free University of Berlin to establish an exchange and cooperation relationship with Kim Il Sung University because we've been developing ties for a long time. It is important not to be hasty but start with small exchanges in particular fields," she said.
