Ate Pyongyang Naengmyeon and Received Ideological Education... Japanese Chosendae Students Returned from a Month in Pyongyang

The First Delegation Visiting North Korea on the 27th of Last Month Stayed in Pyongyang for a Month Before Returning

Students from Korea University in Japan, affiliated with the pro-North Korean organization General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), have returned after about a month-long visit to North Korea.

The 76th Anniversary Celebration Rally and Evening Gathering of the Establishment of the North Korean Regime (September 9th) took place on the 8th at Kim Il-sung Square, according to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on the 9th. (Pyongyang, Korean Central News Agency = Yonhap News)

North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on the 22nd that the graduating students' delegation from Chongryon's Korea University, who visited North Korea on the 27th of last month, left Pyongyang by plane on the 21st of this month.

According to Chongryon’s official newspaper, Choson Sinbo, the university’s first visiting group, composed of students from the Department of Political Economy and the Department of Education, received ideological education and enjoyed cultural activities while staying in Pyongyang. They visited sites such as the Taesongsan Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery, the Korean Revolution Museum, the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, and the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School, reflecting on North Korea’s anti-Japanese history. They also toured new towns developed under the direction of Chairman Kim Jong Un, including Songhwa Street, Hwaseong Street, and Jeonwi Street, as well as the Kangdong General Greenhouse Farm, Pyongyang 326th Front General Factory, and Kim Jong Suk Pyongyang Textile Factory.

They had the opportunity to experience North Korea’s renowned flavors by eating Pyongyang cold noodles at the Okryugwan restaurant in Pyongyang and drinking beer at Hwaseong Daedonggang Beer House on Rimheung Street. Ahead of the 76th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean regime (September 9th), they attended a celebratory rally held on the 8th at Kim Il Sung Square, where they danced and interacted with North Korean students.

Regarding this, Choe Ryong Hae, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, said, "The Korea University students were very optimistic. It was touching to see them jump into the dance floor and dance together with the youth of the homeland." Kim Hyun Soo, a student who visited North Korea for the first time in his life, expressed, "Seeing the homeland’s remarkable development firsthand filled me with pride and confidence in being a Korean."

Earlier, Japan’s Sankei Shimbun reported that about 140 fourth-year students from Korea University were scheduled to visit North Korea in three separate groups. This is the first group visit by Korean residents in Japan to North Korea since the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, a Chongryon delegation visited Pyongyang from the 5th to the 17th of this month to attend the 76th anniversary celebration of September 9th.