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Photos: Lessons in loyalty at North Korea’s top school

Originally set up by the North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung to educate the orphans of those killed in the fight against Japanese colonial rule, Mangyongdae Revolutionary School for boys has evolved to become the country's top school. Classrooms equipped with tanks, jet fighter simulators, and grenade launchers, and with half the curriculum devoted to politics and ideology, almost a quarter on military subjects, and the rest for traditional academic disciplines, the students will join military after their graduation.

Updated on: Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM IST

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Students practice shooting at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School outside Pyongyang. Not many schools have classrooms equipped with tanks, jet fighter simulators, and grenade launchers. But North Korea’s this school for boys is no ordinary establishment. (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

Students practice shooting at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School outside Pyongyang. Not many schools have classrooms equipped with tanks, jet fighter simulators, and grenade launchers. But North Korea’s this school for boys is no ordinary establishment. (Ed Jones / AFP)

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Students attend a class at the Kang Pan Sok Revolutionary School outside Pyongyang. This school is the sister school of the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School for boys, originally set up by the North’s founder Kim Il Sung to educate the orphans of those killed in the fight against Japanese colonial rule, it has evolved to become the country’s top school, and one of the institutions that knits the ruling elite together. (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

Students attend a class at the Kang Pan Sok Revolutionary School outside Pyongyang. This school is the sister school of the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School for boys, originally set up by the North’s founder Kim Il Sung to educate the orphans of those killed in the fight against Japanese colonial rule, it has evolved to become the country’s top school, and one of the institutions that knits the ruling elite together. (Ed Jones / AFP)

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Students are seen playing computer games at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School. One room in the school is crammed with small arms, whereas another holds a tank with moving caterpillar tracks, with shooting being a key subject, training takes place on an electronic range. (Ed Jones / AFP File)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

Students are seen playing computer games at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School. One room in the school is crammed with small arms, whereas another holds a tank with moving caterpillar tracks, with shooting being a key subject, training takes place on an electronic range. (Ed Jones / AFP File)

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A bronze statue of Kim and his son and successor Kim Jong Il embracing pupils overlooks the playing field. (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

A bronze statue of Kim and his son and successor Kim Jong Il embracing pupils overlooks the playing field. (Ed Jones / AFP)

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The 1,000 shaven-headed boys wear a military-style uniform said to have been designed by the senior Kim’s wife Kang Pan Sok, a red line down their trousers symbolising their devotion to the cause of revolution. After graduating they will all go into the military, a key part of the nuclear-armed North Korean state - Kim Jong Il espoused a “military first” philosophy. (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

The 1,000 shaven-headed boys wear a military-style uniform said to have been designed by the senior Kim’s wife Kang Pan Sok, a red line down their trousers symbolising their devotion to the cause of revolution. After graduating they will all go into the military, a key part of the nuclear-armed North Korean state - Kim Jong Il espoused a “military first” philosophy. (Ed Jones / AFP)

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Students attend a biology class at the school. There are six 45-minute classes a day, with half the curriculum devoted to politics and ideology, almost a quarter on military subjects, and the rest for traditional academic disciplines. (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

Students attend a biology class at the school. There are six 45-minute classes a day, with half the curriculum devoted to politics and ideology, almost a quarter on military subjects, and the rest for traditional academic disciplines. (Ed Jones / AFP)

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Afternoons are reserved for physical activities, with the boys screaming shouts of encouragement in the weights room of the well-equipped gym or performing impressive topless taekwondo tumbles. (Ed Jones / AFP File)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

Afternoons are reserved for physical activities, with the boys screaming shouts of encouragement in the weights room of the well-equipped gym or performing impressive topless taekwondo tumbles. (Ed Jones / AFP File)

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Students attend a class in a separate girls’ school named after Kang Pan Sok which stands in the Pyongyang suburb of Chilgol, where she was born. The schools are a Kim family project: the North’s founder visited 118 times, his wife 62 times, their son 94 times, and Kim Jong Un - who was educated in Switzerland himself - has been six times so far. (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

Students attend a class in a separate girls’ school named after Kang Pan Sok which stands in the Pyongyang suburb of Chilgol, where she was born. The schools are a Kim family project: the North’s founder visited 118 times, his wife 62 times, their son 94 times, and Kim Jong Un - who was educated in Switzerland himself - has been six times so far. (Ed Jones / AFP)

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A poster depicting a US soldier being killed with a giant pen is displayed. “The Supreme Leader comrade Kim Jong Un is the true parent of all our revolutionary schoolchildren,” said Lieutenant Choe Su Gyong. The exhibits in the school museum include a rifle held up by Kim Il Sung, whom Choe quoted as saying: “The sons and daughters of the revolutionaries have to grow into flowers of the revolution, following in their parents’ footsteps.” (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

A poster depicting a US soldier being killed with a giant pen is displayed. “The Supreme Leader comrade Kim Jong Un is the true parent of all our revolutionary schoolchildren,” said Lieutenant Choe Su Gyong. The exhibits in the school museum include a rifle held up by Kim Il Sung, whom Choe quoted as saying: “The sons and daughters of the revolutionaries have to grow into flowers of the revolution, following in their parents’ footsteps.” (Ed Jones / AFP)

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With the Japanese colonial period now decades in the past, entry to the school has been broadened to those who have at least one parent or grandparent deemed to have been a loyal servant of the state. “The North Korean elite is remarkably closed to outsiders, it is hereditary to a degree which would be inconceivable in any other communist country,” said Andrei Lankov of Korea Risk Group. (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

With the Japanese colonial period now decades in the past, entry to the school has been broadened to those who have at least one parent or grandparent deemed to have been a loyal servant of the state. “The North Korean elite is remarkably closed to outsiders, it is hereditary to a degree which would be inconceivable in any other communist country,” said Andrei Lankov of Korea Risk Group. (Ed Jones / AFP)

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Pyongyang proclaims its citizens as equals but classifies them by socio-political background according to a detailed and hereditary system known as songbun. And only those with good songbun can expect to secure a place at a top university or permission to live in Pyongyang, although the advent of private business is now opening up opportunities for others. (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

Pyongyang proclaims its citizens as equals but classifies them by socio-political background according to a detailed and hereditary system known as songbun. And only those with good songbun can expect to secure a place at a top university or permission to live in Pyongyang, although the advent of private business is now opening up opportunities for others. (Ed Jones / AFP)

12/13

A student practices driving a military vehicle on a simulator at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School. When this school was founded in the early days of the Democratic People’s Republic, it copied the Soviet Union’s Suvorov military schools for veterans’ orphans. (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

A student practices driving a military vehicle on a simulator at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School. When this school was founded in the early days of the Democratic People’s Republic, it copied the Soviet Union’s Suvorov military schools for veterans’ orphans. (Ed Jones / AFP)

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With changing times, Lankov said that the great-grandchildren of tough and rustic guerrillas have grown spoiled and do not appreciate the tough and simple values of their forebears. “They would prefer to study foreign languages and computer programming, rather than handguns and ways of killing a human with only a short knife,” he added. (Ed Jones / AFP)

Updated on Jul 27, 2018 12:21 PM

With changing times, Lankov said that the great-grandchildren of tough and rustic guerrillas have grown spoiled and do not appreciate the tough and simple values of their forebears. “They would prefer to study foreign languages and computer programming, rather than handguns and ways of killing a human with only a short knife,” he added. (Ed Jones / AFP)

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