0:00:02 > 0:00:07North Korea, one of the most closed and repressive societies on earth.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Led by an unpredictable despot,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15who recently ordered the execution of his own uncle.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17THEY SING
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Remarkably, weeks before his death,
0:00:19 > 0:00:24we gained access to North Korea to film a pioneering experiment.
0:00:27 > 0:00:28A groundbreaking university.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30Paid for by the West,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34designed to open the minds of the secretive state's future elite.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Tonight on Panorama,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43can foreign lecturers change the mindset of a brainwashed generation?
0:00:44 > 0:00:47If there's going to be change in North Korea,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50it's probably going to come from these elite students.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53'But is change possible in a country where people
0:00:53 > 0:00:56'worship their leader like a god?
0:00:59 > 0:01:02'And appear to be in the dark about the outside world.'
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Who's heard of Michael Jackson, put your hand up?
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Michael Jackson?
0:01:06 > 0:01:08No?
0:01:21 > 0:01:23# How great thou art
0:01:23 > 0:01:26# How great thou art...#
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Meet Dr James Chin-Kyung Kim.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34# How great thou art! #
0:01:37 > 0:01:40The President of Pyongyang University of Science
0:01:40 > 0:01:41and Technology or PUST.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Dr Kim, an American citizen, is on a mission from God to use PUST
0:01:48 > 0:01:51to peacefully transform North Korea.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56It's remarkable,
0:01:56 > 0:01:58given North Korea persecutes Christians,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00the regime hates America
0:02:00 > 0:02:03and the regime once condemned Dr Kim to death for being a spy.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24Foreign journalists are all but banned from North Korea, but Dr Kim
0:02:24 > 0:02:28has spent 18 months helping us negotiate access to the university.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31Quite what I'm going to be able to film
0:02:31 > 0:02:34and how much we're going to see is anyone's guess.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Our drive from the airport to the university takes us
0:02:48 > 0:02:51through the showpiece capital, Pyongyang.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57The image of North Korea the regime wants visitors to see.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04No sign of the poverty and food shortages which human rights groups
0:03:04 > 0:03:06say blight the rest of the country.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Pyongyang is impressive.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15You see all kinds of things that prove that the regime must be
0:03:15 > 0:03:16wise and must be munificent.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19I mean, who could build Pyongyang who wasn't wise?
0:03:20 > 0:03:24The answer is on display everywhere, the Kim family dynasty.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33They've had North Korea in their ruthless grip since 1948.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38First there was Kim Il-sung.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Then his son, Kim Jong-il.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48And when he died two years ago his son Kim Jong-un took over
0:03:48 > 0:03:50the brutal family firm.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Any hopes the young dictator would be more moderate have been dashed.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59He's threatened nuclear war against America...
0:04:01 > 0:04:04..and just before Christmas executed his uncle,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07supposedly for plotting a coup.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Approaching the university, on the outskirts of Pyongyang,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27it's clear from the start PUST is no ordinary academic institution.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33The campus is guarded by troops.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Given the go-ahead by Kim Jong-un's father,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43the university opened three years ago.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50THEY SING
0:04:51 > 0:04:53These are the students.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Marching to breakfast, singing songs about war.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13Dr Kim says PUST is unique by North Korean standards.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Paid for by the West, it exposes students to Western ideas
0:05:16 > 0:05:18and technology.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Every student, though, is handpicked by the secretive state.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44There are 500, the majority in their 20s and said to be
0:05:44 > 0:05:48the sons of some of the most powerful men in North Korea.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Including senior military figures.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54The regime doesn't allow women to study here
0:05:54 > 0:05:57but they do make up the majority of guards on campus.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04'North Korean citizens are usually banned from speaking to
0:06:04 > 0:06:06'foreign journalists.'
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Sorry, I'm Chris. I'm from London, my first time...
0:06:09 > 0:06:13'But during my ten day stay at PUST I am allowed to film with students.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18'The down side, I'll be closely monitored...
0:06:21 > 0:06:24'..and student accommodation blocks are off-limits.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27'The students are all keen to tell me
0:06:27 > 0:06:30'how they are studying for the glory of North Korea.'
0:06:39 > 0:06:42So, those songs that you're singing when you're marching,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45is that patriotism, that's all about the good of our country?
0:06:54 > 0:06:57'The students' life runs along military lines.'
0:06:58 > 0:07:00THEY CHANT
0:07:01 > 0:07:05'Rain or shine, the day begins at half past six,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07'with full-on exercise sessions.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11'After a quick cold shower they're changed
0:07:11 > 0:07:14'and march into breakfast on the stroke of seven.'
0:07:16 > 0:07:19THEY SING
0:07:19 > 0:07:21So, open up your books to page 36.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25By 8.30 they're beginning three hours of classes,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27including English language skills.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Don't listen to our advice.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32STUDENTS REPEAT: Don't listen to our advice.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35Dress badly and have ugly hairstyles.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39STUDENTS REPEAT: Dress badly and have ugly hairstyles.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42'After which, time to get the collective blood flowing...
0:07:46 > 0:07:50'..with a daily pre-lunch parade-ground workout.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57'Workers across North Korea take part in
0:07:57 > 0:07:59'similar synchronised displays every morning.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06'And so the regimented day goes on.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10'At first sight, PUST feels like it's business as usual
0:08:10 > 0:08:14'for the institutionalised North Koreans.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21'But PUST patrons believe the university can help the country move
0:08:21 > 0:08:23'in a radically different direction.'
0:08:26 > 0:08:30The hope is that the young people who come through that
0:08:30 > 0:08:32university will be people who will question
0:08:32 > 0:08:35and will ask the right questions about the ideology,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38about the system, the way the country is structured.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43'78-year-old Dr Kim invited me to join him
0:08:43 > 0:08:47'on his daily morning run around the campus.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49'He thanks God he's alive.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53'The regime sentenced him to death in 1998 for spying,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55'whilst bringing aid into the country.'
0:08:55 > 0:08:59- So how many days were you in prison?- 42 days.
0:08:59 > 0:09:00- Not that you were counting.- Yes.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09'Dr Kim said he was freed after convincing the regime
0:09:09 > 0:09:10'he was a force for good.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19'Three years later, it invited him to build PUST,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21'based on a similar university
0:09:21 > 0:09:23'which Dr Kim had opened in Northern China.'
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Everyone knew what he represented in North Korea, they're not stupid
0:09:29 > 0:09:31and he is not naive.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34He understands also the dangers that he has placed himself in
0:09:34 > 0:09:36and he has walked that tightrope.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46'Dr Kim had to raise £20 million to build PUST, largely from US
0:09:46 > 0:09:49'and South Korean Christian charities.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54'He also raises around £2 million a year for running costs.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00'Dr Kim calls it "unconditional generosity".
0:10:00 > 0:10:03'Giving graduates the economic, agricultural
0:10:03 > 0:10:07'and technical skills to benefit North Korean society.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25'It is hard to believe.'
0:10:25 > 0:10:28So, when you plant a whole field you want every plant in that field
0:10:28 > 0:10:30to do an equal job.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33'Christian lecturers, teaching in a country
0:10:33 > 0:10:36'which persecutes religious believers -
0:10:36 > 0:10:39'in English, the language of the hated enemy, America.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42'What is going on?'
0:10:42 > 0:10:44You know, there are many things about North Korea that,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46on the face of it, don't make any sense.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47They're full of contradictions
0:10:47 > 0:10:51and PUST is an obvious kind of contradiction.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53I think they want the outside technology
0:10:53 > 0:10:57so bad that they're prepared to accept some risks.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Did any of you have a mother or father who has ever
0:10:59 > 0:11:02flown on a plane?
0:11:02 > 0:11:03- No.- No?
0:11:03 > 0:11:05'The risks?
0:11:05 > 0:11:07'Students' minds become polluted by Western ideas
0:11:07 > 0:11:10'and begin to question regime propaganda.'
0:11:10 > 0:11:12The figure that I gave, if you go global
0:11:12 > 0:11:14then you get big sales, potentially.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18'Colin McCulloch left Yorkshire to teach business studies at PUST.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21'The former business consultant lives on campus
0:11:21 > 0:11:23'and gives his time for free.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26'Some of the other 40 lecturers are sponsored by Christian charities.'
0:11:26 > 0:11:29I'm sure that the leaders and the government here
0:11:29 > 0:11:33recognise that they need to connect with the outside world.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35It's not possible to be a totally hermetic,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38closed economy in the modern age.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42'PUST says it's careful not to pass on technology
0:11:42 > 0:11:44'which could be exploited militarily.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50'But, equally, what's taught is also censored by the regime.'
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Do you find yourself having to adapt the lesson to make it
0:11:53 > 0:11:57suitable for where you are and who you're teaching?
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Yeah, I mean, that's part of the deal.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04They have a kind of editorial control over what we're
0:12:04 > 0:12:06actually going to put forward.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09Erm, what we're going to do this morning is make you
0:12:09 > 0:12:12the managers of four companies.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15'In a country where the supply of products is controlled
0:12:15 > 0:12:18'by the regime, the concept of a free market
0:12:18 > 0:12:19'is new to these students.'
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Are they getting it?
0:12:28 > 0:12:29They're starting to get it,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32although the issue is that there's only limited
0:12:32 > 0:12:37context in their own public media and their own home environment.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45No, no, it means that the bank owns the shares, not borrowing.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49'It's hard to see how the students will put these skills into practice.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52'All North Korean business is state controlled
0:12:52 > 0:12:56'and trading with foreign companies is restricted by further
0:12:56 > 0:13:00'UN sanctions, imposed after last year's nuclear threats.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03'The students are conditioned not to question the regime
0:13:03 > 0:13:05'but are they becoming frustrated?'
0:13:07 > 0:13:09I've never played this before.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11I just thought I'd tell you now.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15'Finding out what they really think isn't easy.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21'Maybe sport will help me break down the barriers.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28'In the evening I'm approached by a student who seems keen to talk.'
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Chris, Chris.
0:13:33 > 0:13:34Sorry.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38When you leave PUST what job do you want?
0:13:38 > 0:13:41- What job?- Yeah.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42You don't know?
0:13:48 > 0:13:52'He quotes the party line on why North Korea is so underdeveloped.'
0:13:57 > 0:13:59Yes, yes...
0:13:59 > 0:14:02Why is it important to you to have foreign teachers rather than
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Korean teachers?
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Yeah, yeah, you want more.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16'Just as I feel I'm starting to make a connection,
0:14:16 > 0:14:20'a uniformed guard walks over and takes him aside.'
0:14:21 > 0:14:24We're invited guests, we've got permission to film
0:14:24 > 0:14:27but you can feel the tension developing the moment
0:14:27 > 0:14:30we have a long conversation with a student.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38'What is becoming clear is just how out of step the students
0:14:38 > 0:14:40'appear to be with the outside world.'
0:14:44 > 0:14:47You've probably seen these gentlemen around.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51'American lecturer Erin Fink invites me to talk to her students.'
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Who's heard of Michael Jackson? Put your hand up.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56Do you know who that is?
0:14:56 > 0:14:59- No.- Michael Jackson?- Michael Jackson.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06No, he's not the President, no.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10Michael Jackson, he was a very famous singer.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16How old is he? He died. He was 50 years old.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21'You might have thought students would have found out
0:15:21 > 0:15:23'about Michael Jackson on the internet.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27'Unlike most of North Korea, it is available at PUST.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34'But the woman seen here on the left censors access.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36'Students have to let her know in advance which sites
0:15:36 > 0:15:38'they intend to go to.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40'And it's strictly no e-mail,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43'no social media and no international news.'
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Do you ever see a day
0:15:46 > 0:15:50when you'll be able to sit in a cafe in Pyongyang and use the internet?
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Would that be useful?
0:15:52 > 0:15:54HE LAUGHS
0:16:06 > 0:16:10'For North Korean citizens, news of the outside world
0:16:10 > 0:16:12'is almost non-existent.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18'Off campus in Pyongyang, all we see and hear is a daily diet
0:16:18 > 0:16:20'of regime propaganda.'
0:16:20 > 0:16:23LOUD SPEAKER BLARES
0:16:29 > 0:16:33The only news at eight o'clock, every night,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37on state TV is Kim Jong-un news and what he's doing for the country.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41Even the daily newspapers dedicate their front pages to
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Kim Jong-un news.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46There he is opening up a children's hospital
0:16:46 > 0:16:48and today meeting his generals.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57'No mention of the reality of life for the vast
0:16:57 > 0:16:59'majority of North Koreans.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04'According to the UN, millions suffer from chronic poverty
0:17:04 > 0:17:07'and a lack of food and medical care.'
0:17:07 > 0:17:10They're spending their money... It's a matter, literally,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12a matter of guns before butter.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17'A current UN investigation into human-rights abuses in North Korea
0:17:17 > 0:17:20'has gathered testimony from defectors who
0:17:20 > 0:17:23'were previously imprisoned in the country's brutal labour camps.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29'Independent estimates put the number of political prisoners
0:17:29 > 0:17:31'in the tens of thousands.'
0:17:32 > 0:17:34Many die.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38Many stories of prisoners being put onto trolleys
0:17:38 > 0:17:42and taken out to be burned in a vat.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47People growing up their whole lives there,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50living on rodents and on grass, just to survive.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54And it may amount to a crime against humanity.
0:17:57 > 0:17:58'Human-rights activists question
0:17:58 > 0:18:02'whether PUST should be operating at all in such a country.'
0:18:04 > 0:18:07If the price to pay for being allowed to establish
0:18:07 > 0:18:12a presence inside North Korea is ignoring North Korea's
0:18:12 > 0:18:15egregious human-rights violations,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17I will say that that price is too high.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22You have to start somewhere.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26So, this isn't an excuse for appeasement, which I'm totally,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28utterly apposed to.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31This is an argument for some form of engagement in order to try
0:18:31 > 0:18:33and change things.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38'But is contact with the West really transforming these young men?
0:18:40 > 0:18:43'Leader Kim Jong-un studied in Switzerland
0:18:43 > 0:18:46'and PUST sends selected students abroad.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48'Three have just returned from a year
0:18:48 > 0:18:50'at Westminster University in the UK.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52'Has this opened their minds?'
0:18:52 > 0:18:56How different is Britain to the DPRK?
0:18:59 > 0:19:01'On the face of it, no.'
0:19:01 > 0:19:04There would have been things that you saw in Britain
0:19:04 > 0:19:06that you don't see here, like the television is very different,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08the music is very different.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10Did you ever get away from studying,
0:19:10 > 0:19:12- did you ever come across new types of music...- In the UK?
0:19:12 > 0:19:14..in the UK?
0:19:18 > 0:19:21'And is this student also studying his colleagues?
0:19:21 > 0:19:24'He is clearly monitoring them.'
0:19:24 > 0:19:26What about you? You're being very quiet.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39'I have no idea if it's out of fear or the conditioning
0:19:39 > 0:19:43'of their minds, but this awkward interview is going nowhere.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45'It leaves me wondering
0:19:45 > 0:19:48'if these students can ever be agents of change.'
0:20:00 > 0:20:03'Devotion to the leader appears absolute.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12'We discover students are receiving two separate educations on campus.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19'Alongside Western lectures, they also come to this building
0:20:19 > 0:20:22'for lessons in the regime ideology, known as Juche.'
0:20:24 > 0:20:27It's become a kind of catch-all for a fierce,
0:20:27 > 0:20:31strident nationalism of the kind practised by North Korea.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Pinning it down to a precise meaning is actually quite difficult.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39'We're forbidden from filming in the Juche building
0:20:39 > 0:20:42'but I speak to some students outside.'
0:20:43 > 0:20:48Do you learn about Juche from when you're a young child or only now?
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Your whole life. Well, describe it to me.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00For the country?
0:21:08 > 0:21:10That's powerful stuff.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16'It's 7am on a Sunday.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19'My colleague finds students inspecting
0:21:19 > 0:21:22'the area around a monument built to honour Juche and the regime.'
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Hi, guys, what are you doing here?
0:21:26 > 0:21:29We just get rid of dirty...dirt.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Say again, sorry.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35We just get rid of dirt.
0:21:35 > 0:21:36Doubt.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42- Oh, dirt.- Yes.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46'Every last speck of it.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48'The students arrive in droves to obsessively
0:21:48 > 0:21:50'scrub the monument area clean.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00'Even the dirt between the paving is scraped out.'
0:22:09 > 0:22:11Is it hard work?
0:22:16 > 0:22:18'They carry on cleaning into the night.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30'Just beyond the campus, the lights of the showcase capital, Pyongyang.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35'Resources are so scarce, electricity is cut off
0:22:35 > 0:22:37'at 11 o'clock every night,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40'plunging the city into darkness.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45'The university is spared the switch-off.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47'Perhaps a sign of its importance to the regime.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58'By now I've been at PUST for six days and the constant
0:22:58 > 0:23:02'monitoring by government minders is becoming wearing.'
0:23:02 > 0:23:04It gets to you after a while.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07It's a bit like being under house arrest.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Imagine spending months teaching here.
0:23:12 > 0:23:13Good afternoon.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16'Business lecturer Sandralee Moynihan
0:23:16 > 0:23:17'has been at PUST for a term.'
0:23:17 > 0:23:19It is very restrictive.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22What it brings to you too is a knowledge of how precious
0:23:22 > 0:23:23freedom is.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25We can't even take a walk in a park.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32'Sandralee, a Christian like many PUST staff,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36'does have the freedom to go to church in Pyongyang.'
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Mr Ching, could you take another one?
0:23:38 > 0:23:39Thank you.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41'But it's yet another contradiction.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44'Practising Christianity can lead to the prison camp.'
0:23:46 > 0:23:50The authorities wanted us to film Mass at this church,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54to show that there is religious freedom in North Korea.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Of course, it's only for foreign workers here
0:23:56 > 0:23:58and some handpicked locals.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Yes, President Kim, let's go to Mass.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06THEY SING
0:24:08 > 0:24:11'Are the North Koreans really true believers
0:24:11 > 0:24:14'like Sandra and her PUST colleagues?'
0:24:14 > 0:24:16The students told me, there is no-one
0:24:16 > 0:24:18who is a Christian in their country.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22'The locals come across as extras in a well-rehearsed show.
0:24:24 > 0:24:25'Watch carefully,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28'they're not actually putting money into the collection.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36'Even the farewell to the foreigners appears choreographed.'
0:24:36 > 0:24:40Are you all Christian? Do you come here every Sunday?
0:24:40 > 0:24:44'At least, until we tried to talk to the local congregation.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46'A minder quickly appears.'
0:24:46 > 0:24:48Hello, I'm Chris.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54Yes, I'm very surprised to see a Christian church in DPRK!
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Oh, OK.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58I think we've got to go.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03'How do you change a brutal, paranoid dictatorship, which
0:25:03 > 0:25:07'unashamedly lies to its own people, foreign visitors and the world?'
0:25:08 > 0:25:12If change is going to come to North Korea in positive ways, it's probably
0:25:12 > 0:25:16going to come from privileged people like the students at PUST.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20They're the ones who have access, after all, to the leadership.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Do your parents or even grandparents,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25do they ever bother you?
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Yeah.
0:25:27 > 0:25:28THEY LAUGH
0:25:28 > 0:25:29Yeah?
0:25:29 > 0:25:31'After ten days with students and staff,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35'I'm convinced some students' minds are being opened up by PUST.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37'And I'm not alone.'
0:25:37 > 0:25:42I believe they're getting bolder and I believe that's very good.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44They really have had so little freedom.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46If you only had one company,
0:25:46 > 0:25:51do you think that they would invest new technology?
0:25:51 > 0:25:54'Weeks after our filming, Sandralee got her freedom back,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56'opting to leave PUST.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59'Deemed too outspoken in class,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02'she has since been blacklisted by the North Koreans.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10'But PUST remains, for the students,
0:26:10 > 0:26:12'a unique window on the outside world.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19'There is no clearer example than the university dental clinic,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22'run by American dentist Byungmoo Lee.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26'It offers something the regime can't. Painless dental care.'
0:26:45 > 0:26:49Before PUST have you ever been to a dentist?
0:26:49 > 0:26:50No.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53By learning about the West like this, erm,
0:26:53 > 0:26:57it must increase their own sense of aspiration and what they would
0:26:57 > 0:27:01like to see for themselves, for their families and for their society.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03And they will feel frustrations
0:27:03 > 0:27:08because their society won't be able to meet those expectations.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12That's the way revolutions often start or changes in regimes.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16When you first met a foreigner, an American, were you wary,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18were you nervous of meeting an American?
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Do you think, in the future,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34you may like the government as well as the people?
0:27:34 > 0:27:35'But before they can answer,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38'the North Korean Head of Security intervenes.'
0:27:43 > 0:27:45He doesn't like us filming.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49People often say to me, is there any hope for North Korea?
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Well, the one thing that was left in Pandora's Box was hope
0:27:52 > 0:27:54and I feel that way about North Korea.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57There is, of course, hope in the eyes of some of these young people
0:27:57 > 0:27:59and we've got to carry on encouraging that.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03'The first students graduate from PUST in May.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05'Will they, and those that are set to follow,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09'help lay the foundations of a new North Korea?'
0:28:09 > 0:28:10THEY SING
0:28:10 > 0:28:14'Or simply use their new-found knowledge to perpetuate the regime?'
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Next week,
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Panorama goes undercover to expose fraud in the immigration system
0:28:25 > 0:28:27and reveals the network of agents
0:28:27 > 0:28:31and criminals involved in the bogus student visa trade.