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A young woman who escaped the clutches of North Korea has revealed what life is like for children inside the dictatorship's brutal schools.

Bella Seo - who fled the dystopian country when she was a teenager - said students' most important subject was their leader Kim Jong Un, which they had to study three times a day.

Ms Seo said: 'Even if a student excels in Korean, English, maths, history, science, PE, or art, their overall evaluation depends on their performance in these ideological subjects.' 

In the lessons, the children apparently learn that Kim Jong-un was a bright child who 'rode a yacht, did target practice, and liked to read', as well as learning 'revolutionary' music. 

Alongside studying Childhood and Revolutionary History of the Kim family as part of the 'Greatness Education', children were subjected to daily beatings 'to the point that it seemed normal'. 

Cleaning Jong Un's portrait and singing songs about loyalty to North Korea are also regular ways to start the school day. 

But the 23-year-old said that after classes were over, they were then forced to do hours of 'extremely strenuous' physical labour before being allowed home.

Ms Seo, who now lives in Seoul in South Korea, said that she was made to level out the rocky school yard by covering it with sand.




Children in North Korean schools are subjected to brutal beatings and hours of propaganda, a woman who fled the country has revealed






Kim Jong Un visited flood-affected victims last August when crowds of children - who are taught hours of classes about his family and sing propaganda songs - swarmed to the dictator





Students and faculty members at the Kallimgil Primary School welcome new pupils during a ceremony in Mangyongdae district earlier this month

She was carrying 25kg bags of back-breaking material for up to four hours every evening, which meant she was so exhausted by the time she got home she passed out. 

Students were also made to cover the costs of the project in another cruel twist.

When it snowed - which it did for 63 days of the year in the northern town of Hyesan where Ms Seo lived - the pupils were made to clear it.

North Korea's 'free' education also left parents starving instead of buying food so they could afford to pay their share of the contributions.

Many students would miss school to forage for food or relied on meals being smuggled in from China, like Ms Seo's family.

Despite promising a universally accessible education system, students would have to pay for their 'youth projects' - like the new playground floor.

School supplies, teacher's birthdays, family occasions and weddings required further contributions, with class leaders likely to pay more. 

If you couldn't pay, students were then excluded by classmates and punished by teachers.




Children dressed up and cheered on Kimg Jong Un at the inauguration ceremony for new flats in the Hwasong area in Pyongyang earlier this month





Schoolchildren are said to start their day cleaning Kim Jong Un's portrait before then spending hours learning about his family's dynasty





In recent years the emphasis of classes is said to have moved from the leader's father, Kim Jong Il, and his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, to the leader himself





'Even if a student excels in Korean, English, maths, history, science, PE, or art, their overall evaluation depends on their performance in these ideological subjects' 





Students in North Korea are taught propaganda songs about the country and learn that America was 'an eternal enemy we cannot coexist with'





Kimg Jong Un posed with children for a commemorative photo at a spring festival gathering at the Mangyongdae Student Youth Palace in Pyongyan




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'It was a severe burden for families surviving on daily earnings; some parents had to skip meals to afford these school expenses. In my hometown, it was impossible to survive on the state salary - monthly wages were barely enough to buy a bottle of alcohol,' The Mirror reported.  

Girls were singled out to clean the classrooms and 'typically received harsher punishments' than punishments.

Ms seo engines casino described how a friend was grabbed by the hair, slapped, and thrown against the teacher's desk because she made a loud noise while cleaning. 

The young girl was begging for an apology and even though her parents got an apology from the teacher, it was not treated as a serious issue. 

Students were then made to admit their failing on a Saturday class dedicated to sharing their self-criticisms.

Unsurprisingly, students were also taught that America was 'an eternal enemy we cannot coexist with' and South Korea was 'poor and starving'.

Ms Seo and her family managed to escape the country by fled across the mountains to China, before smuggling themselves through the mainland into Laos and Thailand.

They were then able to catch a flight to South Korea where they have rebuilt their lives. 




Vladimir Putin joined Kim Jong Un to walk past children in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on the Russian President's trip to boost defence ties last summer





Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un observe North Korean students - who have access to a 'free' education but which also leaves parents starving so they could afford to pay their share of the contributions





If you couldn't pay, students were then excluded by classmates and punished by teachers







In 2020, Kim Jong Un's sister brought in more rules for students to learn about their families dynasty.

Before, kids only spent half an hour a day on the topic but now they can spend up to half their day learning about the dictator's family.

This obsessive schooling on the Jong Uns has left experts concerned that pupils will now be at a disadvantage at the pace of their learning. 

A source in North Hamgyong Province, close to the Chinese border, told South Korea's Daily NK newspaper that 'the kids are almost at the point of becoming elementary school students'.

'So parents tend to ask teachers to focus on studying the alphabet.

'The increase in time spent on the leaders, however, leaves less time for alphabet study, so parents will be unhappy.  

Ray Cunningham, from Homer, Illinois, has visited several North Korean schools over the course of several trips there.

Photos from these visits show that tanks and warplanes are made out to be fun, while school murals glorify missiles and depict graphic violence against US troops.




In 2020, Kim Jong Un's sister (right) brought in more rules for students to learn about their families dynasty





Visits to North Korean schools show school murals glorifying missiles and depict graphic violence against US troops 





An influencer shared a 'disturbing' North Korean school dance, which shows a group of young children performing a routine while missiles explode on a screen behind them




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In a previous interview, Mr Cunningham described how the worst of the brainwashing seemed to be saved for the youngest kids.

'The younger school children are the ones that are given more of this indoctrination,' he said.

'They bring them in at age three to four and they really learn the litany.

'And there are parables that they learn about like the parable of the boot - that Kim Jong Il's friends didn't have boots, and his mother gave him a pair of boots, but he rejected those because his friends didn't have any, and now all the schoolchildren have boots.

'There are lots of little stories that are told that are so apocryphal they're crazy but you see them in every school that you go to.'

Under the new rules, the emphasis of classes is also said to have moved from the leader's father, Kim Jong Il, and his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, to the leader himself.




 Rare images inside schools showed that tanks, missiles, and warplanes are made out to be fun





In the lessons, the children apparently learn that Kim Jong Un was a bright child who 'rode a yacht, did target practice, and liked to read', as well as learning 'revolutionary' music





A source in North Hamgyong Province, close to the Chinese border, said parents and teachers were concerned that kids would now begin their next level of schooling at a disadvantage

'What is being taught in Greatness Education has changed somewhat,' said the source.

'The amount of time spent on the Supreme Leader's childhood is now twice that spent on his father's and grandfather's childhoods.'

Kim Yo Jong, who is often touted as a potential successor to her brother, was not schooled in North Korea herself, but was instead sent to a school in Switzerland, like the leader.


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