Education and Health

Grand People’s Study House 

Envisaged as a ‘study house for the people’, this voluminous, Korean style building was opened in April 1982 with a total floor space of 100,000 square metres and a capacity for up to 30 million books. Within its walls are study rooms, lecture halls, question and answer rooms and music rooms. It is situated on Kim Il Sung square and there are great views across the city from its viewing terrace.

Mangyongdae Schoolchildren’s Palace 

One of Pyongyang’s after school education centres for the city’s schoolchildren, it was completed in 1989 (presently being refurbished) and can hold over 5,000 students who conduct extra curricular activities within it. It is divided into several sections including science, gymnasium, art and swimming. Visitors are normally treated to a concert put on by the children, showcasing their skills.

Kim Il Sung University

This is the most elite educational establishment in the DPRK, and the oldest, dating to 1946. Kim Jong Il spent his university days here, and a bronze statue of Kim Il Sung adorns the campus. It holds 16,000 students and 1,200 academic staff. The university is equipped with numerous libraries, research institutes, a publishing and printing house, a doctoral institute, and a full range of welfare facilities such as a gymnasium, newly built swimming complex, accommodation blocks and a hospital.

Okryu Children’s Hospital

Recently constructed, this is one of the most modern medical facilities in the country, situated in the East of Pyongyang, it has a full range of in- and out-patient facilities. Visitors may even be able to sample the national ‘distance learning’ live-feed to a range of hospitals across the country. Across the road from the Pyongyant Maternity Hospital.