Four impoverished female university students in North Korea were reportedly expelled and banished to rural areas after being caught engaging in prostitution. This information was relayed by a northern region partner who heard directly from university officials. The Kim Jong-un regime has been intensifying its crackdown on "non-socialist behavior," with particularly strict punishment for students and young people. (HONG Mari / KANG Ji-won)
◆Economic Hardship Increases Prostitution After COVID
According to the reporting partner in the northern part of the country: "Four female students at Chongjin University of Mining and Metallurgy were caught engaging in organized prostitution, expelled from school, and forcibly assigned to rural areas. Economic hardship was reportedly the reason."
Since the COVID pandemic, the Kim Jong-un regime's severe restrictions on personal economic activities have dramatically reduced cash income for urban residents. The increase in prostitution among struggling women has become a social problem, with even underage female students routinely selling their bodies or engaging in "compensated dating."
This case likely stems from such economic difficulties. According to reporting collaborators living in North Korea, there are "agents" who connect struggling housewives and students with male clients.
◆Rural Banishment Ruins Lives
Chongjin University of Mining and Metallurgy is a government-operated university in North Hamgyong Province. Its students typically have good academic records and come from relatively financially stable families.
The fact that the four students were not only expelled but also forcibly assigned to rural areas represents an extremely harsh punishment that effectively ruins their future lives. In North Korea, once urban residents are demoted to farmer status, most never return to cities and are forced to work as farm laborers, considered the "bottom" of North Korean society.
