{
  "id": 7379749,
  "title": "Smartphone apps widen North Korea’s education gap",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/smartphone-apps-widen-north-koreas-education-gap",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-14T17:46:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily NK",
    "slug": "daily-nk",
    "url": "https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korea-education-gap-smartphone-language-learning/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In North Korea, the education gap between wealthy and poorer students has widened due to the availability of smartphone apps. Middle and high school students in affluent households are using private tutors alongside language apps on their smartphones to learn English and Chinese. This combination is creating a significant disparity with classmates from less privileged backgrounds who cannot afford either option. A source in North Hwanghae province revealed that wealthy parents in Sariwon hire private tutors to teach English and Chinese separately, with students often supplementing their lessons using a domestic smartphone app called Bitsaem 3.0. The app, available through another app marketplace called Naui Gildongmu, helps students improve their pronunciation and vocabulary. The source noted that students are learning from private tutors and using their phones to study whenever they have free time, resulting in a notable improvement in their overall language skills. Parents in wealthier families begin hiring tutors for their children as early as elementary school, as the material becomes progressively more challenging in higher grades. The tuition costs, averaging around $30 per month, are equivalent to purchasing about 45 kilograms of rice at current market prices in North Korea. For families living paycheck to paycheck, spending that much on tutoring is financially unfeasible. Smartphones capable of running the language learning apps smoothly cost more than $500, making them inaccessible to many students from poorer households. Consequently, students from less privileged backgrounds are effectively barred from both private tutoring and app-based study, exacerbating the already wide education gap. The divide becomes even more pronounced as students prepare for university admission, where the importance of money is keenly understood through personal family experiences. Despite financial constraints, some families still manage to cover tutoring costs by cutting back on other living expenses. One example provided by the source is families who switch from eating white rice to a mix of half rice and half other grains to save money for their children's education. Parents in North Korea generally view education as an investment that can transform their children's future, often prioritizing it over their own well-being if necessary.",
  "summary": "North Korean students in some regions are increasingly turning to smartphone apps to study English and Chinese in 2026. The trend is widening an education gap that already favors children from wealthy families. Middle and high school students in well-off households are pairing private tutors with language apps on their smartphones. That combination is widening […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}