Why One Obscure Malaysian University Gave Kim Jong Un an Honorary Doctorate

A broken clock, they say, is still right twice a day, and the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea’s premier English-language news site, does even better. Much of its domestic coverage is depressingly optimistic propaganda; I’m guessing, for example, that foreigners aren’t flocking en masse to Pyongyang’s new fitness center, as one Oct. 21 report suggests, though an Oct. 9 story, "Floral Baskets Placed before Statues of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il," is probably true. And while the news agency’s international coverage lacks any sense of balance, it is sometimes, technically speaking, accurate. There is no reason to doubt, for instance, that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un likely congratulated Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on his birthday.

Every so often, in other words, the agency churns out stories that are, broadly speaking, news. Earlier this month, I encountered such an article: a KCNA report crowing that a Malaysian institution of higher learning, known as Help University, had awarded North Korean leader Kim Jong Un an honorary doctorate in economics — in recognition of his "untiring efforts for the education of the country and the well-being of its people."

Help, it turns out, is a real university. Founded in 1986 to "provide affordable quality educational opportunities for Malaysians," the private, Kuala Lumpur-based college brands itself as the "university of achievers." (Help’s website brims with happy reports, noting, for instance, that the "lower foyer of HELP University was the scene of jubilation today" because of a "Dramatic Increase in Straight A’s" and that its Team Legacy "emerged Champion in the prestigious Cheerleading Association and Register of Malaysia (CHARM) Cheerleading Championship.")

Given that Kim’s greatest economic achievement appears to be stewarding one of the world’s most dysfunctional economies, I reached out to Help University to find out why the school would give him an honorary degree in economics. Not only did the college confirm that it granted Kim the degree, but it also sent over a statement from Dr. Paul Chan, the president and vice chancellor, explaining why the university chose to build "a bridge to reach the people" of North Korea. (Malaysia is one of North Korea’s closest allies in Southeast Asia, and its citizens are reportedly among the very few allowed visa-free entry into North Korea.)

Within six years, North Korea "will engage the world in many constructive ways," Chan predicts, in a statement that leaps from Socrates to Henry Kissinger to Malala Yousafzai. "When a world leader facilitates this, probably an American President, there will be a rush to DPR Korea. Everyone will rush in to offer assistance and investment. I am just a bit ahead of them in that I feel no one at this moment has the courage to do this though their hearts tell them to do so."

"[L]et’s start with offering education opportunities to the people of this country with the support of their President," adds Chan, who has an actual Ph.D. in economics. "Why deny them? Why punish them with sanctions? The people are hungry for education to change their lives. Give it to them."

"Can you help to send out this message and enlighten the world?" Chan asks. His statement, in full, is below. Consider yourself enlightened: