As one of the top-rated graduate programs in the world, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs attracts many promising students from abroad. The latest visitors, however, were not seeking a degree.

Five high-level researchers and the university’s vice chancellor spent 10 days at Syracuse University studying civilian information technology and databases as part of an on-going scholarly exchange program with Kim Chaek University of Technology in North Korea, said Stuart Thorson, the director of information technology in the Maxwell School. They returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on March 25.

‘It was a mix between English language training and education, with the potential to focus on how English relates to technology and digital library work,’ Thorson said. ‘I think it went real well. We were pleased because the researchers have all been here before, so we have a good relationship with them.’

The delegation spent their mornings in the University College’s English Language Institute and the rest of their time studying database technology with Information Systems Technologies faculty, Thorson said.

‘I think that they’re bringing their findings back to their university to assess what the next steps might be, and we’re doing the same,’ Thorson said. ‘The relationship will continue, so that’s the best sign something has worked.’

Thorson engineered the exchange between SU and KCUT – the first of this magnitude between United States and North Korean universities – beginning in 2001, and has resulted in a number of visits beginning in June 2002 when an SU delegation traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea.

‘The storage of information is moving increasingly to an all-digitized format,’ said Mitchell Wallerstein, the dean of Maxwell. ‘The objective of this relationship is to figure out how both societies use information. The ultimate objective of the research is to set up parallel laboratories at Syracuse University and Kim Chaek, but moving to that final step would require the resolution of political and diplomatic tensions between the United States and North Korea.’

Tensions about nuclear research between the Bush administration and DPRK head of state Kim Jong-il, however, remain a major roadblock to the project.

‘If we can find a way to solve the nuclear standoff, it would put Syracuse University in a leading position to develop a relationship with North Korea,’ Wallerstein said. ‘But given the nature of the relationship between the U.S. and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, this is an entirely civilian, academic relationship.’

The Korean delegation was required to undergo scrutiny by the State Department before being issued visas, and licenses from the Treasury and Commerce Departments would be necessary to transport any technology to KCUT, said Thorson and Wallerstein. The local FBI bureau was notified and routinely updated about the visit, Wallerstein said.

More sensitive programs, such as the National Securities Studies, were off-limits to the delegation, which focused entirely on the database technology.

‘They had no access to information on military issues, and certainly not the NSS program,’ Wallerstein said. ‘That is completely outside the realm of possibility given the current relationship.’

Thorson said he hopes, however, that the program will foster greater trust and cooperation between the universities, as well as promote more contact between the United States and the DPRK.

‘In a way I think that the worse the tone of the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea, the more valuable it is to have academic exchanges that are not involved in the political side of things,’ Thorson said. ‘One of the dangers sometimes that happens is when one or both sides start demonizing the other, it’s often much more difficult to reach agreements.’

While Thorson emphasized the importance of the relationship to prevent Americans from dehumanizing North Koreans, he acknowledged that exchanges were not completely uninhibited.

‘While our project does not relate to the big political issues at all, in fact, we are quite rigorous and vigorous in trying to stay away from those issues,’ Thorson said. ‘It does help the process to see the North Koreans as a very heterogeneous group of people, and they see the U.S. in a different light because they’ve spent time here.’

Ambassador Kim Sam-hoon, permanent representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, also praised the possible implications of the program last Friday during a lecture at the Sheraton University Hotel on University Avenue.

‘Any personal contact will help relations between the two countries,’ Sam-hoon said, emphasizing the advantages of contact taking place in an academic setting. ‘The important thing is to create ties between the two nations that will help diffuse tensions.’

Published on March 31, 2004 at 12:00 pm