Chinese language tutoring surges in North Korea as Pyongyang and Beijing restore ties

A surge in demand for private Chinese-language tutoring is sweeping North Korea in 2026, driven by rising public expectations that the restoration of North Korea-China relations will open new trade and employment opportunities, Daily NK has learned from a source in North Pyongan province.

“The number of people in Sinuiju trying to get private Chinese lessons is growing fast,” the source said on Thursday. “There are also more and more parents who want to start teaching their children Chinese early, because they expect trade and cooperation projects with China to increase.”

The North Korea-China summit in Pyongyang on June 8 and 9, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping made a high-profile state visit to the North Korean capital, appears to have poured fuel on an already growing trend. North Korea-China trade has been expanding steadily since the beginning of this year, and discussions about investment and joint ventures with Chinese companies have increased markedly, the source said.

Chinese seen as a livelihood skill

Among the North Korean public, there is a widespread expectation that trade with China and interpretation-related jobs will increase. Parents with school-age children are especially driving the trend. The prevailing view, the source said, is that Chinese fluency has become a future income stream.

“In the past, there were people who wanted to learn Chinese, but the atmosphere now is quite different,” the source said. “These days, the perception has grown stronger that Chinese is essential for any kind of work with China. Chinese is no longer seen as just a foreign language. It is now understood as a skill directly tied to one’s livelihood.”

The surge in demand has pushed private tutoring fees sharply upward. According to the source, the cost of beginner-level Chinese lessons has risen to what intermediate-level instruction used to cost, yet demand shows no sign of slowing.

“Even as prices have gone up, people keep flocking to learn, and Chinese tutoring is now said to be the most lucrative tutoring subject,” the source said. “The fact that fees are rising despite the boom is ultimately because of the expectation that knowing Chinese will open up a lot of money-making opportunities.”

The demand has become so intense that a shortage of qualified Chinese tutors has emerged. Requests for private lessons are now reaching people who have past experience visiting China or who have worked in North Korea’s trade sector. The appetite for practical Chinese language skills, the source said, has spread well beyond trained educators to experienced trade workers.

Not everyone is optimistic, however. Some caution that if Chinese fluency does not translate into concrete jobs or higher incomes, the learning craze could fade as quickly as it arose.

“There is also a view that it remains uncertain whether learning Chinese will actually lead to improvements in daily life,” the source said. “Whether Chinese skills will connect to real economic opportunities that people can feel in their lives still needs to be seen.”

Read in Korean

A Note to Readers