“Ask a North Korean” is an NK News series featuring interviews with and columns by North Korean defectors, most of whom left the DPRK within the last few years.

Readers may submit their questions for defectors by emailing [email protected] and including their first name and city of residence.

Today’s question is about the training nurses receive in North Korea and life at nursing school.

Lena, who was born and raised in North Korea before her defection in 2019, writes about how her family background shaped her path into nursing school and what her training revealed about North Korea’s medical education