n the heart of North Korea's dictatorship, a university - largely paid for by the West - is attempting to open the minds of the state's future elite. The BBC's Panorama has been granted unique access.
Entering the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, it is immediately clear this is no ordinary academic institution.
A military guard salutes us as our vehicle passes through the security checkpoint. Once inside the campus we hear the sound of marching and singing, not more guards but the students themselves.
They are the sons of some of the most powerful men in North Korea, including senior military figures.
"Our supreme commander Kim Jong-un, we will defend him with our lives," they sing as they march to breakfast.
"Patriotism is a tradition," explains a 20-year-old first-year student. "The songs we sing as we march are in thanks to our Great Leader."
There are 500 students here - dressed smartly in black suits, white shirts, red ties and black, peaked caps with briefcases at their sides. They are all hand-picked by Kim Jong-un's regime to receive a Western education.
The university's official aim is to equip them with the skills to help modernise the impoverished country and engage with the international community.
All classes are in English and many of the lecturers are American. This is remarkable because North Korea has isolated itself from the outside world for decades and the US is its hated enemy.
After 18 months of negotiations, we have been given unique access to the students - though we are constantly monitored. The students explain they are warming to Americans - if not the US government.
''Of course at first we were nervous, but we now believe American people are different from the US," says one student. "We want to make good relationship with all countries," adds another