The two Koreas in October will open their first joint institution of higher learning, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

A Seoul-based foundation responsible for the university said Wednesday that it agreed to open the school after three rounds of talks with the North’s Education Ministry.

Construction began in June 2002 and is in its final stage.

The university will offer graduate courses in information technology, agriculture, bioengineering, business, economics, international trade, basic sciences, health and medicine.

The two Koreas in 2001 agreed to have the South take charge of construction and recruiting professors and the North to provide land, building materials and labor.