The university said Wednesday Pohang University of Science and Technology became the first domestic university ever to sign an agreement with North Korea's Pyongyang Information Center (PIC) for joint research projects in the information-technology sector.

The South Korean engineering school saol said the agreement was signed last Wednesday in the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong, between Park Chan-mo, president of the university's graduate school and PIC President Choe Ju-shik.

Under the agreement, both parties will begin joint research projects focusing on virtual reality in Dandong and Pyongyang.

The two parties also agreed to jointly develop computer software and offer open lectures on higher-level computer programming at the "Hana program center," co-established in Dangdong by a group of South Korean small- and medium sized IT
firms and information centers.