It is one of the country's most exclusive public schools, where parents pay fees of up to £36,000 a year so that their sons can follow in the footsteps of old boys such as P. G. Wodehouse, Ernest Shackleton and Nigel Farage.

 

But pupils arriving at Dulwich College may be surprised to discover that a music teacher at this bastion of the Establishment is a card-carrying communist who hopes to teach her pupils the songs of North Korea.

 

Lesley Larkum, Head of Strings¹ at the school founded in 1619, has visited North Korea – where millions have starved to death while the ruling dynasty lives in luxury and threatens the West with nuclear weapons - and has spoken at communist rallies in London.

 

The 49-year-old is a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) as well as being a cheerleader for Kim Jong Un's reviled² regime. Ms Larkum, who once led a women's socialist³ choir⁴ called Velvet⁵ Fist, has even played the country's national anthem⁶, known as Aegukka or Patriotic⁷ Song, at events to celebrate the founding of North Korea by the 'Great Leader' Kim Il Sung in 1948.

 

Speaking for the first time about her remarkable⁸ double life, Ms Larkum told The Mail on Sunday that she hoped to educate her pupils about North Korea's music - most of which champions communism and sings the praises of the country's ruthless leaders.

 

Citizens risk imprisonment⁹ for tuning¹⁰ in to Western radio stations, and must instead listen to state- controlled numbers such as We Shall Hold Bayonets More Firmly, while marching songs on the country's official website include Raise Your Weapons To Wave.

 

Ms Larkum said: 'I have performed and taught Argentinian music here. I would love to expand that repertoire¹¹ to include North Korean music. Some of it is political, some of it isn't. I think my pupils would love it.

 

'I don't think the school would mind at all. I haven't made a secret of my views - Dulwich College is all about broadening young minds and teaching them about other cultures, whatever their views.'

 

I don't think my views are relevant to my day job. I'm Head of Strings, for goodness sake. But North Korean politics are fascinating.'

 

She says she has 'sympathy' with North Korea and disagrees with the West's stance on the country, which was named as part of the Axis¹² of Evil by former U S President George W. Bush.

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