Location: Yongnam-dong (龍南洞), Taesŏng-kuyŏk (大城區域), Pyongyang (平壤市), North Korea

Telephone number: +850-2 521-1321; Nuclear Energy Department (原子力學部) +850-2-521-7727; Atomic Energy Research Institute (原子에네르기 硏究所 ) +850-2-521-9127

Subordinate to: The Science and Education Department (科學敎育部) under the Korean Workers Party Central Committee (朝鮮勞動黨中央委員會) exercises overall supervision, but the Department of Higher Education (高等敎育部) in the Ministry of Education (敎育省) manages administrative affairs. [Note: There are also education bureaus under the people’s committees in every city and/or province (市·都 人民委員會敎育局) that contribute to the formation of education policy, and the local education bureau could provide some input for the school.]

Size: As of 2000, it had a College of Natural Sciences (自然科學部) and a College of Social Sciences (社會科學部), 13 departments (學部), 50 programs (學課) and more than 12,000 students. The university also has 10 research institutes, 50 laboratories in the medical, agricultural and engineering fields, and 1,200 professors and researchers. The total area of the university is 1,560,000 square meters. The university has a science library containing more than two million volumes, a gymnasium, museums, a printing and publishing house, and a hospital. The university’s dormitories can accommodate 10,000 people.

Primary Function: Education and training, research and development

Description: Kim Il Sung University was founded in October of 1946 as North Korea’s top university. Since North Korea signed the founding agreement and charter of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) at Dubna in the USSR in 1956, the university has been conducting research and training students in the nuclear field. [Note: JINR is also called the “United Institute of Nuclear Research” or the “Dubna Atomic Energy Research Institute.”] In the late 1950’s, the university established a nuclear reactor engineering program (核原子爐工學課) and started to send students to JINR for training. According to defector Ko Yŏng Hwan, the university established a nuclear physics program (核物理學課) in 1959, but the (South) Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute says the program was established in 1973. These programs are under the Atomic Energy Department (原子力學部), which is one of eight departments in the College of Natural Sciences. The university also has the Atomic Energy Research Institute (原子에네르기 硏究所), but the institute’s date of establishment is not clear. The nuclear physics curriculum has included courses in nuclear electronics, nuclear fuels, and nuclear reactors.

According to South Koreas Technology Center for Nuclear Control, Kim Il Sung University has a sub-critical assembly (未臨界施設) for educational use. In 1981, the university reportedly had research facilities for nuclear electronics, solid state physics, materials research, electron microscopy, and X-ray spectrometry. The same year, the Chemistry Department offered courses in radiochemistry, and the Institute of Engineering taught nuclear engineering classes. There is also a report that the university might have “hot cells.

In 1981, an estimated 1,000 students or so graduated from the Atomic Energy Department annually. About 100 of those specialized in nuclear physics, and these graduates have reportedly been assigned to the Yŏngbyŏn Nuclear Research Center or nuclear facilities in Pakch’ŏn-kun.

As of 2000, Pak Kwan O, an authority on nuclear physics, had been serving as the president of the university for 13 years.

	Updated May 2003

Key Sources:
Interview with Dr. Shin Sŏng T’aek, chief of the Force Development Research Team, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, by Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) senior research associate Daniel A. Pinkston and CNS research associate Mari Sudo, 4 September 2002, Monterey; “Pukhan Uŏngŏp’ul’i,” Christian Mission for North Korea, <http://www.cmnk.org>; “Pukhan Kip’okjekaebal Chipch’ak, 70 Ch’arye P’okpalshilhŏm/Russia Chŏngbu’ŭi Pukhaekpyŏngga'naeyong,” Taehan Maeil, 5 January 1994, p. 6, in KINDS <http://www.kinds.or.kr>; Pak Yŏng Ch’ae, “Kwanshimssollin Wŏnjŏn’gisul/Puk Paljŏnsŏlbi Sangdangbubun Kuksanhwa,” Kyunghyang Shinmun, 21 June 1994, p. 5, in KINDS, <http://www.kinds.or.kr>; “'So K'udet'a Chiwŏn' Kim Jong Il Kŭkpijishi/Kwisun Pug'woegyo'gwan Ko Yŏng Hwan Ssi Ilmun'ildap,” Chosun Ilbo, 14 September 1991, in KINDS, <http://www.kinds.or.kr>; So Yong-ha, “Capacity for Nuclear Weapons Development,” Hoguk, July 1989, pp. 119-122, in “North’s Nuclear Capability Assessed,” FBIS-EAS-89-148, 3 August 1989, p. 24; Kim Pyŏng Ku, et al., Pukhaekkisulch’ongsŏ-I (Taejŏn: Technology Center for Nuclear Control, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, November 1999), <http://www.tcnc.kaeri.re.kr >; UNDP Notes, INIS Database, 1981, p. 18; ROK Ministry of Unification, Pukhan Kaeyo 2000 (Seoul: Ministry of Unification, 1999), p. 488; North Korea Yearbook 2002 (Seoul: Yonhap News Agency, 2001) Chapter 8; Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr., “North Korea’s Nuclear Infrastructure,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, 1 February 1994, pp. 74-79; “Hyŏn Kim Il Sung Chonghapdaehak Ch’ongjang Pak Kwan O,” etimesNet, <http://www.etimesnet.com>.