Other Names: Aeguk Preventive Medicine Plant

Location: Near the Nangnang Bridge (樂浪다리), T’ongil Road (統一거리), Nangnang-Kuyŏk (樂浪區域), Pyongyang (平壤市), North Korea

Subordinate to: Medical Biology Institute (醫學生物學硏究所), Academy of Medical Sciences (醫學科學院), Ministry of Public Health (保健省), Cabinet (內閣)

[Note 1: The Academy of Medical Sciences was founded in June 1958 by merging the Medical Treatment Science Research Institute (醫療科學硏究所), the Medical Herb Department (藥草院科), and the Medical Field Research Institute (醫學分野硏究所). Both the Medical Treatment Science Research Institute and the Medical Herb Department were placed under the Academy of Sciences (科學院), and the Medical Field Research Institute was under the  Ministry of Public Health (保健省). When founded, the Academy of Medical Sciences was called the Medical Science Research Institute (醫學科學硏究院). The name was officially changed to “Academy of Medical Sciences (醫學科學院)” in November 1963, but it was changed once again to the “Medical Science Research Institute” in February 1994. The institute is currently called the “Academy of Medical Sciences,” but it is unclear when the designation changed. Note 2: The Medical Science Research Institute was subordinate to the Academy of Sciences from 1994, but it came under the control of the Ministry of Public Health in 1998].

Size: One main building (Medical Biology Research Institute, and Aeguk Preventative Medicine Production Factory) with three floors and 2,740 square meters in floor space; total area for the facility (possibly including that of the larger Medical Biology Research Institute) is approximately 6,000 square meters.

Primary Function: Vaccine development and production; hepatitis-B vaccine and diagnostics

Description: In July 1993, the factory was built with equipment donated by businesswomen who are members of the Choch’ongnyŏn (Chosen Soren), the pro-North Korea General Association of Korean Residents in Japan. The facility became operational in October 1993, but any connections to the North Korean BW program are unclear. The name “Aeguk (愛國),” which means “patriotism,” reflects the contributions made by overseas pro-North Korean residents, mostly by Choch’ongnyŏn. The Aeguk Preventative Medicine Production Factory includes 10 laboratories and various workshops dedicated to research, development, and production of vaccine and medicine. The factory’s main product has been a highly touted hepatitis B vaccine, produced through the use of recombinant yeast. [Note: Although this technique, including the use of the organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce the antigenic principle in hepatitis B vaccine has been used for many years, North Korea has attempted to present this as a new development.] According to North Korean media reports, the first floor of the factory houses sterilization rooms, storage space, and equipment for producing distilled water. The second floor contains the “Genetic Engineering Laboratory,” while the third floor contains the “Diagnostic Liquid Work Team” and the “Cell Engineering Laboratory.” The Aeguk Preventative Medicine Production Factory reportedly contains 341 pieces of equipment. Although the DPRK claims it that these units are constructed onsite, many of those were reportedly imported directly or indirectly from Japan. As of 1995, the chief of the Aeguk Preventive Medicine Factory was Lee Yong Ki. Many of the workers and staff are scientists who graduate from the Kim Il Sung University and the P’yŏngsŏng College of Science.

This photograph was identified in DPRK print media as being the main building for the Aeguk Preventative Medicine Production Factory.

In DPRK magazine Choson, May 1994, this photograph was described as showing a research staff member examining viral particles with an electron microscope, located on the first floor. The microscope pictured here is a JEOL device (Akishima, Japan), probably with a range of 80-120kV.

“Virus Laboratory No. 3,” Aeguk Preventive Medicine Factory. (The Advanced Chemtech equipment in the center is an older model, circa 1995, with DOS software and a single robot arm. Company representatives have said that they heard rumors of this type of instrument having been shipped from Germany to North Korea, but had no more information.)

Research activity in a sterile work environment.

Hepatitis B vaccine produced by the Aeguk Preventative Medicine Factory. This plant reportedly has the capacity to produce 100,000 units of Hepatitis B vaccine and therapeutics, and diagnostics for one million people, per year.

Production of pharmaceutical products at the “Aeguk Preventive Medicine Production Factory” with a Himac CP 56G ultracentrifuge made by Hitachi. Photograph originally found in Choson, May 1994.

	Updated July 2003

Key Sources:
Lee Chae Sŭng, Pukhan’ŭl Umjig’i’nŭn Technocrat (Seoul: Ilbit, 1998), pp. 348-349; Yi Chae Sung, Pukhanul Umjiginun Tek'unok'urat'u [Technocrats Who Move North Korea], Chapter 3, August 1998, pp. 344-392, FBIS Document ID: FTS19991203001142; “Preventive medicine Production,” Kumsu Kangsan, 1 May 1997, pp. 23-24, in “DPRK’s Pharmaceuticals Factory Producing Medicines for Hepatitis, Other IIIs—Graphics Attached,” FBIS Document ID: KPP20020201000089; “DPRK’s Aeguk Preventive Medicine Production Factory Photographs,” 28 February 2001, FBIS Document ID: KPP20010228000118; “DPRK’s Medical Biology Institute Profiled,” 6 March 2001, FBIS Document ID: KPP20010306000164; South Korea Ministry of Unification, Pukhan Kaeyo 2000 (Seoul: Ministry of Unification, 1999), pp. 408-413; Kim Ch’ol-yong, Wi Su-kil, and Kim Chong-uk, “Research on Culture of Recombinant Yeast Producing Hepatitis B Surface Antigen,” Choson Uihak, 30 April 2000, pp. 28-30, in “DPRK Researchers on Growing Recombinant Yeast Producing HBsAg,” FBIS Document ID: KPP20011218000105.