Location: Man’gyŏngdae-kuyŏk (萬景臺區域), Pyongyang (平壤市), North Korea

Telephone Number: +850-2-622-3583

Subordinate to: 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 changed to the “Academy of Medical Sciences (醫學科學院)” in November 1963, but it was changed 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: Total site area of 8,000 square meters; approximately 100 workers

Primary Function: research, diagnosis, diabetes treatment, and other health preventative services

Description: The Endocrinology Research Institute was founded in May 2000 with the financial support of Ch’oe Kyŏng T’ae, a Korean resident in Japan. This facility mainly diagnoses and treats diabetes and other related health problems (e.g., retinopathy), but any connections to the North Korean BW program are unclear. The institute reportedly has three laboratories: the Biochemistry Laboratory; the Experimental Treatment Laboratory; and the Generic Engineering Laboratory. Most staff members working at the Endocrinology Research Institute posses a master’s or doctoral degree in the biological and/or medical sciences.

Photograph of the Endocrinology Research Institute published in the January 2001 edition of Choson.

	Updated July 2003

Key Sources:
Lee Chae Sŭng, Pukhan’ŭl Umjig’i’nŭn Technocrat (Seoul: Ilbit, 1998), pp. 346-347; Choson, January 2001, in “DPRK Endocrinology Institute Profiled,” FBIS Document ID: KPP20010216000110;  “DPRK Opens Endocrinology Institute,” Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 1 Sep 2000, p. 33, FBIS Document ID: KPP20001027000089; South Korea Ministry of Unification, Pukhan Kaeyo 2000 (Seoul: Ministry of Unification, 1999), pp. 408-413.