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The first generation of North Korean nuclear scientists. From left, Han In-seok, Do Sang-rok and Lee Seung-gi.
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With boost from Russia, North has top nuclear brainpower
If North Korea’s claim of having conducted a nuclear test on October 9 is proven true, two questions stand out: What level of nuclear technology does the North possess, and how did North Korea, with only a per-capita gross domestic product of less than US$2,000, nurture the human capital necessary to go nuclear? Led by Soviets, the South’s former scientists In its early stages, North Korea’s nuclear research was supported by the now-defunct Soviet Union. In 1955, North Korea set up a research center for atomic physics. In 1956, after signing an accord with the Soviet Union for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, North Korea sent its scientists to the Soviet Union to learn advanced nuclear technology at a research center in the northern part of Moscow. By 1990, when the agreement was suspended, more than 250 North Korean scientists were believed to have visited the Moscow research center. North Korea’s early nuclear research is believed to have been led by scientists such as Do Sang-rok, Lee Seung-gi and Han In-seok, who moved to the northern part of Korea from the South just after Korea's indepence from Japan.Do, who majored in theoretical physics at Japan’s Kyoto University, was a professor at Seoul National University before he headed north in May 1946. He became a physics professor at the North’s Kim Il-sung University, passing away in 1990. Do was branded as a luminary in North Korea’s nuclear development; a nuclear accelerator manufactured under his guidance is still on exhibit at Kim Il-sung University. Han, a Yonsei University professor, headed north after Korea’s liberation from Japan. Lee had been a Seoul National University professor, as well. Those who studied in the Soviet Union made up the second generation of North Korean nuclear physicists, such as Jeong Geun, Choi Hak-geun, and Seo Sang-guk. Choi had even worked for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1975 to 1979. During his term at the agency, Choi is believed to have copied the design of each nation’s nuclear reactors and transfered them to North Korea. The 68-year-old Seo, who is believed to have led the first nuclear test, has been a professor at Kim Il-sung University since 1966. Top-class brainpower North Korea’s nuclear brain trust is filled with top-class talent. Currently, some 3,000 scientists are working for the nuclear sector. Key educational centers for nuclear physics are Kim Il-sung University, Kim Chaek Technical University, and Pyeongseong Science College. At Pyeongseong, 25 prodigies each year enter the university’s six-year undergraduate course. In May 1989, a research paper on the theoretical achievement of nuclear fusion at room temperature, presented by Kim Chaek scientists, surprised the world because of its high degree of research and know-how. In 1962, North Korea established a nuclear research center in Youngbyeon, North Pyeongan Province. In 1965, North Korea built nuclear reactor IRT-2000 for research purposes at the site, helped by the Soviet Union. North Korea began developing nuclear weapons in 1969 and building a nuclear reactor using home-grown technology in 1979. This reactor started operations in 1986. From 1983 to 1993, it is estimated that North Korea conducted more 70 tests needed for the development of nuclear weapons. In addition, in 1985, North Korea began building a laboratory in Yongbyeon to extract plutonium, but suspended construction in 1994 because of the Agreed Framework reached between the North and the U.S. Miniaturization of nuclear warhead in focus In the 1990s, it is thought that North Korea reached a turning point in the development of its nuclear technology, for after the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1989, scores of Soviet nuclear scientists were invited to North Korea to develop nuclear technology. In addition, the nuclear black market in the 1990s helped North Korea buy nuclear materials and devices from central Asian nations. Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf said in his memoir that A.Q. Khan, the "godfather" of Pakistan’s nuclear program, sold some 20 uranium centrifuges to North Korea in the 1990s, China’s official state media reported on October 11. Under debate now is whether North Korea can load a nuclear weapon onto a missile. The South Korean government has said that North Korea could transport a nuclear warhead via plane, but loading it as a missile warhead would be so far impossible. However, China’s media has reported that A.Q. Khan had seen a North Korean nuclear warhead loaded onto a missile.
