Journal of Kim Il Sung University: Chemistry (김일성종합대학학보. 화학 / Kim Il Song Chonghap Taehak Hakpo. Hwahak)
Journal of Kim Il Sung University: Chemistry
김일성종합대학학보. 화학 / Kim Il Song Chonghap Taehak Hakpo. Hwahak
Translation and backgrounder by Stephen Mercado
A quarterly journal of science and technology related to composition, structure and other characteristics of matter, published by the Publishing House of Kim Il Sung University.
Journal Title: The journal title has various renderings. Journal of Kim Il Sung University: Chemistry is the name in English. Its name in a simplified version of the standard McCune-Reischauer (M-R) transliteration system and the actual title in Korean are listed above. Its full M-R transliteration, as used in catalogs of the Library of Congress and other major libraries, is Kim Il-sŏng Chonghap Taehak hakpo. Chayŏn kwahak.
The actual title and its English version both appear on the journal’s front cover and at the top of the first page of each article. The actual title also appears atop the Korean table of contents (TOC); the English version appears at the bottom of the English TOC and on the copyright line in the publishing information section.
Author Information: The research papers show author names but lack other information common to science papers, such as academic or professional affiliation, academic titles, areas of research or author biography. The journal’s title suggests that authors are likely affiliated with a relevant academic department of Kim Il Sung University.
Subject Matter: The articles have to do with the development of various practices and techniques in such areas of chemistry as battery manufacturing, phosphate fertilizer production and uranium leaching.
References: Authors publishing in this journal tend to cite domestic, Chinese, and Western monographs and journal articles. Domestic citations include the journal 원자력 [Atomic Power] and the Foreign Languages Publishing House’s 2021 book 연측전지리론과 기술 [Lead-acid batteries, Theory and Technology]. Cited Chinese journals include 物理化学学报 (Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica) and the Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering. Referenced Western sources include the journal Radiation Physics and Chemistry and the American Chemical Society’s Chemical Reviews.
Sections: Each issue comprises a front cover; a TOC in Korean; the articles; a TOC in English; the publishing information; and the back cover. Regime messages/propaganda appear throughout the journal.
The front cover shows a slogan over the journal title, under which is the name of the publisher, the issue number and year of issue. The TOC in Korean shows article titles without sections. Following the articles is a TOC in English. Next, there is the publishing information. The back cover shows the periodical publication number.
Publisher: The publisher’s name in English is the Publishing House of Kim Il Sung University. It is the Kim Il Song Chonghap Taehak Chulpansa in simplified M-R and 김일성종합대학출판사 in Korean. The publisher’s name appears in Korean on the journal’s cover and in English at the end of the English version of the TOC and on the copyright line in the publishing information section.
The publisher has been publishing an issue each quarter, starting in February 2018, for a total of four issues per year. The journal is one of six—the others are Mathematics, Physics, Life Science, Geoenvironmental Science and Geology and Information Science—issued in place of the university’s journal Natural Science / 자연과학, which ceased publication in late 2017. Issue 3 (August), 2022, Volume 68, Issue 3, was cumulative issue number 644. The publishing information page also indicated that there was an editorial committee (no members named), the publisher was the Publishing House of Kim Il Sung University, the place of printing was the Kim Il Sung University Printing Plant, the date of printing was 10 August Juche 111 (2022), and the date of issue was 20 August Juche 111 (2022). The copyright line was © Publishing House of KIM IL SUNG University 2022, DPR Korea. The International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), email address and fax numbers found in the original Natural Science journal were missing from the publishing information section, while the telephone number, not found in the original journal, was included.