Journal of Kim Il Sung University: Physics (김일성종합대학학보. 물리학 / Kim Il Song Chonghap Taehak Hakpo. Mullihak)
Journal of Kim Il Sung University: Physics
김일성종합대학학보. 물리학 / Kim Il Song Chonghap Taehak Hakpo. Mullihak
Translation and backgrounder by Stephen Mercado
A quarterly journal of science and technology related to the nature and property of matter and energy, published by the Publishing House of Kim Il Sung University.
Journal Title: The journal title has various renderings. Journal of Kim Il Sung University: Physics 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. Mullihak. 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 (KISU). Indeed, certain authors show such affiliations in referencing works of theirs published abroad. For example, O Song Jin cited in an article of his from issue 3, 2022, another work of his published in 2021 in the journal Physical Review B, which showed his affiliation with the KISU Faculty of Physics. As another example, Yu Chol Jun, also referenced in an article of his from issue 3, 2022, a work of his published in 2019 in the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, that showed his affiliation with the KISU Faculty of Materials Science.
Subject Matter: The articles have to do with the developments in various fields, including astrophysics, atomic energy, nanotechnology, quantum cryptography and magnets.
References: Authors publishing in this journal tend to cite domestic, Chinese and Western monographs and journal articles. Domestic citations include the journals 원자력 [Atomic Energy] and the 2015 Publishing House of Kim Il Sung University work 일반물리실험 [General Physics Experiments]. Cited Chinese works include 磁性材料及器件 (Journal of Magnetic Materials and Devices). Reference works in English, heavily represented among the citations, included Applied Physics A, Physical Review A, Physical Review B, and Physical Review E, as well as Annals of Nuclear Energy.
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, and 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, and 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, Chemistry, 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 643. The publishing information page for that issue 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 30 July Juche 111 (2022), and the date of issue was 10 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, all 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.