Technical Innovation (기술혁신 / Kisul Hyoksin)

Technical Innovation
기술혁신 / Kisul Hyoksin
Translation and backgrounder by Stephen Mercado

A quarterly journal of technology related to technical innovation in various industrial fields, published by the Central Information Agency for Science and Technology.

Cover of Technical Innovation (기술혁신 (Kisul Hyoksin), no. 12 (2020).

Journal Title: The journal title has various renderings. The English title is Technical Innovation. Its name transliterated in a simplified version of the standard McCune-Reischauer (M-R) 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 Kisul hyŏksin.

Author Information: Editorials are unsigned. The journal commonly placed affiliations next to author names prior to Issue 1, 2020. In line with the wide range of fields covered—including agriculture, chemistry, electronics, fisheries, healthcare, information, light industry, machinery and metals—authors have hailed from a large number of production units, institutes, universities and hospitals, including the Sinuiju Chemical Fiber Factory, the State Academy of Sciences (SAS) Paper Engineering Institute, the Pyongsong University of Coal Industry, and the North Hamgyong Provincial People’s Hospital.

Subject Matter: The articles cover technical innovations across a wide range of industries.

References: The articles lack references to the sources of information.

Sections: Each issue comprises a front cover; an unnumbered page with a framed quotation of one of the three generations of the Kim family; a table of contents (TOC) in Korean; the articles; the publishing information; and the back cover. Regime messages/propaganda appear throughout the journal.

In recent years, the front cover has shown 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, which often starts with an editorial, is divided into technical sections of no fixed order; one issue may start with articles on innovations in agriculture, while another may start with light industry.

Following the last item is the publishing information. The back cover shows the periodical publication number and, in recent years, the journal’s International Standard Serial Number over a bar code.

A page of the Korean TOC.

Publisher: The publisher’s name in English is the Central Information Agency for Science and Technology (CIAST), also known as the Central Scientific and Technological Information Agency (CSTIA). It is the Chungang Kwahak Kisul Tongbosa in simplified M-R and 중앙과학기술통보사 in Korean. The publisher’s name appears in Korean on the journal’s cover and in English as the Central Information Agency for Science and Technology on the copyright line on the publishing information page.

The publisher publishes an issue each month, starting in January, for a total of 12 issues per year. According to the publishing information page, issue 9 (September), 2022 was cumulative issue number 769. The publishing information page also indicated that there was an editorial committee (no members named), the publisher was the Central Information Agency for Science and Technology, the place of printing was the Moranbong Printing Plant, the date of printing was 26 August Juche 111 (2022), and the date of issue was 6 September Juche 111 (2022). The copyright line was © Central Information Agency for Science and Technology 2022, DPR Korea. On the back cover was a bar code, over which was the ISSN. The publishing information has shown changes over time; for example, in Issue 1, 2004, the earliest issue available, the place of printing was the Pyongyang General Printing Plant, the journal showed no mailing address, copyright line, ISSN, or telephone number, and there was no bar code on the back cover.