Pyongyang Information Technology Bureau Informatization Research Institute No. 1
Highlighted as an Exemplary Case
North Korea has highlighted the introduction of a "talent grading evaluation system" in the scientific community, emphasizing the importance of a scientific personnel evaluation system.
On June 7, the Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun featured the Pyongyang Information Technology Bureau's Informatization Research Institute No. 1 as an exemplary case in an article titled "The Scientific Talent Management System Bears Fruit."
The Informatization Research Institute No. 1 of the Pyongyang Information Technology Bureau was selected last year as one of the top ten best information technology enterprises and is gaining recognition in the field of multilingual machine translation technology in North Korea.
Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea. Photo from Korean Central TV, Yonhap News Agency
The newspaper stated, "What is noteworthy is that the institute is researching and introducing a talent grading evaluation system for the scientific analysis and assessment of personnel activities." It continued, "This system is tasked with analyzing and evaluating the activity patterns of talents every six months and assigning them corresponding grades. Since the beginning of this year, the evaluation period has been reduced from six months to three months, which has led to increased activity among personnel."
Previously, on May 26, Rodong Sinmun also highlighted the personnel policy of the Information Technology Research Institute at Kim Il Sung University’s Advanced Technology Development Institute in an article titled "Emphasizing the Efficient Utilization of Talents."
In North Korea, officials are selected from among Workers' Party members with good family backgrounds, but it is known that scientists can be selected regardless of party membership or family background, as long as they are graduates of technical universities with excellent academic records. The strengthening of personnel evaluation for these individuals is interpreted as an attempt to boost the productivity of scientists and achieve results, especially in a situation where the driving force for economic growth has been exhausted due to prolonged international sanctions.
However, some analysts point out that this also reflects the reality that North Korea lacks effective means of innovation due to limited exchanges with the international scientific community and insufficient research and development (R&D) budgets.
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