North Korean scientists used to freely attend international conferences and conduct research at overseas institutions, openly hobnobbing with foreign peers and benefitting from academic collaboration.

Concerns about Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles put a stop to this, as international sanctions passed in 2016 led institutions to take measures to prevent DPRK scientists from taking courses connected to weapons proliferation.

However, it turns out that sanctions have not prevented North Korean scholars from expanding their knowledge about sensitive subjects through another means — social media.

An NK Pro investigation has found that