North Korea hardly enjoys a global reputation as a leader in scientific innovation, only recently embracing 4G mobile networks years after the rest of the world and still relying on Cold War-era military tech.

But the DPRK also espouses a communist faith in scientific progress, and available records on patent registrations by the country’s scientists can shed light on how the Pyongyang leadership organizes and invests in research to drive technological innovation.

The website NK Scholar, run by the South Korean government-funded Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, features a database of bibliographical