The formation of national science in the Democratic Peopleʼs Republic of Korea: the work of the chemist Ri Sŭnggi and the invention of vinalon fiber

The article examines the activities of Ri Sŭnggi (1905–1996), a North Korean chemist, full member of the DPRK Academy of Sciences (1952) and foreign member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1966). Based on archival materials, publications in the North Korean press, and the works of the Russian and foreign historians, the author undertakes to analyze the milestones in Ri Sŭnggi’s scientific biography, taking into account the socio-political contexts of the formation of North Korean statehood, Ri Sŭnggi’s invention of the synthetic fiber vinalon, and also to highlight the reception of his activities in the DPRK and the USSR. It is concluded that Ri Sŭnggi’s discovery had an important role in establishing scientific and technological ties between the USSR and the DPRK and in the transfer of particular technologies from North Korea to the Soviet Union. The results of Ri Sŭnggi’s scientific activities indicate that the Soviet-North Korean scientific and technological contacts were not exclusively one-sided, and that Soviet scientists and specialists had also adopted the successful experience of their colleagues from the DPRK.