economy

At the recent ceremony for awarding the February 16 Science and Technology Prize, Natural Science Prize, Technical Innovation Prize, certificate of the country’s best scientist and technician and Best Inventor Prize in 2025, the Natural Science Prize and Technical Innovation Prize were awarded to seven significant projects conducive to the development of science and technology and economic development of the country and the improvement of the people’s living standards. Over 60 persons, including scientists and technicians of different units, were awarded the certificates of the Natural Science Prize and Technical Innovation Prize.

The Natural Science Prize, an award in the field of scientific research, was awarded to the project related to the meta-material- and nano-structure-based control and application of the characteristics of light propagation, which was carried out by Prof Kim Kwang Hyon, PhD and researcher of the Physics Institute of the State Academy of Sciences, and other scientists.

Generally, meta-material is an artificial material with physical property which is rare or never exists in the natural world. The scientists made public the research findings which attract worldwide attention as they are related to the design and making of meta-material and nano-structure which is of great significance in developing the field of cutting-edge technologies, including high-sensitivity sensor technology, high-speed optical communications technology and energy-saving technology, and thus became the second to win the Natural Science Prize in the country.

The Technical Innovation Prize, an award in the field of technical introduction, went to six projects.

Scientists of Pyongyang University of Architecture and the silicon material technology development centre of the Kanghung Trading Company under the State Academy of Sciences were awarded the certificates of the prize for carrying out the projects of weighty significance in solving sci-tech problems arising in the construction of 50 000 flats in Pyongyang.

Associate Professor Kim Pong Uk, section chief of the Architectural Science Institute under Pyongyang University of Architecture, and other scientists developed and applied a prefabricated construction method which makes it possible to build an earthquake-proof building without additional monolithic concrete placing on the prefabricated floor slabs while simplifying the assembly of web members in the construction of flats. The method brought benefits to the country as it made it possible to save much manpower and materials, including wood for shutterings and cement, as compared to a monolithic construction method.

The scientists developed the technology for producing a silicone packaging adhesive agent badly needed for the final process of construction and established the relevant production process, thus ensuring the domestic production of the essential finishing material to bring benefits to the country.

The Munphyong Smeltery established a coke-free lead smelting process based on the completely Korean-style rotary kiln-electric furnace by promoting creative cooperation with Kim Chaek University of Technology.

Technicians of the smeltery, together with scientists of the university, won the certificates of the Technical Innovation Prize for ensuring the use of domestic fuel in the lead smelting process and making lead production Juche-oriented and thus bringing huge benefits to the country.

Pak Chi Hun, PhD and section chief of the Heat Engineering Institute of the State Academy of Sciences, and other scientists established at the Chonnaeri Cement Factory a floating clinker calcination-based cement production process of great economic value as compared to previously to boost cement production while markedly increasing the lifespan of refractory and reducing the consumption of coal.

Similar certificates also went to scientists of the Hydraulic Engineering Research Institute under the State Academy of Sciences who successfully solved different sci-tech problems arising in desalinizing Lagoon Kangnyong.

Thanks to the hard thinking and devoted efforts of Director Jo Yong Chol and other scientists, more than ten technical plans and construction methods were applied to the desalinization of the lagoon, making it possible to irrigate thousands of hectares of farmland in Kangnyong and Ongjin counties and increase per-hectare grain yields and thus bring great benefits to the country every year.

The public health sector also produced over ten winners of the Technical Innovation Prize.

The relevant certificates went to the medical workers who made positive contributions to the promotion of people’s health, including those who established a cerebral endoscope-based surgical method of treating cerebral haemorrhage for the first time in the country to remarkably shorten the treatment period as compared to the time when it was treated with medicines and resuscitate patients who cannot be saved with internal treatment.

Such certificates were also awarded to People’s Doctor Pak Song Suk, PhD and associate professor of the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital, and other medical workers there for having established a Korean-style method of managing the health of multiple embryos.