Other Names: No. 398 Institute, No. 398 Factory
Location: Sŏg'am-ri (石岩里), P'yŏng'wŏn-kun (平原郡), South P'yŏng'an Province (平安南道), North Korea. [Note: The No. 398 Research Institute is reportedly located near the No. 279 Factory.]
Subordinate to: Command Section (指揮部), Nuclear Chemical Defense Bureau (核化學防衛局), General Staff Department (人民軍總參謀部), Ministry of People's Armed Forces (人民武力部)
Size: Approximately 250 researchers
Primary Function: Research and development of antidotes and decontamination methods for exposure to radiation and CW agents, and of protective masks and protective suits
Description: The No. 398 Research Institute conducts research on antidotes and protective gear and masks. The institute then provides the results of its research and development to the No. 297 Factory for production. According to defector Yi Chung Kuk, many of the researchers at the No. 398 Institute received their training at the Hamhŭng University of Chemical Industry (咸興化學工業大學). Yi Chung Kuk, a defector who claims to have served with the 18th Battalion, has diagrammed the locations of the No. 398 Research Institute as below in the "Sŏg'am-ri Recruit Training Center Facilities."
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1. Sŏg'am-ri Reservoir
2. Direction of P'yŏng'wŏn
3. Mobile repair facility area
4. Factory No. 279
5. 1st Company, 18th Nuclear Chemical Defense Battalion
6. 4th Company, 18th Nuclear Chemical Defense Battalion
7. 5th Company, 18th Nuclear Chemical Defense Battalion
8. Fuel storage, garage
9. Tunnel
10. Ordinance warehouse
11. Chemical storage
12. 3rd Company, 18th Nuclear Chemical Defense Battalion
13. 6th Company, 18th Nuclear Chemical Defense Battalion, and education hall
14. 2nd Company, 18th Nuclear Chemical Defense Battalion
15. Vehicle repair facility
16. Mess hall
17. Command section
18. Communications facility
19. Dispensary
20. Food warehouse
21. Exercise grounds
22. Guardhouse
23. Institute No. 398
24. Windbreak trees
25. Sŏg'am-ri, P'yŏng'wŏn county, South P'yŏng'an Province
26. Windbreak trees
[Note: 27 is not numbered, but is referred to by the arrow in the lower right-hand corner (順安), the direction of Sun'an.]
28. Chemical complex
29. Sŏg'am-ri, Recruit Training Center Facilities
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Updated April 2003 |
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Key Sources:
Yi Ch'ung Kuk, "Assignment to Antinuclear/Antiatomic Analysis Team," in the book "Kim Chong-il's Nuclear Weapons and Army," Kin Seinichi no Kaku to Guntai in Japanese, 21 September 1994, pp. 101-10; Chang Chun Ik, Pukhan Haek-Missile Chŏnjaeng (Seoul: Sŏmundang, 1999), pp. 359-360; "Puk Haekhwahakpang'wiguk: Haeksaenghwahangmugi Ch'ongjihwi," Segye Ilbo, 21 May 1997, p. 17, in KINDS, <http://www.kinds.com/>; Various sources, in "Profile of DPRK University, Link to WMD," FBIS Document ID KPP20000907000105; Lee Chae Sŭng, "Pukhan Kwahag'ŭi Isanggwa Hyŏnshil," Chapter Three in Pukhan'ŭl Umjiginŭn Technocrat (Seoul: Ilbit, August 1998), pp. 123-174, in "Chemical Engineering, Experts Described," 23 December 1999, FBIS Document ID: FTS19991223001168); Ch'oe Yŏng Jae, "Mi'gug'ŭi Pukhan Saenghwahangmu'gi Appak Chŏllyak," Shindonga, January 2002, <http://www.donga.com/ >; Choe Yong-chae, Shindonga, January 2002, pp. 300-313, in "US Strategy Pressuring DPRK on Biological, Chemical Weapon," FBIS Document ID: KPP20011220000016.
