Scientists at some of Japan’s top universities inadvertently collaborated with North Korean researchers to publish works in fields such as robotics and molecular biology, according to an investigation by Nikkei.
Under the terms of United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, foreign countries are restricted from scientific cooperation with the impoverished totalitarian state.
Nikkei reported on Nov. 28 that it had found eight cases of Japanese research papers that included North Korean work. The cases were discovered at five universities, including the prestigious University of Tokyo and Nagoya University.
The cause of the collaboration in most cases were the intermediaries that the Japanese researchers had worked with to do their work, notably scientists at Chinese academic institutions.
It is unclear if the researches constitute a violation of the U.N. sanctions. The Japanese Ministry of Education urged stricter checks to prevent unintentional collaboration, while the involved universities admitted to lax oversight of the coauthoring process.
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