A Comparative Analysis of Research Trends in the Information and Communication Technology Field of South and North Korea Using Data Mining

The purpose of this study is to compare research trends in the information and communication technology (ICT) field between North and South Korea and analyze the differences by using data mining. Frequency analysis, clustering, and network analysis were performed using keywords from seven South Korean and two North Korean ICT academic journals published for five years (2015-2019). In the case of South Korea (S. Korea), the frequency of research on image processing and wireless communication was high at 16.7% and 16.3%, respectively. North Korea (N. Korea) had a high frequency of research, in the order of 18.2% for image processing, 16.9% for computer/Internet applications/security, and 16.4% for industrial technology. N. Korea’s natural language processing (NLP) sector was 11.9%, far higher than S. Korea’s 0.7 percent. Student education is a unique subject that is not clustered in S. Korea. In order to promote exchanges between the two Koreas in the ICT field, the following specific policies are proposed. Joint research will be easily possible in the image processing sector, with the highest research rate in both Koreas. Technical cooperation of medical images is required. If S. Korea’s high-quality image source is provided free of charge to N. Korea, research materials can be enriched. In the field of NLP, it calls for proposing exchanges such as holding a Korean language information conference, developing a Korean computer operating system.