Compiled at a scale of 1:980,000, the Joseon Association of Science and Technology, which was based in Tokyo, published this map. This association was an affiliate of the North Korea-supported Joseon Industrial Technology Union, which was established in 1946. The main task of this organization was to improve the knowledge of scientists and engineers and encourage international cooperation in the areas of science and technology. This map was published after the end of World War II for scientists and engineers. In this country map are remarks about the regional specialties of the eight provinces and the distances between major cities. Other types of maps, such as topographic, geological, climatic, and environmental maps, are included in this map book. All city and administrative names are given in Chinese characters, but other text is written in a mixture of Chinese characters and Hangul. The name of the sea on the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula is marked as the East Sea instead of the Sea of Japan. This implies that North Korea revived the name “East Sea” that had disappeared during the Japanese colonial occupation of 1910 to 1945.
Edited by the Northeast Asian History Foundation