Abstract

In 2000, North Korea developed and published a two-volume, <Classification-Search Term Dictionary> and is currently used throughout North Korea. The purpose of this study is to examine the development process of the classification schemes of the North Korea after liberation and to understand the contents, composition, and principles of the <Classification-Search Term Dictionary> published in 2000 and revised in 2014. Until now, all the studies of the North Korean classification schemes were studies on the <Book Classification Scheme> published in North Korea in 1964, and there has been no discussion on North Korea’s classification schemes since then. The first volume of the <Classification-Search Term Dictionary> consists of ‘classification symbols—search terms’, and the second volume consists of ‘search terms—classification symbols’. Volume 1 is based on the <Books and Bibliography Classification Scheme (1996)>, and there are a total of 41 main classes in five categories. Volume 1 allocates 1 main class (11/19) to ‘revolutionary ideas and theories’, 8 main classes (20~27) to ‘natural sciences’, 19 main classes (30~69) to ‘engineering technology and applied sciences’, 12 main classes (70~85) to ‘social sciences’, and 1 main class (90) to ‘total sciences’. Volume 2 is similar to subject-headings. North Korea’s <Classification-Search Term Dictionary> is the first classification scheme introduced in South Korea and is expected to be the starting point for future studies on the establishment of the standard unification classification schemes.