3D Printer Seen in North Korea – Update

During an exhibition in North Korea a 3D printer was seen – not the real printer but a picture of it inside a brochure. The most interesting fact about this is that the printer looks like a MakerBot Replicator.

6th of June 2016 – North Korea is known for its strict dictatorship. In this country the far majority of the people doesn’t have an internet connection or a television. The people must also live by strict rules and do what the dictator tells them to do.

The mysterious picture was taken for the DPRK 360 project. The project should point out the good facts and places in North Korea for the rest of the world. Therefore they publish pictures, videos and virtual tours.

On the picture you can see a 3D printer that looks nearly identical to the MakerBot Replicator. The only difference is that the MakerBot letters are not there – but the MakerBot Logo (an M) is visible. The text that is also visible on the pictures declares different use cases for the 3D printer.

This equipment divides a 3D digital copy of an object into many different layers and later structures the layers in a designated order to produce three dimensional solid objects. This equipment is used for producing precise casts or molds

It’s also interesting that they have also pointed out a second 3D printer that’s used on the der Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) in the R&D department. But it’s not yet known which 3D printer is used there and no pictures of the device or 3D printed objects were published.

11th of August 2016 – Update: New Pictures and a new application for the 3D printer where published

In a new report some additional pictures of the 3D printer were shown. Surprisingly, the printer looks very different now: The wooden parts have been replaced by black parts that may consist out of acrylic glass.

And there is also a new application area for the 3D printer. It will be used for dental and cosmetic purpose and also to print fragments of bones. However, it was not published if the printed parts are for learning purpose or for plaining of surgeries or if they are really transplanted into human bodies.