I don't know exactly what prompted that parenthetical "snicker", but I spent a lot of time in Korea, and the Koreans do have lots of very good scientists and engineers. The average Korean High School graduate probably knows more math and science than 90% of American college graduates.
I'm not a big fan of the North Korean government, but the people are not stupid (although they are kept uninformed about outside events).
South Koreans, on the other hand, could probably make a very good nuclear weapon in little to no time. They are very intelligent and educated, and would be very well funded. North Korea, not so much.