There was a precursor to the steam engine in ancient Greece [1]. Invention happened throughout history, but the context has to be there for the invention to be applied, the inventor to be free to invent and rewarded for doing so, and the flow of information to occur so other inventors can build on top of their work.
Case in point, no single individual invented the steam engine, it was a process that involved dozens of people across decades before a truly useful steam engine resulted, and the only reason those people could contribute is because of a society which didn't claim inventions as toys for a palace or required then to work all day every day as a farmer. See for example the difference between north and south Korea, same people, same starting point, different society and government, radically different outcome.
Not sure if the Korean peninsula is the best example, given the massive trade embargo going on.
Frankly we may be looking at a variant of learned helplessness on a national scale, in that if NK leadership is faced with a dilemma they can throw a proverbial tantrum and get the rest of the world to step in to calm them down "before the nukes start flying".
That is, the peninsula did not develop in a vacuum. they were part of a larger power struggle between ideologies.
Case in point, no single individual invented the steam engine, it was a process that involved dozens of people across decades before a truly useful steam engine resulted, and the only reason those people could contribute is because of a society which didn't claim inventions as toys for a palace or required then to work all day every day as a farmer. See for example the difference between north and south Korea, same people, same starting point, different society and government, radically different outcome.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile