Chongjin
Ch'ŏngjin (
Ch'ŏngjin-si), North Korea's third largest city. It is also the capital of the
North Hamgyŏng Province in
North Korea. From
1960 to
1967 and again from
1977 to
1985, Ch'ŏngjin was administered separately from North Hamgyŏng as a
Directly Governed City (
Chikhalsi). Prior to 1960, from 1967 to 1977, and since 1985, the city has been part of the North Hamgyŏng Province.
Ch'ŏngjin is divided into 7 wards ("Kuyŏk").
* Ch'ŏngam-guyŏk (청"구역; '岩區域)
* P'ohang-guyŏk (포항구역; 浦港區域)
* Puyun-guyŏk (부윤구역; 富潤區域)
* Ranam-guyŏk (라남구역; 羅南區域)
* Sinam-guyŏk (신"구역; 新岩區域)
* Songp'yŏng-guyŏk (송평구역; 松坪區域)
* Sunam-guyŏk (수남구역; 水南區域)
Originally Chongjin was only a small fishing village, located in northeastern Korea. In 1908, the
Japanese , in order to facilitate a sea route for the northeast
Chinese and
Korean resources, opened this small fishing village as a trade port. In 2003, the government of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Also known as
DPRK and
North Korea) formed a northeast Korean trade port here. The
People's Republic of China and the
Russian Federation have set up their Consulates in Chongjin. It is unique for a North Korean city to have a foreign consulate. Chongjin is the administrative centre of the
North Hamgyong Province.
Chongjin is located in the northeast of North Korea, in North Hamgyong Province, near the
East Korea Bay in the
Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea). Chongjin divides into 7 districts: the Central Business District expands to the south, and the coast section is near the lively Sosongchon River mouth. The city is 50 miles from the Chinese border, and its proximity is allowing a growing market of Chinese goods sold on the streets. Outside of the capital
Pyongyang it has one of the largest markets for goods in the country.
Main Station of Wonson-Rason Railway and Chongjin-Rason Railway, electric railway connect Rason and capital Pyongyang.
Chongjin Airport is equipped with a 2km runway, military and civilian dual purpose air station (CHO); Also may take Chaoyangcun International Airport (YNJ), People's Republic of China. Moreover, the DPRK planned to upgrade an old airport near Hamhung in 2003, so that it would have a 4km runway, and would act as the second international airport. However,it is still not yet completed. The first international airport is in Pyongyang and is called
Sunan International Airport (FNJ).
Chongjin is the only city in North Korea other than
Pyongyang to operate the trams, which are all second-hand from Pyongyang. Originally, it was planned to become a 32km system, but only phase 1 (6km) and phase 2(7km). phase 3 (8km) was supposed to be completed, but were not complete, due to lack of funds. Also, due to electricity shortages, the trams run infrequently. Besides trams, trolley buses also operate, but these are operated at an interval of 2 hours.Private taxis do not exist, personal cars are extremely rare, and owning a bicycle is a luxury.
It has
Chongjin University of Technology,
The Chongjin Mine University and
Chongjin University of Education, altogether 3 higher education institutes and an aquatic product research centre.Famous scenic sites include hot springs, and
Mt. Chibosan. It also has a zoo, but currently has no animals in it. Chongjin's famous product is processed squid.
Chongjin is one of the DPRK's important steel and fiber industry centers. It has a
shipyard,
locomotive plant, machinery,
rubber factory, and
equipollent industry. Near the port area are the
Chongjin Steel Co.,
Chemical Textile Co., May 10 Coal Mine Machinery Factory and Kimchaek Iron & Steel; however industrial activities in the city have been severely handicapped due to a lack of resources. Because of the heavy concentration of industries in the area, Chongjin is also the DPRK's air pollution black spot. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and following shortage of oil to generate electricity, many factories have stopped running. One of the first senior U.N. officials permitted to visit the area,
Tun Myat, observed in 1997, "Chongjin was like a forest of scrap metal, with huge plants that seem to go on for miles and miles that have been turned into rust buckets. I've been all over the world, and I've never seen anything quite like this." The area has little arable land, so the famine in the 1990's hit the residents of Chongjin particularly hard.
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