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The Tumen River, also known as the Tuman River or Duman River (), is a long river that serves as part of the boundary between
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
and
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, rising on the slopes of
Mount Paektu Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest moun ...
and flowing into the
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...
. The river has a drainage basin of 33,800 km2 (13,050 sq mi). The river flows in northeast
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, on the border between China and North Korea in its upper reaches, and between North Korea and Russia in its last before entering the Sea of Japan. The river forms much of the southern border of
Jilin Province Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
in
Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...
and the northern borders of North Korea's North Hamgyong and
Ryanggang Ryanggang Province (Ryanggangdo; ko, 량강도, ''Ryanggang-do'', ) is a province in North Korea. The province is bordered by China (Jilin) on the north, North Hamgyong on the east, South Hamgyong on the south, and Chagang on the west. Ryan ...
provinces.
Baekdu Mountain Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest mo ...
on the Chinese-North Korean border is the source of the river, Much of the information comes from the captions to the large illustrated map published with the newspaper article and available online with it. as well as of the
Amnok River The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
, also called the Yalu River (which forms the western portion of the border of North Korea and China). The name of the river comes from the Mongolian word '' tümen'', meaning "ten thousand" or a myriad. This river is badly polluted by the nearby factories of North Korea and China; however, it still remains a major tourist attraction in the area. In
Tumen, Jilin Tumen (; Chosŏn'gŭl: 도문; Hangul: 투먼) is a county-level city in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, eastern Jilin province, Northeast China. Of its 136,000 inhabitants, approximately 78,000 (or 57%) are of Korean descent. The two offi ...
, a riverfront promenade has restaurants where patrons can gaze across the river into North Korea. The Russian name of the river is ''Tumannaya'', literally meaning '' foggy''. In 1938 the Japanese built the
Tumen River Bridge The Tumen River Bridge () is a bridge over the Tumen River, connecting Hunchun City, Jilin Province, China, with Sonbong County, Rason, North Korea. It was built in 1938 by the Japanese Empire and is long and wide. It is located at Quanhedao ...
, where the Quan River meets the Tumen River, between the villages of Wonjong (Hunchun) and Quanhe. Important cities and towns on the river are
Hoeryong Hoeryŏng () is a city in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. It is located opposite Jilin Province, China, with the Tumen River in between. Sanhe (三合鎮), in Longjing City, is the closest Chinese town across the river. Hoeryŏng is the b ...
and
Onsong Onsŏng County is a county ( ''kun'') in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea, located near the border with China. The administrative center is the town ( ''ŭp'') of Onsong. Onsong is the alleged site of the former Onsong concentration camp, now ...
in North Korea, Tumen and
Nanping Nanping (), historically known as Yanping (), is a third-tier prefecture-level city in northwestern Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. It borders Ningde to the east, Sanming to the south, and the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi to ...
(, in the county-level city of Helong) in China's Jilin province. In 1995, the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, Russia, North Korea and
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
signed three agreements to create the Tumen River Economic Development Area.


Noktundo

Noktundo Noktundo is a former island (currently a peninsula) in the delta of the Tumen River on the border between Primorsky Krai, Russia and North Korea. The area of the island was . In the 15th century, Noktundo belonged to the Jurchen. In 1587 there ...
, a former island (now effectively a peninsula) at the mouth of the Tumen, has been a boundary contention between Russia and North Korea. The
Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
ceded the island to Russia as part of the Primorsky Maritimes (East Tartary) in the 1860 Treaty of Peking. In 1990, the former
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and North Korea signed a border treaty which made the border run through the center of the river, leaving territory of the former island on Russian side. South Korea refuses to acknowledge the treaty and demanded that Russia return the territory to Korea.


Illegal crossings

The Tumen has been crossed for years by North Korean refugees defecting across the Chinese border. Most refugees from North Korea during the 1990s famine crossed over the Tumen River, and most recent refugees have also used it, as it is far easier than crossing the
Amnok The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
. The river is considered the preferred way to cross into China because, unlike the swift, deep and broad
Amnok River The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
which runs along most of the border between the two countries, the Tumen is shallow and narrow. In some areas it can be crossed on foot, or by short swims. It also freezes in winter allowing dry crossings. Defectors who wish to cross the Tumen often ignore its pollutants and dangerous border patrol, and spend weeks if not months or years waiting for the perfect opportunity to cross. "Long, desolate stretches of the Chinese-North Korean border are not patrolled at all", according to a ''New York Times'' article. Refugees rarely cross the Tumen into Russia. This is because Russia's short stretch of the river is far better patrolled than China's stretch. In addition, the rewards for doing so aren't as high since the ethnic Korean community in Russia is far smaller to receive sufficient support from, as opposed to China, which has a larger Korean population. The Tumen is also crossed illegally by soldiers and others seeking food and money. Some Chinese villagers have left the border area because of the attacks. The history of conflict in the area (examples include incidents during the
Battle of Lake Khasan The Battle of Lake Khasan (29 July – 11 August 1938), also known as the Changkufeng Incident (russian: Хасанские бои, Chinese and Japanese: ; Chinese pinyin: ; Japanese romaji: ) in China and Japan, was an attempted military incu ...
) was alluded to in singer Kim Jeong-gu's song 'Tearful Tumen River (눈물 젖은 두만강)', which became an ode to families separated by such tragedies and by defections during the Korean War. The humanitarian crisis along the Tumen River was dramatized in the 2010 feature-length film ''
Dooman River Eugene Hoffman Dooman (March 25, 1890 – February 2, 1969) was a counselor at the United States Embassy in Tokyo during the critical negotiations between the two countries before World War II. Background Born in Osaka to Grace and Isaac Dooman, t ...
''. File:Tumen River Bridge.jpg, Bridge of Tumen River, built in 1941 File:Tumen River Bridge in 2018.jpg, Bridge of Tumen River, shot in 2018 File:Tumen River Winter.jpg, North Korea is on the other side of the Tumen River File:Tumen River Winter2.jpg, The Tumen River, at the border between North Korea and China. Picture taken from the Chinese side of the Tumen River at Tumen City; the city of Namyang, North Korea is on the other side of the river


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

* . *Nianshen Song. 2018.
Making Borders in Modern East Asia: The Tumen River Demarcation, 1881–1919
'. Cambridge University Press.


External links

{{Authority control Rivers of North Korea Rivers of Jilin Rivers of Primorsky Krai International rivers of Asia Border rivers China–North Korea border North Korea–Russia border Geography of Yanbian Drainage basins of the Sea of Japan