Hŏch'ŏn County is a county in South Hamgyŏng province,

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 borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. It was created after the

division of Korea The division of Korea began at the end of World War II on 2 September 1945, with the establishment of a Soviet occupation zone and a US occupation zone. These zones developed into separate governments, named the Democratic People's Republic of ...

, from portions of

Tanchon Tanch'ŏn () is a port city in northeastern South Hamgyŏng province, North Korea. It has a population of approximately 360,000. Tanch'ŏn borders the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea), into which the Namdae River flows. Administrative divisio ...

and P'ungsan (now Kimhyonggwon County).

Geography

Most of the county is steep and mountainous, particularly in the southeast. There are numerous high peaks. The Hamgyong Mountains and Geomdok Mountains () pass through the county with the highest peak at Mount Geomdok. The chief stream is the Namdaecheon (). Approximately 90% of the county is

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

land.

Administrative divisions

Hŏch'ŏn county is divided into 1 '' ŭp'' (town), 5 '' rodongjagu'' (workers' districts) and 17 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

Mining and electrical power are the chief local industries. There are deposits of copper, iron ore, lead, and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

. Local crops include maize, soybeans, and potatoes, but cultivation is difficult due to the mountainous terrain. Sangnong mine is located in this county, to the west of Sangnong-rodongjagu.

Transportation

Hŏch'ŏn county is served by the Hŏch'ŏn and Mandŏk lines of the

Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea (), commonly called the State Rail () and has its headquarters at Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun-song. History 19 ...

, and by various roads. Near Sangnong-rodongjagu, there is a trolleybus line to Sangnong mine served by one vehicle, though there were two vehicles in 2002. However, in more recent satellite imagery from 2020, the only trolleybus visible has disappeared.

Military

The Sangnam-ri Ballistic Missile Base is located in the county. According to the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...

, the existence of the base first came to public light in 1999, although construction began ca. 1994. Primary construction of barracks, underground facilities, bunkers, and other support structures was completed by the mid-2000s. Sangnam-ri is a battalion- or regiment-sized unit that encompasses approximately 3.85 sq. km of mountainous territory. It is operated by the

Korean People's Army Strategic Force The Korean People's Army Strategic Force (), previously known as the Korean People's Army Strategic Rocket Force (), is a military branch of the Korean People's Army (KPA) founded in 2012 that operates surface-to-surface missiles in the nuclear ...

and is equipped with Hwasong-10 (Musudan)

intermediate-range ballistic missile An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range between (), categorized between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ball ...

References

External links

* {{South Hamgyong Counties of South Hamgyong