Kaech'ŏn or Kaechon ( , ;

Hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

: ,

Hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: ) is a city in

South P'yŏngan South Pyongan Province (; ) is a Administrative divisions of North Korea, province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Pyongan Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a prov ...

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 ...

Geography

The Myohyangsan, Changansan, Ch'ŏnsŏngsan, and Ch'ŏngryongsan mountain ranges come together in Kaech'ŏn. The highest peak is Paekt'apsan. The most important rivers are the Ch'ŏngch'ŏn River and the

Taedong River The Taedong River () is a large river in North Korea. The river rises in the Rangrim Mountains of the country's north where it then flows southwest into Korea Bay at Namp'o.Suh, Dae-Sook (1987) "North Korea in 1986: Strengthening the Soviet ...

. The area of the city is 61% forested.

Administrative divisions

Kaech'ŏn-si is divided into 26 '' tong'' (neighbourhoods) and 11 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

Water resources are abundant, and several reservoirs are located in Kaech'ŏn. Agriculture has been extensively developed, including livestock and fruit orchards. Machining and metalworking are the dominant industries, mining has also become more prominent.

Transportation

Kaech'ŏn is served by 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 ...

's Kaech'ŏn Line and the Manp'o Line trunk lines, as well as the Choyang Colliery Line and Chunhyŏk Line secondary lines.

Tourism

Tourist sites in Kaech'ŏn include Songam Cavern, Taeripsa Temple with its 9-level stone

pagoda A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but some ...

, the fortresses of Changhamsŏng, T'osŏng, and Kosasansŏng, Namsa

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

, and the group of dolments at Mukpangsan. There are also Yŏnpung Lake, which was constructed in 1956, and Yongwŏn Cavern, which was discovered in 1966 and is preserved as North Korea's Natural Monument No. 43. The Kaechon Revolutionary Site is associated with

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

250 Mile Journey for National Liberation 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

. A statue was erected there on the occasion of the Day of the Sun, April 15, in 2001.

Prison camps

There are two large prison camps in Kaech'ŏn, both known for very harsh conditions: * Political Prison Camp No. 14 is a prison labour colony around southeast of the city centre at the banks of

. Shin Dong-hyuk was born in the camp, tortured there, and finally saw his mother and brother executed before he escaped. * Re-education Camp No. 1 is a prison building complex around east of the city centre. Lee Soon-ok was imprisoned for six years in the camp and gave testimony before the United States Senate.

Notes

External links

City profile of Kaechon
{{Authority control Cities in South Pyongan