Kapsan County is a ''kun'', or county, in

Ryanggang Province Ryanggang Province (Ryanggangdo; , ) is a Administrative divisions of North Korea, province in North Korea. The province is bordered by China (Jilin) to the north, North Hamgyong to the east, South Hamgyong to the south, and Chagang to the west. ...

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 ...

. During

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

, officials who had fallen into disfavour were often sent into internal exile there.

Geography

Kapsan lies on the eastern edge of the

Kaema Plateau The Kaema Plateau is a highland in North Korea. It is surrounded by the Rangrim Mountains, the Macheollyeong Mountains and the Bujeollyeong Mountains. Elevation varies between 700 and 2,000 meters and is approximately 40,000 square kilometers. ...

. The highest peak is Tongjomryongsan (동점령산, 2113 m). Although the majority of the county's area is mountainous, the terrain slopes downward toward the center and the Kapsan Basin. The county's chief stream is the

Hochon River Hŏch'ŏn County is a county in South Hamgyŏng province, North Korea. It was created after the division of Korea, from portions of Tanchon and P'ungsan (now Kimhyonggwon County). Geography Most of the county is steep and mountainous, particula ...

(허천강). Cultivation is largely restricted to the basin and river valley. Some 85% of the county's area is forestland. Due to its location on the Kaema Plateau, Kapsan has a severely cold

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

Administrative divisions

Kapsan county is divided into 1 ''

ŭp An ''eup'' or ''ŭp'' () is an administrative unit in both North Korea and South Korea similar to the unit of town. In South Korea Along with " myeon", an "eup" is one of the divisions of a county ("gun"), and of some cities ("si") with a pop ...

'' (town). 4 ''

rodongjagu A Workers' District ( in North Korea, in South Korea) is a third-level administrative division of North Korea, meaning it lies below a city or county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. ...

'' (workers' districts) and 20 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

The chief local industry is agriculture; major crops include rice (raised along the Hochon), as well as potatoes, hops, and honey. The 5.1 Workers' District (오일로동자구) specializes in hops production; these "5.1 Hops" are exported to other countries. Lumbering also plays a role, thanks to the extensive forests. There are various mineral deposits in the county, including lodes of copper, coal and

copper pyrite Chalcopyrite ( ) is a copper iron sulfide mineral and the most abundant copper ore mineral. It has the chemical formula CuFeS2 and crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs ...

Transportation

There is a cable car railway in the county with a length of ''70-ri'' (27.4 km); it is by this method that coal is brought from Kapsan mine to the train station in Kumdok to be loaded to be smelted. Kapsan County has a ''10-ri'' (3.9 km) long trolleybus line at a mining village, however it is not specified which particular area it is in.

History

During the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

(1950-1953), South Korean guerrillas passed word to

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

forces that a large number of top North Korean

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

leaders planned to gather in Kapsan in October 1951. Based on this information, on 30 October eight

AD Skyraider The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly designated AD before the 1962 unification of Navy and Air Force designations) is an American single-seat attack aircraft in service from 1946 to the early 1980s, which served during the Korean War and Vietnam ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

s from

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

VF-54 and eight ADs from VA-728 escorted by four F2-H2s from

VF-172 Fighter Squadron 61 (VF-61), the ''Jolly Rogers'', was a fighter squadron of the United States Navy. Originally established as VF-17 on 1 January 1943, it was redesignated as VF-5B on 15 November 1946, and then later as VF-61 on 28 July 1948. I ...

, eight F4U-4s from

VF-53 Fighter Squadron 53, or VF-53 ''Iron Angels'' was an aviation unit of the United States Navy in service from 20 July 1950 to 29 January 1971. Originally established as reserve squadron VF-721 on 20 July 1950, it was redesignated as VF-141 on 4 Fe ...

, eight F4U-4s from VF-713 and four F9-F2s from VF-831 attacked their meeting place with 1,000-pound (454-kg) bombs and

napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated aluminium ...

. Intelligence evaluation indicated that the attack killed 500 Communists.Isenberg, Michael T., ''Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962'', New York: St. Martin's Press, , p. 176.

References

External links

* {{Ryanggang Counties of Ryanggang