Kilju, sometimes

romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

as Kilchu, is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

North Hamgyong North Hamgyong Province (Hamgyŏngbukdo, ) is the northernmost province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Hamgyong Province. Geography The province is bordered by China (Jilin) to the north, S ...

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 ...

. The county seat is Kilju Town.

History

The area around Kilju was part of the ancient Goguryeo kingdom and was long inhabited by various Jurchen tribes. In 1107 it was annexed by

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

, who gave it its current name (meaning "province of good fortune"). After the ascension of

Joseon Dynasty 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 ...

, Kilju was promoted to county in 1398, and in 1509 the county was included in the newly formed

Hamgyong Province Hamgyong Province (; ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Hamgyong was located in the northeast of Korea. The provincial capital was Hamhung. Names The province was first established as Yŏnggil () in 1413. It wa ...

. In 1895, during a reorganization of regional governments, Hamgyong was dissolved and replaced with several small departments; Kilju County was then annexed to the newly formed Kyongsong Department. In 1896 however, the new organization was abandoned, with the departments re-organized into

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Hamgyong South Hamgyong Province (, ''Hamgyŏngnamdo''; ) is a Administrative divisions of North Korea, province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Hamgyong Province, Hamgyong Province, remained a provin ...

provinces; Kilju was then placed into North Hamgyong, where it remains to this day. During the Japanese occupation, the county was used for manufacturing telecommunications equipment and electric insulation.

Geography

Kilju is located in the southern part of North Hamgyong. It borders Myŏngch'ŏn on the east, Kimch'aek and Hwadae to the south, Myŏnggan (Hwasŏng) and Ŏrang to the north. To the west it borders Tanch'ŏn in South Hamgyŏng and

Paegam Paegam County is a ''kun'', or county, in Ryanggang province, North Korea. Geography The terrain is mountainous, as Paegam lies atop the Paektu Plateau, the site of North Korea's tallest mountains. The Hamgyŏng and Machŏllyŏng ranges pass ...

Ryanggang Ryanggang Province (Ryanggangdo; , ) is a 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. Ryanggang was formed in 1954, when it w ...

. Kilju stands at the junction of the Hamgyŏng Mountains and the Maryŏng Mountains, and its northwestern region is mountainous.

Climate

The average annual temperature is 7.5 °C (-7.6 °C in January and 22.2 °C in August).

Culture

Tourist sites in Kilju include the former Kilju Magistrate's Hall, built in 1888 to house the office, and the Kilju Hyanggyo, one of the provincial schools founded during the Yi dynasty to teach the children of the rural

Yangban The ''yangban'' () were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon period. The ''yangban'' were mainly composed of highly educated civil officials and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats wh ...

(scholar-aristocrats) who lived in the area.) The Pukkwan Victory Monument, located in this county before the 1950s redistricting, is now located just across the border in what is now

Kimchaek Kimch'aek (), formerly Sŏngjin ( Chosŏn'gŭl: 성진, Hancha: 城津), is a city in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. It was an open port in 1899. It has a population of 207,699. Etymology The city received its current name in 1951 duri ...

city.

Transportation

In addition to its airport, the county is served by the

Pyongra Line The P'yŏngra Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea, running from Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang to Rason, where it connects with the Hambuk Line.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Te ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, which stops at Kilju Chongnyon Station and connects it to

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

and

Rason Rason (formerly Rajin-Sŏnbong; ) is a North Korean special city and ice-free port in the Sea of Japan in the North Pacific Ocean on the northeast tip of North Korea. It is in the Kwanbuk region and location of the Rason Special Economic Zone. ...

. The city is also linked by road to

Hamhung Hamhŭng (''Hamhŭng-si''; ) is North Korea's List of cities in North Korea, second-most populous city, the capital of South Hamgyong, South Hamgyŏng Province and the 16th largest city in the Korea, Korean Peninsula. Located in the southern part ...

and

Chongjin Chŏngjin (; ) is the capital of North Korea's North Hamgyong Province (함경북도) and the country's List of cities in North Korea, third-largest city. Sometimes called the City of Iron, it is located in the northeast of the country. History ...

Military and nuclear tests

A number of military facilities are known or believed to be located in Kilju. These include the

Hwadae-ri Kilju, sometimes romanization of Korean, romanized as Kilchu, is a Administrative divisions of North Korea, county in North Hamgyong province, North Korea. The county seat is Kilju Town. History The area around Kilju was part of the ancient Gogur ...

atomic weapons training facility. This was first built with

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

assistance in 1958, and rose to international prominence when the

2006 North Korean nuclear test On October 9, 2006, North Korea performed its first nuclear test, detonating a plutonium-based device underground. On October 3, 2006, North Korea announced its intention to conduct a nuclear test. The blast is generally estimated to have had ...

2009 North Korean nuclear test The 2009 North Korean nuclear test was the underground detonation of a nuclear device conducted on Monday, 25 May 2009 by North Korea.2013 North Korean nuclear test On 12 February 2013, North Korean state media announced it had conducted an underground nuclear test, its third in seven years. A tremor that exhibited a nuclear bomb signature with an initial magnitude 4.9 (later revised to 5.1) was detected ...

, and

2017 North Korean nuclear test North Korea conducted its sixth (and most recent to date) nuclear test on 3 September 2017, stating it had tested a thermonuclear weapon (hydrogen bomb). The United States Geological Survey reported an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude not far from N ...

were reported to have been held at

Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site () was the only known nuclear test site of North Korea. Nuclear tests were conducted at the site in October 2006, May 2009, February 2013, January 2016, September 2016, and September 2017. Geography The s ...

in the area of

Mantapsan Mantapsan (or Mount Mant'ap, ) is a mountain in the south of North Hamgyong Province in North Korea. The granite peak, which reaches an elevation of , is part of the Hamgyong Mountains. It is located on the border between Kilju County, Myonggan Co ...

mountain, in the northernmost part of the county. The

Musudan-ri The Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground(동해위성발사장), also known as Musudan-ri (), is a rocket launching site in North Korea. Location It lies in southern Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province, near Musu Dan, the cape marking the ...

missile facility is located in nearby Hwadae county, and a separate

Scud A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the m ...

facility has been reported in the area. Reports from defectors who lived in the area indicate that residents are suffering from

radiation exposure Radiation exposure is a measure of the ionization of air due to ionizing radiation from photons. It is defined as the electric charge freed by such radiation in a specified volume of air divided by the mass of that air. As of 2007, "medical radia ...

, with high rates of cancers and birth defects being experienced by those living near the Punggye-ri Test Site.

Administrative divisions

The county is divided into one town (''ŭp''), five worker's districts (''rodongjagu''), and 22 villages (''ri'').

References

Global Security profile, with extensive background information
{{coord, 40, 57, 43, N, 129, 20, 12, E, display=title Counties of North Hamgyong