Rason (formerly Rajin-Sŏnbong; ) is a North Korean special city and

ice-free port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

in 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 ...

in the

North Pacific Ocean 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 or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

on the northeast tip of

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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

. It is in the

Kwanbuk Kwanbuk is a region in North Hamgyong Province of North Korea. The region may once have been occupied by the Okjeo people. It was later controlled by Goguryeo and then Balhae, and subsequently contested by Goryeo and the Jin dynasty. Its litera ...

region and location of the

Rason Special Economic Zone The Rason Special Economic Zone, earlier called the Rajin-Sonbong Economic Special Zone, was established in the early 1990s by the North Korean government near Rason to promote economic growth through foreign investment. It is similar to the Spec ...

. In

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 ...

pronunciation Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...

, the initial "R" of the name is pronounced as "N", (나선, ''Naseon'') as per standard

Korean phonology This article is a technical description of the phonetics and phonology of Korean. Unless otherwise noted, statements in this article refer to South Korean standard language based on the Seoul dialect. Morphophonemes are written inside ...

. In 2000, the name was shortened from "Rajin-Sŏnbong" to "Rason". During the 1930s, the Japanese called it Rashin; at that time, it was an important port at the end of a railroad line. It was liberated by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

on 14 August 1945. Before 1991, Rason was used by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

as an alternative

warm-water port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

in case

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

was unavailable. The Soviet naval facilities were built starting in 1979. From 1993 to 2004, it was administered separately from North Hamgyŏng as the directly governed city (''Chikhalsi'') of Rason. Prior to 1993 and from 2004 to 2009, the city had been part of the North Hamgyŏng Province. Since 2010, the city is a " special city", again breaking from provincial control, but different from its older designation as a directly governed city. What this means in practice is unclear. Rason borders Hunchun county in

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 ...

of China and

Khasansky District Khasansky District (russian: Хаса́нский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #161-KZ and municipalLaw #187-KZ district (raion), one of the twenty-two in Primorsky Krai, Russia. It is located in the southwest of the krai, wedged betwee ...

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of t ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. China is making investments in the port as it gives it access to the Sea of Japan. In July 2011, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) gave a green light for China's domestic trade cargo to be shipped via its port of Rajin from northeast to east China. Coal is shipped from nearby Chinese mines to Shanghai. A casino by the sea caters to Chinese visitors. Rason City

Climate

Rason has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

: ''Dwb'').

Administrative divisions

Rason is divided into one district (''kuyŏk'') and one county (''kun'').

Rajin-guyŏk (라진구역; 羅津區域)

* Anhwa-dong (안화동/安和洞) * Anju-dong (안주동/安住洞) * Jigyŏng-dong (지경동/地境洞) * Junghyŏn-dong (중현동/中峴洞) * Changphyŏng-dong (창평동/倉坪洞) * Chŏnggye-dong (청계동/淸溪洞) * Hahyŏn-dong (하현동/下峴洞) * Haebang-dong (해방동/解放洞) * Kwangok-dong (관곡동/寬谷洞) * Namsan-dong (남산동/南山洞) * Tongmyŏng-dong (동명동/東明洞) * Sanghyŏn-dong (상현동/上峴洞) * Sinan-dong (신안동/新安洞) * Sinhae-dong (신해동/新海洞) * Sinhŭng-dong (신흥동/新興洞) * Songphyŏng-dong (송평동/松坪洞) * Yŏkchŏn-dong (역전동/驛前洞) * Yuhyŏn-dong (유현동/踰峴洞) * Muchang-ri (무창리/武倉里) * Huchang-ri (후창리/厚倉里)

Sŏnbong-gun (선봉군; 先鋒郡)

* Sŏnbong-ŭp (선봉읍/先鋒邑) * Tuman'gang-rodongjagu (두만강로동자구/豆滿江勞動者區) * Ungsang-rodongjagu (웅상로동자구/雄尙勞動者區) * Chosal-li (조산리/造山里) * Hahoe-ri (하회리/下檜里) * Hayŏp'yŏng-ri (하여평리/下汝坪里) * Hongŭi-ri (홍의리/洪儀里) * Kulp'o-ri (굴포리/屈浦里) * Paekhang-ri (백학리/白鶴里) * Pup'o-ri (부포리/鮒浦里) * Sahoe-ri (사회리/四會里) * Uam-ri (우암리/牛岩里) * Wŏnjŏng-ri (원정리/元汀里)

Port

The

Korean People's Navy The Korean People's Army Naval Force (KPANF; Korean: 조선인민군 해군; Hanja: 朝鮮人民軍海軍; ''Chosŏn-inmingun Haegun''; ) or the Korean People's Navy (KPN), is the naval service branch of the Korean People's Army, which conta ...

maintains a naval training base at the Rajin Port in the city of Rason. In addition, a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

company in 2017 leased a dock for 10 years at the port.

Economy

Foreign Investments

The Rason Emperor Hotel and Casino is a resort and

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

in Rason owned by the

Emperor Group Emperor Group is a diversified group of companies founded by Albert Yeung in Hong Kong. Albert Yeung's father, Mr Yeung Shing, opened a watch shop named "Shing On Kee Watch Shop" in 1942, setting the business foundation.< ...

, a diversified

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

based commercial group.

Oil Refinery

Rajin

Oil Refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt, asphalt ...

is the largest

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt, asphalt ...

in North Korea. Although North Korea itself lacks

oil wells An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas ma ...

, they can and do import oil from other countries to supply their

refineries A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

. Large

oil tankers An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined c ...

are spotted multiple times unloading at the Rajin port.

Mining

Rason is found to have a rich

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ...

storage,

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

such as

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

magnesite Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula ( magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts. Occurrence Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic ...

, and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

are plentiful.

Ship building

Rason is home to No 28 Shipyard Najin, a shipbuilder and supplier to the

Korean People's Navy The Korean People's