Sinch'ŏn County is a county in South Hwanghae 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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

Geography

Sinch'ŏn is bordered to the north by Anak, to the west by Samch'ŏn and

T'aet'an T'aet'an County is a county in South Hwanghae province, North Korea. Administrative divisions T'aet'an county is divided into 1 ''ŭp An ''eup'' or ''ŭp'' () is an administrative unit in both North Korea and South Korea similar to the uni ...

, to the south by

Pyŏksŏng Pyŏksŏng County is a county in South Hwanghae province, North Korea. Administrative divisions Pyŏksŏng county is divided into 1 ''ŭp'' (town) and 21 '' ri'' (villages): Transportation Pyŏksŏng county is served by the Ongjin Line of the K ...

and Sinwŏn, and to the east by Chaeryŏng. Most of the land in Sinch'ŏn is composed of flat plains, with mountains forming its borders. The highest point is Mt. Ch'ŏnbong, at 627 meters. There are several famous hot springs in Sinch'ŏn, including the Sinch'ŏn and Kŭlloja Springs. The county is also home to the famous Chahyesa Buddhist temple, founded in 1572.

History

The Koryo dynasty named the area occupied by Sinch'ŏn as Sinju. It received its current name under the Yi dynasty in 1413. In 1909 Sinch'ŏn was annexed to Munhwa, now no longer extant. The county's current form was settled in the 1952 redistricting changes, in which its eastern part was annexed to newly formed Samch'ŏn county. At the beginning of the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

in 1950, the town of Sinch'ŏn was allegedly the site of a massacre of civilians by occupying U.S. forces (see Sinchon Massacre). North Korean sources claim the number of civilians killed over the 52-day period at more than 35,000 people, equivalent to one-fourth of the population then of Sinchon county. The North Korean government has operated the

Sinchon Museum of American War Atrocities The Sinchon Museum of American War Atrocities ( Korean: 신천박물관) is a museum dedicated to the Sinchon Massacre, a massacre of North Korean civilians during the Korean War which the North Korean government claims was carried out by Sout ...

in Sinch'ŏn Town since 1958, displaying relics and remains from the incident. South Korean historians dispute this account, saying the deaths were at the hands of right-wing security forces. No evidence has been found to support North Korean allegations that an American general directed the massacre.

Transportation

The county is served by the Ŭllyul Line of the Korean State Railway, with stations at Paeksŏk, Sinch'ŏn Onch'ŏn, Sinch'ŏn, and Hwanghae Ryongmun stations. There is also a highway which runs through Sinch'ŏn-ŭp.

Divisions

The county is divided into one town (''ŭp'') and 31 villages (''ri'').

Twin cities

Sinchon is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with Kragujevac,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

since 1976.

References