Tŏkch'ŏn () is a ''si'', or city, in northern

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 ...

. It is bordered by Nyŏngwŏn and

Maengsan Maengsan County is a Administrative divisions of North Korea, ''kun'' (county) in South Pyongan Province, South P'yŏngan, North Korea. Administrative districts The district is split into one ŭp (town) and 24 Administrative divisions of South K ...

to the east, Kujang county in North P'yŏngan province to the north, Kaech'ŏn to the west and Pukch'ang to the south. It was known as Tokugawa during Japanese rule.

History

A 1984 survey unearthed fragmented pieces of pottery about 3km north from the Tokchon city limits dating from the Juelmun pottery period. However, little is known about the founding of the current city of Tokchon. The earliest records of Tokchon point to a Goryeo period founding of around with scriptures mentioning a fort named Bajung (바중) owned by a local lord c.950 A.D. The city was only named the current Tokchon during the Choson period (1392-1897). The city was heavily bombed by the USAF in the Korean War, with estimates of 65% of the city destroyed and 15-25,000 killed. On April 28, 2017, a

Hwasong-12 The Hwasong-12 () is a mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile developed by North Korea. The Hwasong-12 was first revealed to the international community in a military parade on 15 April 2017 celebrating the Day of the Sun which is the birth ...

intermediate-range ballistic missile An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range between (), categorized between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ball ...

launched from near

Pukchang Airport Pukchang Airport(북창비행장) is an airport in Pyongan-namdo, North Korea. It serves as the military airfield for the nearby city of Sunchon. Facilities The airfield has a single concrete runway 14/32 measuring 8150 x 164 feet (2484 x 50 m ...

reportedly crashed into Ch'ŏngsin-dong, Tokchon, damaging several structures in the city.

Administrative divisions

Tŏkch'ŏn-si is divided into 22 ''tong'' (neighbourhoods) and 10 ''ri'' (villages):

Economy

The Sŭngri Motor Plant (with associated workshops) has been one of the few domestic sources of both low-cost replicas of foreign passenger cars and military-service trucks in North Korea since it was established in 1950, and developed through the massive militarization campaigns of

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 ...

in the 1970s and 80s. However, the total depletion of foreign credit by the end of the 1980s caused the manufacturing industry to implode; the supply of steel for metalworking at Sŭngri slowed to a trickle, and even when available, the production lines had regular power outages. The severe famine in the countryside also caused an exodus of starving peasants to the cities, further straining food supplies and worker productivity. 20,000 cars and trucks were made in Tŏkch'ŏn in 1980; by 1996 the number was just 150, all of which were Army trucks, some later modified as

rocket artillery Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rockets as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Fire arrows were also used in mult ...

launchers.

Transportation

Tŏkch'ŏn-si 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 ...

P'yŏngdŏk line The P'yŏngdŏk Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea running from Taedonggang Station in Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang, where it connects to the Pyongbu Line, P'yŏngbu, Pyongnam Line, P'yŏngnam, ...

and five branchlines.

References

External links

*
City profile of Tokchon
Cities in South Pyongan {{NorthKorea-geo-stub