Chongjin

According to archaeological findings near the lower areas of the Tumen river, evidence of human living traces back to the paleolithic period.[3]

According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the region was where the tribe kingdoms of Buyeo, Mohe, Okjeo, Yilou, Yemaek and Sushen existed. The region later was the territory of Goguryeo. After the fall of Goguryeo in 668, the region was ruled by the Tang dynasty. During the reign of Balhae, the region was under the subdivision donggyeongyongwonbu. The region was under the rule of the Jin dynasty and Yuan dynasty after the fall of Balhae by the Khitans.[3]

Emblem of Seishinfu(chongjin bu), administrative division Chongjin fell under Japanese rule

Chongjin was a small fishing village prior to the Japanese annexation of Korea; its date of establishment is unknown. The Chinese characters for its name mean 'clear river crossing'.[2] During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, Japanese forces landed at Chongjin and established a supply base due to its proximity to the front lines in Manchuria. The Japanese remained after the end of the war, and in 1908, declared the city an open trading port both for the transport of Korean resources and as a stopping point for resources from China.[4] The city was known during this period as “Seishin”,[5] after the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters for its name. The Imperial Japanese Army’s 19th Division was headquartered in Ranam from 1918, where the Japanese built a new planned city based on a rectangular street grid.[2] In 1930, Nippon Steel built a large steel mill, the Seishin Iron and Steel Works, in the town. Ranam was annexed to Chongjin in 1940, which was elevated to city status. The city was overrun after a brief resistance by the Soviet Union on 13 August 1945, only two days before the end of World War II. Under the rule of North Korea, Chongjin remained an important military and industrial centre. It was directly administered by the central government from 1960–1967 and from 1977–1988.

On April 15, 1969 at 13:30 MT (1:30 PM), a Lockheed EC-121M Super Constellation of the US Navy (135749) was shot down by two North Korean MiG-17 fighters SE of Chongjin over the Sea of Japan. All 31 occupants were killed, making it the deadliest plane crash in North Korean territory. The plane was on a military flight out of Atsugi NAS.[6]

During the North Korean famine of the 1990s, Chongjin was one of the worst affected locations in the country; death rates may have been as high as 20%.[2] Conditions there remain poor in terms of food availability.[2] This problem has caused several instances of civil unrest in Chongjin, a rarity in North Korea. On 4 March 2008, a crowd of women merchants protested in response to tightened market controls.[2] Rising grain prices and government attempts to prohibit "peddling in the market" have been cited as causes for the protests.[2] As a result of the protest, the Chongjin local government "posted a proclamation allowing peddling in the market."[7] On 24 August 2008, a clash occurred between foot patrol agents and female merchants, which escalated into a "massive protest rally". It was reported that the Chongjin local government-issued verbal instructions relaxing the enforcement activity until the time of the next grain ration.[7]

Chongjin has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dwb) with cold, dry winters and warm, rainy summers.

• Chosun Clothing Factory – makes Vinalon cloth into uniforms
• North Hamgyong Provincial Broadcasting Company
• Majon Deer Company – makes medicine from deer antlers[21]
• Second Metal Construction Company
• Onpho Hot Springs
• Soenggiryong mines – kaolin mine
• North Hamgyong Provincial E-Business Institute[22]

The area has little arable land, so the famine in the 1990s hit the residents of Chongjin particularly hard. During the late 1990s, the city's residents experienced some of the highest death rates from famine, which might have been as high as 20 percent of the population. By 1995, the local frog population was wiped out due to overhunting.[2]

• In Chongjin political prison camp (Kwan-li-so No. 25), a large prison complex in Susong-dong (northern part of Chongjin), more than 3,000 political prisoners are allegedly forced to manufacture bicycles and other consumer goods.[23]
• Chongori reeducation camp (Kyo-hwa-so No. 12) is located halfway between Chongjin and Hoeryong.[2]
• The Nongpo Detention Center, which was built during the Japanese occupation, is still in use but under new management.[2]

Chongjin's port has established itself as a critical component of busy international shipping trade with neighbouring parts of Northeast and Southeast Asia. Of DPRK's eight international shipping ports, Chongjin is thought to be the second most economically important (after Nampho port on the west coast)[24] and serves as a base of trade to Russia and Japan. Chongjin also boasts a seamen's club which serves to cater for foreign crews as well as a meeting base for North Koreans and foreigners engaged in the shipping trade.[12]

The People's Republic of China and Russia have set up their consulates in Chongjin. It is unique for a North Korean city to have a foreign consulate. Chongjin is the administrative centre of the North Hamgyong Province.

Orang Airport located in Orang County 40 kilometres from Chongjin is equipped with a 2,500 m (8,200 ft) runway on military and civilian dual purpose air station (CHO). North Korea planned to upgrade an old airport near Hamhung as late as 2003, so that it would have a 4,000 m (13,000 ft) runway, and would act as the nation's second international airport. However, it is still not completed.

The Wonson-Rason Railway and Chongjin-Rason Railway (Pyongra Line) electric railways operated by the Korean State Railway connect Rason and capital Pyongyang.

Chongjin is the only city in North Korea other than Pyongyang to operate a tram system. These trams are all locally manufactured. It consists of one line built in two phases, phase 1,6 km (3.7 mi), and phase 2,7 km (4.3 mi).[25] It has a turning loop in Pongchon and Namchongjin, with the depot located in Sabong.

A trolleybus system also operates with 3 lines: Chongam - Yokchon, Hae'an - Sabong and Namchongijn - Ranam.[26]

There are several state-run higher educational facilities located here, such as:

• Chongjin University of Technology
• Chongjin Mine University
• Chongjin University of Education No. 1 (Oh Jungheup University)
• University of Education No. 2
• Hambuk University It used to be called Hambuk Agricultural University formerly until 1993.
• Chongjin University of Medicine
• Chongjin College of Light Industry
• Chongjin College of Metal Engineering
• Chongjin College of Automation Engineering

The Kim Jong-suk Teachers' College, which was named after Kim Jong Il's mother, Kim Jong-suk, is in Chongjin.[2]

Schools for gifted and talented students include:

• Chongjin No.1 Senior Middle School: One of science high schools for gifted students in North Korea.
• Chongjin School of Foreign Languages
• Chongjin School of Arts

• North Hamgyong Province Theater (함경북도 극장)
• Chonmasan Hotel for foreign visitors to stay at, built to convey the power of the government over the individual; in 1997, a French aid worker from Action contre la Faim was allowed to stay there but was not let out of the hotel to observe the famine conditions.[2]
• Pohanng Square has a 25-foot bronze statue and the Revolutionary History Museum
• Inmin Daehakseup Dang (Grand People's Study House)
• Chongjin Children's Palace (청진학생소년궁전): Artistic talented students do extracurricular activities here after school.