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Today on the Korean Atlas and History. North Korean Provinces and Special

Cities. North Hamgyung.

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North Hamgyung is the northernmost province of North Korea, lying on the

border with the Jilin province of China, to the north. To the west lies the province of

Ryan-Gang, and South Hamgyung lies to the southwest. The Sea of Japan is on the

east. Its capital is the city of Chongjin, and it has three major cities and 12 counties.

The cities include 청진, the capital, 회령 and 김책. The provinces include 화대군,

길주군, 경흥군, 경성군, 경원군, 무산군, 명천군, 명간군, 온성군, 어랑군, 부령군, and

연사군.

Most North Korean defectors that settle in South Korea come from North

Hamgyung. Because of this, the province of North Hamgyung is one of the most

well-researched topics of North Korea, and what we know about the country of

North Korea is often truly just what we know about North Hamgyung. Fyodor

Tertitskiy , in “The flaws and biases in North Korean studies” notes that much of the

knowledge we learn from North Hamgyung could be ignored, as the province is a

“backward province of a backward country ... unlikely to become popular reading:

North Hamgyong is, after all, not only a very grim, but also a very boring place."
 North Hamgyung is home to the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, also

known as the 무수단리 Rocket Launching Site. The site is in Southern 화대 county,

near 무수단, a cape that marks the northern end of the East Korea Bay. The site is 45

kilometers northeast of the port city of Kim-Chaek and 45 kilometers from the town

of 길주. A single, loose-surface road that leads to the site is susceptible to seasonal

flooding. A small wharf is located at the nearby fishing village of Tong-Ha, but it can

only accommodate vessels smaller than 40 meters in length.

The history of 무수단리 Rocket Launching Site starts in the early 1980s.

Around this time, North Korea needed a flight test facility for its program to reverse

engineer and produce copies of the Scud-B tactical ballistic missile. Before this time,

North Korea used a facility at Hwa-Jin-ri, Pyong-Won-Gun, South Pyong-An Province

to test missiles. But, the Hwa-Jin-ri facility had insufficient range to launch the Hwa-

Song 5 tactical ballistic missile, as it would enter Chinese territorial waters during a

test. For this reason, the 무수단리 Rocket Launching Site was constructed on and off

through the 1980s and 1990s. The launch pad was completed in 1985, and the early

stages of the site had an extremely rudimentary infrastructure. However, by the early

90s, the area was expanded from 2 kilometers to 9 kilometers and the area saw the

addition of a missile assembly facility, a fuel storage facility, a guidance and range

control center, and tracking facilities. Since 1984, Hwa-Song, Ro-Dong, and Tae-po-

Dong-1 rockets have been launched from the site.

 On August 31st, 1998, North Korean media reported the launch of the 광명성-

1 satellite from 무수단리. Although North Korea reported 광명성-1 as successful, not

objects were ever tracked in orbit from the launch, and outside of the north, the

launch has been considered a failure. On April 5, 2009, North Korea announced the

launch of 광명성-2. The launch was sharply condemned by the United States and the

European Union, as they believed that it would test technology that could be used

for future launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Nonetheless, the North

launched the rocket and flew it for at least 3,200 kilometers or 2,390 miles, which

was double the range of the 광명성-1. Analysis suggests, however, that the third

stage of the rocket failed to separate properly. The North proclaimed that the

launch was successful, while most analysts from outside the North have called it a

failure.

The province of North Hamgyung is also known for its 풍계리 Nuclear Test

Site. It is the only known nuclear test site in North Korea, and tests were conducted

there in October 2006, May 2009, February 2013, January 2016, September 2016,

and September 2017. The site has three visible tunnel entrances and is located in

mountainous terrain in Kil-Ju county, 2 kilometers south of Mount 만탑, and 2

kilometers west of the Hwa-Song concentration camp. It gets its name from the

village of 풍계리, 12 kilometers to the southeast. Although the site was used for

nuclear testing in the past, after the last detonation on September 3rd, 2017, it seems
that people have been banned from entering the site due to the possibility of being

radioactively contaminated. According to reports from defectors, about 80% of the

trees in the area died, and all of the underground wells in the area dried up. On

October 30th, 2017, the director of SOUTH Korea’s Meteorological Administration

warned that further tests at the site could “cause the mountain to collapse and

release radioactivity into the environment.” The North has reportedly suspended

nuclear tests and shut down the site, and according to satellite imagery, there are

indications that the site has been dismantled.

North Hamgyung is known for many political prison camps, most notably 온성

or Concentration camp number 12, 회령 or penal labor colony 22, 화성 or penal

labor colony 16, and 청진, or penal labor colony number 25.

Details from 온성 concentration camp are scarce, but when it was open, it

housed around 15,000 political prisoners. Two defectors have alleged the forcible

suppression of a large riot in the camp in May, 1987. It began when one prisoner

killed a guard, and then was joined by 200 others who overcame another guard. At

the height of the riot, nearly 5,000 prisoners were in open revolt. Reinforcements to

the guards arrived, and opened fire with machine guns. According to the two

defectors, all the rioters were killed, while a third defector has described the

execution of only about a third of the rioters. The camp was closed in 1989. This is
thought to be because of its close proximity with China. The prisoners were then

transferred to 회령 penal labor camp.

회령 concentration camp, or as it is officially known, penal labor colony

number 22, was a maximum security area, completely isolated from the outside

world. The camp was reportedly closed in 2012, and satellite imagery supports this.

The camp was located in 회령 country, near the border with China. It was situated in

a large valley, with many side valleys, surrounded by mountains thousands of feet

high. The southwest gate was located about 7 kilometers northeast of downtown

회령, and the main gate was about 15 kilometers southeast of Kia-Shan-Tun in

China’s Jilin province. The western boundary of the camp ran parallel to the Tumen

River. Until recently, North Korea has denied the camp’s existence.

The camp was founded in 1965, and expanded in the 1980s and 1990s. The

number of prisoners there increased dramatically when three other prison camps

were closed from 1989 to 1991, and their prisoners were transferred to the camp. In

the 1990s, it is estimated that around 50,000 prisoners were housed there. Most of

the prisoners were political prisoners, and all of the prisoners were detained until

death; they were never released. Former guard Ahn Myong-chol describes the

conditions in the camp as harsh and life-threatening. He likened the prisoners to

walking skeletons, dwarfs, and cripples in rags.

 Prisoners had to do hard physical labor in agriculture, mining and inside

factories from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., followed by ideological re-education and self-

criticism sessions. New Year’s Day was the only holiday for prisoners.

According to another guard, Kwon Hyuk, in the 1980s, public executions took

place approximately once per week. However, in the 1990s, they were replaced by

secret executions, as the guards feared riots.

Prisoners were beaten daily, and are used as practice for the guard’s martial

arts. Rape and sexual violence were very common in the camp.

In 2012, satellite images showed the detention center and some guard towers

being razed. It was reported that 27,000 prisoners died of starvations within a short

time, and the surviving 3,000 prisoners were relocated to Hwasong concentration

camp.

The 화성 concentration camp, officially known as a penal labor camp 16, is

located in 화성 county, in the upper reaches of the 화성 river. It is located in a

secluded mountain valley, just 2 kilometers east of the 풍계리 Nuclear Test Site. It is

currently the largest prison camp in North Korea. The conditions of the camp are

very much like those in 회령 concentration camp. The camp houses about 20,000

prisoners who are overworked and have very little time to rest.
 A fourth major camp is 청진 concentration camp, which is also known as a

penal labor colony number 25. 청진 is much like the previously mentioned camps,

but rather than a vast colony in a remote valley, it is one big building complex,

much like North Korea’s reeducation camps. It is estimated that between 3,000 to

5,000 prisoners are housed there. Ahn Myung-Chul, the aforementioned guard from

회령 concentration camp, called this camp a top-level political prisoner camp.

Therefore, harsh conditions can be assumed.

Much of our knowledge of North Hamgyung comes from prisons and

defectors. Although the area is known for missile launches and prison camps, we

hope that in the future it can be known for freedom and change.

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Thank You for listening to this episode of the Korean Atlas and History. Most

of today’s information was taken from the 나무 Wiki and Wikipedia. All of our

episodes can be found and downloaded from koreanatlasandhistory.com. Thank you

for listening and we’ll see you next time.