Chŏngju (; also Jŏngju) is a ''si'', or city, in southern

North P'yŏngan North Pyongan Province (Phyŏnganbukto; , also spelled North P'yŏngan), is a western province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former P'yŏng'an Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, th ...

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 shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. Prior to 1994, it was designated as a ''kun'' or county. The terrain is mostly level, but mountainous in the north. To the south lies the Chŏngju Plain, where the hills do not rise above . Chŏngju also includes approximately 10 islands in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour terms ...

Geography

Some 40 percent of Chŏngju is covered by coniferous forestland.

Administrative divisions

Chŏngju is divided into 14 ''

tong Tong may refer to: Chinese *Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese *Tong (organization), a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities *''tong'', pronunciation of several Chinese char ...

'' (neighbourhoods) and 18 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

Local agriculture is dominated by orcharding and rice farming; the chestnuts of this region are especially famous.

Transportation

The city is served by both road and rail; it is the junction point of the P'yŏngŭi and P'yŏngbuk lines of the

Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway (), commonly called the State Rail () is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea and has its headquarters at P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song. History 1945–195 ...

Politics

In February 2011, the city and others in North P'yŏngan had rare protests, of a few score of people, calling for adequate provision of rice and power. At the time, news of the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

was spreading via Chinese TV channels and phone calls with defectors.Can the 'Jasmine Revolution' Spread to N.Korea?
Chosun Ilbo, 23 February 2011

Notable people

Baek Seok Baek Seok (born Paek Ki-haeng; July 1, 1912 - January 7, 1996) was a Korean poet. He was born in Chŏngju in North Pyongan, and started his journalist career at ''Chosun Ilbo'' in 1934. He published his first poem "Chŏngju Fortress" (정주� ...

Hong Yun-suk Hong Yun-Suk (1925 in Chongju, North Pyongan Province, Korea – 12 December 2015) was considered one of the leading Korean female poets of her generation. She is also known by her pen name YeoSa (Beautiful Story). Life Although born in North ...

Kim Ok Kim Ok (김옥; born 28 August 1964) is a former North Korean government employee who served as Kim Jong Il's personal secretary from the 1980s until his death. After the death of Ko Yong-hui in August 2004, she regularly met with foreign offic ...

Ki-baik Lee Ki-baik Lee (1924–2004) was a leading South Korean historian. He was born in Jeongju-gun, in North Pyeongan province in what is today North Korea. He graduated from the Osan School in 1941, attending Waseda University in Tokyo but ultimately g ...

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Yong Myung Moon; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unif ...

Pang Chol-mi Pang Chol-mi (born 26 August 1994) is a North Korean boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer ...

Yi Kwang-su Yi Gwangsu (; 1892–1950) was a Korean writer and poet, and a notable Korean independence and nationalist activist until his later turn towards collaboration with the Japanese. His pen names were Chunwon and Goju. Yi is best known for his nove ...

T.K. Seung T. K. Seung was a Korean American philosopher and literary critic. His academic interests cut across diverse philosophical and literary subjects, including ethics, political philosophy, Continental philosophy, cultural hermeneutics, and literar ...

References

External links

*
City profile of Jongju
{{North Pyongan Cities in North Pyongan