Hyesan () is a city in the northern part of
Ryanggang
Ryanggang Province (Ryanggangdo; ko, 량강도, ''Ryanggang-do'', ) is a province in North Korea. The province is bordered by China (Jilin) on the north, North Hamgyong on the east, South Hamgyong on the south, and Chagang on the west. Ryang ...
province of
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 ...
. It is a hub of river transportation as well as a product distribution centre. It is also the administrative centre of Ryanggang Province. As of 2008, the
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of the city is 192,680.
Area
Around the 1940s, this city included the nearby
Paektu Mountains. However, due to several changes, the area of this city was reduced, and now it only includes the nearby Yalu River.
Due to the reunification matter with South Korea, this city is claimed by South Korea, following the boundaries of 1940s, not the one edited by North Korea. Therefore, according to South Korea, Hyesan still includes the nearby Paektu Mountains.
South Korea has a conflict with the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
because of the Baekdu Mountains. The mountain is actually divided in two: the south parts are ruled by North Korea while the north parts are ruled by the PRC. However, South Korea still claims the northern parts. It is not officially claimed, but on maps printed by South Korea, it is ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' claimed. The
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
claims the entire mountain.
Geography
The city is located in the Paektu Mountains at the border with the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(
Jilin
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
province), from which it is separated by the
Yalu (Amrok) River.
Changbai is the closest Chinese city across the river.
Climate
Hyesan has an elevation-influenced
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Dwb''). It is located in the coldest area of Korea, which holds a record low temperature of in 1915.
Administrative divisions
Hyesan City is divided into 25 ''
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 4 ''ri'' (villages):
Economy
Hyesan has lumber processing mills, paper mills and textile mills. Since the North Korean economic crisis that intensified in the mid-1990s, the city has suffered from economic stagnation, and some factories in the city have closed. Reports and pictures taken from the Chinese side of the river show a "Ghost City": there is almost no movement in the streets, and at night the city is dark and doesn't have
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
. Residents of the city reputedly wash their clothes in the river because homes have no running water.
First explored in the 1960s, Hyesan Mine produces 10,000 tons of
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
concentrates annually. This area has 80% of North Korea's available copper, and the North had estimated that it will be able to continue mining copper there for the next forty years. When Kapsan Tongjum Mine, explored during the Japanese colonial period, was finally depleted and closed in 1990, Hyesan Mine became the lifeline of the nation's copper production. At that time, the mine flooded because the pumping device stopped operating due to the lack of electricity across the country. Although the workers at the mine did their best to pump the water, they could not stop the water flowing into the mine at a speed of 480m
3/hour. In 1996, during the North's '
Arduous March', electricity was not provided to the mine, leading to flooding in the mineshafts in January 1997. Hyesan Mine flooded again, as did other mines throughout the country, and lost all mining facilities. Since 1998, Kim Jong Il budgeted 8.2 million USD to dewater the
mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
, and the mine was recovered using electricity and equipment provided by
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
Transportation
Hyesan is connected to other cities in North Korea by road, and by the
Paektusan Ch'ŏngnyŏn and
Pukbunaeryuk 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 ...
.
Hyesan allegedly has a trolleybus system, though its actual existence is unknown.
Education
Schools in Hyesan include Hyesan High School and Hyesan Girls' School. Higher education institutions include the Hyesan Medical University, the Hyesan University of Agriculture and Forestry, Kim Jŏng-suk College of Education, the Hyesan College of Light Engineering, and the Hyesan University of Industry.
The countryside near Hyesan has various attractions, including the
Kwaegung Pavilion,
Naegŏk Hot Spring and
Mount Paektu
Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest moun ...
.
Notable people
*
Yeonmi Park
Yeonmi Park ( ko, 박연미; born 4 October 1993) is a North Korean defector and activist whose family fled from North Korea to China in 2007 and settled in South Korea in 2009, before moving to the United States in 2014. Her family turned to ...
(b. 1993), activist and defector, escaped North Korea in 2007.
*
Lee Hyeon-seo (b. 1980), activist and defector, escaped North Korea in 1997.
See also
*
List of cities in North Korea
The important cities of North Korea have self-governing status equivalent to that of provinces. Pyongyang, the largest city and capital, is classified as a chikhalsi (Special cities of North Korea, capital city), while three cities (see the list ...
*
Administrative divisions of North Korea
The administrative divisions of North Korea are organized into three hierarchical levels. These divisions were created in 2002. Many of the units have equivalents in the system of South Korea. At the highest level are nine provinces and fou ...
*
Changbai–Hyesan International Bridge
The Changbai–Hyesan International Bridge () is a bridge over the Yalu River, connecting Changbai Korean Autonomous County of Changbai City, Jilin Province, China, with Hyesan City of Ryanggang Province, North Korea. It was initially built in 19 ...
References
Further reading
*Dormels, Rainer. North Korea's Cities: Industrial facilities, internal structures and typification. Jimoondang, 2014.
External links
North Korea Uncovered (North Korea Google Earth) see most of Hyesan's political and industrial infrastructure on Google Earth.
City profile of Hyesan
{{Cities in North Korea
Cities in Ryanggang