Kaech'ŏn or Kaechon ( , ;

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: ,

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: ) is a city in

South P'yŏngan South Pyongan Province (Phyŏngannamdo; ) is a 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 province of North Korea. Its ca ...

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 ...

Geography

The

Myohyangsan The Mount Myohyang (Hangul: 묘향산 - "''Mysterious Fragrant Mountain''") is a mountain in North Korea. It is named after the mystic shapes and fragrances found in the area. It is a sacred site as, according to legend, it was the home of Kin ...

, Changansan, Ch'ŏnsŏngsan, and Ch'ŏngryongsan mountain ranges come together in Kaech'ŏn. The highest peak is Paekt'apsan. The most important rivers are the Ch'ŏngch'ŏn River and the

Taedong River The Taedong River (Chosŏn'gŭl: ) is a large river in North Korea. The river rises in the Rangrim Mountains of the country's north where it then flows southwest into Korea Bay at Namp'o.Suh, Dae-Sook (1987) "North Korea in 1986: Strengthening ...

. The area of the city is 61% forested.

Administrative divisions

Kaech'ŏn-si is divided into 26 ''

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 11 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

Water resources are abundant, and several reservoirs are located in Kaech'ŏn. Agriculture has been extensively developed, including livestock and fruit orchards. Machining and metalworking are the dominant industries, mining has also become more prominent.

Transportation

Kaech'ŏn is served by 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 ...

Kaech'ŏn Line The Kaech'ŏn Line is an electrified standard-gauge secondary line of the Korean State Railway running from Sinanju on the P'yŏngŭi Line to Kaech'ŏn on the Manp'o Line. The ruling grade on the line is 14‰, the minimum curve radius is ; th ...

and the

Manp'o Line The Manp'o Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the North Korean State Railway running from Sunch'ŏn on the P'yŏngra Line to Manp'o on the Pukpu Line. The line continues on from Manp'o to Ji'an, China.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍� ...

trunk lines, as well as the Choyang Colliery Line and Chunhyŏk Line secondary lines.

Tourism

Tourist sites in Kaech'ŏn include Songam Cavern, Taeripsa Temple with its 9-level stone

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

, the fortresses of Changhamsŏng, T'osŏng, and Kosasansŏng, Namsa

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

, and the group of dolments at Mukpangsan. There are also Yŏnpung Lake, which was constructed in 1956, and Yongwŏn Cavern, which was discovered in 1966 and is preserved as North Korea's Natural Monument No. 43. The Kaechon Revolutionary Site is associated with

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 ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

's 250 Mile Journey for National Liberation. A statue was erected there on the occasion of the

Day of the Sun The Day of the Sun () is an annual public holiday in North Korea on 15 April, the birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, founder and Eternal President of North Korea. It is the most important national holiday in the country, and is considered to b ...

, April 15, in 2001.

Prison camps

There are two large prison camps in Kaech'ŏn, both known for very harsh conditions: * Political Prison Camp No. 14 is a prison labour colony around southeast of the city centre at the banks of

Shin Dong-hyuk Shin Dong-hyuk (born Shin In Geun, 19 November 1982 or 1980) is a North Korean-born human rights activist. He is reputed to be the only known prisoner to have successfully escaped from a "total-control zone" grade internment camp in North Kore ...

was born in the camp, tortured there, and finally saw his mother and brother executed before he escaped. * Re-education Camp No. 1 is a prison building complex around east of the city centre.

Lee Soon-ok Lee Soon-ok (born 1947 in Chongjin, North Korea) is a North Korean Defection, defector and the author of ''Eyes of the Tailless Animals: Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman'', her account of being falsely accused, tortured, and imprisoned und ...

was imprisoned for six years in the camp and gave testimony before the United States Senate.

Notes

External links

City profile of Kaechon
{{Authority control Cities in South Pyongan