Kapsan County is a ''kun'', or county, in Ryanggang Province, North Korea. During the Chosŏn Dynasty, officials who had fallen into disfavour were often sent into internal exile there.

Geography

Kapsan lies on the eastern edge of the

Kaema Plateau The Kaema Plateau is a highland in North Korea. It is surrounded by the Rangrim Mountains, the Macheollyeong Mountains and the Bujeollyeong Mountains. Elevation varies between 700 and 2,000 meters and is approximately 40,000 square kilometers. ...

. The highest peak is Tongjomryongsan (동점령산, 2113 m). Although the majority of the county's area is mountainous, the terrain slopes downward toward the center and the

Kapsan Basin Kapsan County is a ''kun'', or county, in Ryanggang Province, North Korea. During the Chosŏn Dynasty, officials who had fallen into disfavour were often sent into internal exile there. Geography Kapsan lies on the eastern edge of the Kaema Pl ...

. The county's chief stream is the

Hochon River Hŏch'ŏn County is a county in South Hamgyŏng province, North Korea. It was created after the division of Korea, from portions of Tanch'ŏn and P'ungsan. Geography Most of the county is steep and mountainous, particularly in the southeast. T ...

(허천강). Cultivation is largely restricted to the basin and river valley. Some 85% of the county's area is forestland. Due to its location on the Kaema Plateau, Kapsan has a severely cold

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...

Administrative divisions

Kapsan county is divided into 1 ''

ŭp An ''eup'' or ''ŭp'' () is an administrative unit in both North Korea and South Korea similar to the unit of town. In South Korea Along with "Myeon (administrative division), myeon", an "eup" is one of the divisions of a county ("County#Kore ...

'' (town). 4 '' rodongjagu'' (workers' districts) and 20 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

The chief local industry is agriculture; major crops include rice (raised along the Hochon), as well as potatoes, hops, and honey. The 5.1 Workers' District (오일로동자구) specializes in hops production; these "5.1 Hops" are exported to other countries. Lumbering also plays a role, thanks to the extensive forests. There are various mineral deposits in the county, including lodes of copper, coal and

copper pyrite Chalcopyrite ( ) is a copper iron sulfide mineral and the most abundant copper ore mineral. It has the chemical formula CuFeS2 and crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs ...

Transportation

There is a cable car railway in the county with a length of ''70-ri'' (27.4 km); it is by this method that coal is brought from Kapsan mine to the train station in Kumdok to be loaded to be smelted. Kapsan County has a ''10-ri'' (3.9 km) long trolleybus line at a mining village, however it is not specified which particular area it is in.

History

During the Korean War (1950-1953), South Korean guerrillas passed word to United Nations forces that a large number of top North Korean

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

leaders planned to gather in Kapsan in October 1951. Based on this information, eight AD Skyraider bombers from United States Navy Fighter Squadron 54 (VF-54) attacked their meeting place with 1,000-pound (454-kg) bombs and napalm. Intelligence evaluation indicated that the attack killed 500 Communists.Isenberg, Michael T., ''Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962'', New York: St. Martin's Press, , p. 176.

References

External links

* {{Ryanggang Counties of Ryanggang