The Unbong Line is a secondary

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line 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 ...

located entirely within Unbong-rodongjagu, Chasŏng County,

Chagang Chagang Province (Chagangdo; ) is a province in North Korea; it is bordered by China's Jilin and Liaoning provinces to the north, Ryanggang and South Hamgyong to the east, South Pyongan to the south, and North Pyongan to the west. Chagang was f ...

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 ...

, running from Sangp'unggang on the

Pukbunaeryuk Line The Pukbunaeryuk Line, also called the Hyesan–Manp'o Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line after the only completed stage of three planned stages, is an electrified standard-gauge secondary trunk line of the Korean State Railway in Chagang and Ryanggang Provinces ...

to Kuunbong.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō)

History

The Unbong Line was opened in 1959 by the

, originally running from Manp'o to its current terminus to assist with the construction of the Unbong Dam on the

Yalu River The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...

which had begun in October of that year. In August 1980, President

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 ...

ordered the construction of a new, northern east-west transversal trunk line, to run from Manp'o on 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, 将軍様� ...

in the northwest to Hoeryŏng on the

Hambuk Line The Hambuk Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea, running from Ch'ŏngjin) on the P'yŏngra Line to Rajin, likewise on the P'yŏngra line.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama n ...

in the northeast. To accomplish this, a plan was made to undertake construction of the line,북부철길 전철화, 동아일보
1992 January 30 to be called the

Pukpu Line The Pukbunaeryuk Line, also called the Hyesan–Manp'o Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line after the only completed stage of three planned stages, is an electrified standard-gauge secondary trunk line of the Korean State Railway in Chagang and Ryanggang Provinces ...

in three stages: Manp'o–

Hyesan Hyesan () is a city in the northern part of Ryanggang province of North Korea. 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 o ...

, Hyesan–

Musan Musan County is a county in central North Hamgyong province, North Korea. It borders the People's Republic of China to the north, across the Tumen River. It is divided into one ''ŭp'', six labor districts, and fifteen ''ri''. The county sea ...

, and Musan–Hoeryŏng, making use of existing rail lines where possible - including conversion of narrow gauge lines, and building new lines where necessary. It was decided that construction of the first stage would begin at Unbong, northeastern terminus of the Unbong Line from Manp'o, giving a jump by incorporating most of the existing Unbong Line into the new Pukpu Line. Work building the new line began in 1981; just before Unbong Station a junction was installed, where a new station was built, called Sinunbong Station (="New Unbong Station"), from where the new line would head towards Hyesan. Construction of the first stage was completed in 1988.북부철길 1단계공사완료

Kyunghyang Shinmun The ''Kyunghyang Shinmun'' or ''Kyonghyang Sinmun'' is a major daily newspaper published in South Korea. It is based in Seoul. The name literally means ''Urbi et Orbi Daily News''.

, 10 August 1988 The absorption of most of the existing railway between Manp'o and Unbong cut back the Unbong Line to a stretch from the junction point with the new line, located at Sangp'unggang at the confluence of the

Yalu The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...

and Samp'ung Rivers, to Unbong Station at the terminus of the old line, adjacent to the dam; this was transformed into a large freight-only yard, with Sinunbong Station handling primarily passenger traffic; the remaining section of the original 1959 line from Sangp'unggang to Kuunbong retained the "Unbong Line" name. At some point in time the stations traded names, with Sinunbong Station becoming the current Unbong Station, and the original Unbong Station becoming today's Kuunbong Station ("Old Unbong Station") - this might have happened either between 1991 and 1993, when electrification works of the Pukpu Line were completed, or between 2011 and 2013 when, in accordance with

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

's order to refurbish the by then nearly decrepit Pukpu Line, work brigades of the Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League rebuilt the entirety of the Manp'o–Hyesan line between April 2011 and November 2013; at that time, many other stations along the line were renamed, most to honour the youth work brigades in keeping with what had become a North Korean tradition since 1958, when

gave the

Sariwŏn Sariwŏn () is the capital of North Hwanghae Province, North Korea. Population The city's population as of 2008 is 307,764. Administrative divisions Sariwŏn is divided into 31 ''tong'' (neighbourhoods) and 9 '' ri'' (villages): Healthcare ...

—

Haeju Haeju () is a city located in South Hwanghae Province near Haeju Bay in North Korea. It is the administrative centre of South Hwanghae Province. As of 2008, the population of the city is estimated to be 273,300. At the beginning of the 20th century ...

line - rebuilt by youth "volunteer" teams - the name of "

Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line The Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line is an electrified standard-gauge secondary line of the Korean State Railway in the North and South Hwanghae provinces of North Korea, running from Sariwŏn to Haeju.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama ...

" ("Yellow Sea Youth").

Route

A yellow background in the "Distance" box indicates that section of the line is not electrified.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unbong Line Railway lines in North Korea Standard gauge railways in North Korea