Onsŏng County is a county ( ''kun'') in

North Hamgyong North Hamgyong Province (Hamgyŏngbukdo, ) is the northernmost province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Hamgyong Province. Geography The province is bordered by China (Jilin) on the north, ...

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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

, located near the border with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The administrative center is the town ( ''ŭp'') of Onsong. Onsong is the alleged site of the former

Onsong concentration camp The Onsong concentration camp was an internment camp in Changpyong, Onsong County, North Hamgyong, North Korea. It housed approximately 15,000 political prisoners. The camp was officially known as Concentration Camp (Kwan-li-so) No. 12. Although ...

, now closed.

History

Onsong was one of the six post/garrisons () established under the order of

Sejong the Great of Joseon Sejong of Joseon (15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), personal name Yi Do ( Korean: 이도; Hanja: 李祹), widely known as Sejong the Great ( Korean: 세종대왕; Hanja: 世宗大王), was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. I ...

(1418–1450) to safeguard his people from the hostile Chinese and Manchurian nomads living in

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

Geography

Onsong lies along the

Tumen River The Tumen River, also known as the Tuman River or Duman River (), is a long river that serves as part of the boundary between China, North Korea and Russia, rising on the slopes of Mount Paektu and flowing into the Sea of Japan. The river ha ...

, which forms the border with

. To the north of Onsong is

Jilin Jilin (; Postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three Provinces of China, provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, R ...

Province, China. Onsong also contains the northernmost point in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

, at 43°0'39″ N. Liangshui (), in Tumen prefecture, is the closest Chinese town across the river. The land of Onsong is mainly mountainous, although a part is flatland. It has a continental climate, and is the region of Korea with the longest winter, except 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 Yŏndubong.

Economy

Being mountainous in nature, Onsong is not well suited to agriculture. Ironically, however, it has the highest ratio of rice paddies to dry fields of any district in

Province. Logging is prevalent in the Tumen River basin.

Lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

coal is also produced.

Transportation

Onsong is served by roads and railroads. In winter, it is also possible to cross the frozen

into China. Onsong has a 4 km long, single overhead bidirectional trolleybus line linking from the railway station to the Wangjaesan Grand Monument, although no trolleybuses are observed on the line since at least 2004. The overhead is nonetheless at least appearing to be in a good condition. The system formerly had two Jipsan 88 trolleybuses, though they were converted from the similar, but unrelated Jipsan 88 bus.

Administrative divisions

Onsŏng County is divided into 1 town ("Ŭp"), 10 worker's districts ("Rodongjagu") and 15 villages ("Ri"):

Notables personalities

*Yang Dae-su () * Shin Rip (), the prefect of Onsong (), before the

Imjin War The Imjin River ( in South Korea) or Rimjin River ( in North Korea) is the 7th largest river in Korea. It flows from north to south, crossing the Demilitarized Zone and joining the Han River downstream of Seoul, near the Yellow Sea. The rive ...

*Jung You-ji () *Choi Gwan () *Go Gyung-jin () *Hyok Kang, the author of the autobiographical '' This is Paradise!: My North Korean Childhood''

References

External links

Location of the four forts and the six posts
* {{coord, 42, 57, 20, N, 129, 59, 30, E, display=title Counties of North Hamgyong China–North Korea border crossings