The Ch'ŏngch'ŏn is a river in

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 borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

having its source in the

Rangrim Mountains The Rangnim Mountains are a mountain range stretching from north to south, west of the Kaema Highlands, in central North Korea. They are the source of several major rivers of North Korea, such as the Taedong and the Ch'ŏngch'ŏn. The moun ...

of Chagang Province and emptying into the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

at Sinanju. The river flows past Myohyang-san and through the city of Anju, South P'yŏngan Province. Its total length is , and it drains a basin of .

History

In 612, at the

Battle of Salsu The Battle of Salsu was a major battle that occurred in the year 612 during the second campaign of the Goguryeo–Sui War between Goguryeo of Korea and Sui of China. Goguryeo won an overwhelming victory over the numerically superior Sui force ...

(Salsu - the former name of the Cheongcheong River), the troops of the Korean kingdom of

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...

utterly defeated the Chinese army of the Sui Empire that had invaded Korea. In November–December 1950, in the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, detachments of the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) encompasses the combined military forces of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The KPA consists of five branches: the Korean People's Army Ground Force, Ground Force, the Ko ...

and Chinese volunteers won a major victory over the troops of the Americans and their allies during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

Important Bird Area

The river's estuary has been identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) because it supports significant numbers of the populations of various bird species. These include swan geese, bean geese,

whooper swan The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/ "hooper swan"; ''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genu ...

s, Oriental storks, black-faced spoonbills, Chinese egrets,

great bustard The great bustard (''Otis tarda'') is a bird in the bustard family, and the only living member of the genus ''Otis (bird), Otis''. It breeds in open grasslands and farmland from northern Morocco, South Europe, South and Central Europe to temperat ...

s, white-naped cranes, hooded cranes,

red-crowned crane The red-crowned crane (''Grus japonensis''), also called the Manchurian crane (; the Chinese character '丹' means 'red', '頂/顶' means 'crown (anatomy), crown' and '鶴/鹤' means 'crane'), is a large East Asian Crane (bird), crane among the ...

s, Far Eastern curlews and spotted greenshanks. The site includes the Mundok Nature Reserve.

Hydroelectric dams

North Korea is building 10 new hydroelectric dams on the Chongchon River to spur rapid development.

Incidents

*In 612,

massacred the Sui army at the Battle of Salsu (Ch'ongch'on) River in the Goguryeo-Sui Wars. *In late November 1950, in the

, the Chinese army decisively defeated the UNC forces at the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, ensuring the continued existence of

. * U.S. Army defector Joseph T. White was reported to have drowned in the Ch'ongch'on River, according to a letter dated 22 August 1985 which had been sent to his family.

References

External links