Hŭngnam () is a district of

Hamhung Hamhŭng (''Hamhŭng-si''; ) is North Korea's List of cities in North Korea, second-most populous city, the capital of South Hamgyong, South Hamgyŏng Province and the 16th largest city in the Korea, Korean Peninsula. Located in the southern part ...

, the second largest city 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 ...

. It is a port city on the eastern coast on the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. It is only from the slightly inland city of Hamhung. In 2005 it became a ward of Hamhung.

History

The port at Hŭngnam was the site of the Hŭngnam evacuation, a major evacuation of both United Nations military and North Korean civilians 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 ...

in late December 1950. Approximately 100,000 troops and material and 100,000 civilians were loaded onto a variety of merchant ships and military transports totaling 193 shiploads over the weeks leading up to Christmas 1950, and were transported to safety in Pusan and other destinations in South Korea. The evacuation included 14,000 refugees who were transported on one ship, the SS ''Meredith Victory'' - the largest evacuation from land by a single ship. This was made possible by a declaration of national emergency by President Truman issued on 16 December 1950 with Presidential Proclamation No. 2914, 3 C.F.R. 99 (1953). This operation was the culmination of the

Battle of Chosin Reservoir The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Battle of Lake Changjin (), was an important battle in the Korean War. The name "Chosin" is derived from the Japanese pronunciation "''Chōshin'', instead of th ...

, in which the embattled UN troops fought their way out of a Chinese trap. In late 2005, Hŭngnam was demoted from Hŭngnam-si (Hŭngnam City) to Hŭngnam-kuyok (Hŭngnam District) within

-si.

Population

The population has been estimated at (variously) 200,000 or 450,000; the official North Korean population figure is 700,000 but this is disputed.

Economy

The city is home to the Hungnam Fertilizer Complex, which has allegedly also been used to manufacture chemical weapons. Other industrial facilities include the February 8 Vinylon Factory Complex which allegedly is producing

UDMH Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (abbreviated as UDMH; also known as 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, heptyl or Geptil) is a chemical compound with the formula H2NN(CH3)2 that is primarily used as a rocket propellant. At room temperature, UDMH is a colorle ...

fuel used for liquid fueled rocket and missiles. It is also home to Hungnam Chemical Engineering College.

Transport

Hungnam Station is on the

Pyongra Line The P'yŏngra Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea, running from Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang to Rason, where it connects with the Hambuk Line.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Te ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Administrative divisions

Hŭngnam is divided into 43 '' tong'' (neighbourhoods), 1 '' rodongjagu'' (workers' district) and 5 '' ri'' (villages):

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hungnam Cities in South Hamgyong