Kimch'aek (), formerly Sŏngjin (

Chosŏn'gŭl The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

: 성진,

Hancha Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: 城津), is a city in North Hamgyong 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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. It was an open port in 1899. It has a population of 207,699.

Etymology

The city received its current name in 1951 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 honor 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 ...

(KPA) general,

Kim Chaek Kim Chaek (, 14 August 1903 – 31 January 1951) was a North Korean revolutionary, military general, and politician. His birth name was Kim Hong-gye (). Life 200px, left, Choe Yong-gon, Kim Chaek, Kim Il, and PPSh-41.html" ;"title="Kang K ...

. It was known as Jōshin during Japanese rule between 1910 and 1945.

Climate

Kimchaek has a hot-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Dfb'').

Administrative divisions

Kimch'aek-si is divided into 22 '' tong'' (neighbourhoods) and 22 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

Kimchaek is an important port 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 ...

(East Sea of Korea), and is home to an

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

and the Kimch’aek Polytechnic Institute.

Transport

Kimchaek 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 ...

. The city has one trolleybus line, with a length of 9.1 km, running from Songnam-dong to Haksong-dong with the depot located in Sinpyong-dong.

Sport

Wolmido Sports Club, affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of North Korea, play at the Kimchaek Municipal Stadium, which has a capacity of 30,000. The men's team plays in the DPR Korea Premier Football League, whilst the women's team plays in the DPR Korea Women's League.

Notes

References

External links

City profile of Kimchaek
Cities in North Hamgyong Port cities and towns in North Korea {{NorthKorea-geo-stub