Chongjin: North Korea’s “City of Iron”

Chongjin is North Korea’s third-largest city and capital of North Hamgyong Province.  The city is best known as the locus of steel production in the DPRK, having been established as an industrial centre by the Japanese during the 1930s (hence the nick-name the Iron City).

Chongjin was reportedly one of the areas worst affected by malnutrition during the Arduous March period in the mid-1990s.  The city has since recovered from the low-point of the famine and is now experiencing a development renaissance of sorts.  Visitors to the Chongjin Exhibition Hall are shown a scale model development plan for the city’s downtown promenade.  Construction of new buildings in this precinct is already underway, as some of the photos below illustrate.

I spent an afternoon in Chongjin during my trip to North Korea’s North Hamgyong Province in July 2013.  This photo gallery documents my visit…

Scale model of Chongjin’s downtown development plan, on display in the Chongjin Exhibition Hall.

New development on western side of Chongjin’s main promenade.

Looking southwest across Chongjin’s main promenade.

New development along Chongjin’s main promenade.

Chongjin electrified trolley bus.

Unha-3 mural inside Chongjin Steelworks Kindergarten.

Kim Il Sung study room in Chongjin Steelworks Kindergarten.

Bicycles outside Chongjin Steelworks Kindergarten.

Entrance to Chongjin Steelworks Kindergarten.

Chongjin’s Revolutionary History Museum, as seen across Pohang Square.

Inmin Daehakseup Dang (Grand People’s Study House).

Reading Rodong Sinmun in the Chongjin Grand People’s Study House.

Old-school library catalogue system.

English language scientific and technical books donated by foreign donors to Chongjin Grand People’s Study House.

Social science book collection in Chongjin Grand People’s Study House.

Reading room in Chongjin Grand People’s Study House.

PDF article collection on intranet in Chongjin Grand People’s Study House.

Computer terminals in Chongjin Grand People’s Study House.

The Samjiyon, North Korea’s indigenously produced smart tablet.

Apartment balconies in downtown Chongjin.

Sidewalk propaganda mural.

Chongjin’s Pohang Square, featuring statue of Kim Il Sung, Grand People’s Study House and Chongjin Exhibition Hall.

Apartment buildings in Chongjin.

Pedestrians walking adjacent to Pohang Square in Chongjin.

A Chongjin streetscape.

Apartments in downtown Chongjin.

Chongjin Revolutionary History Museum. Contains several preserved “revolutionary trees”.

Bronze statue of Kim Il Sung in Pohang Square.

See Also:

NK News photo gallery: Chongjin and Environs.

Yonhap News Agency – “N. Korea, China agree on joint use of Chongjin Port: report”.