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North Hamgyong Province

Province of North Korea

Summary

Province of North Korea

Field	Value
name	North Hamgyong Province
native_name	함경북도
native_name_lang	ko
settlement_type	Province
translit_lang1	Korean
translit_lang1_type	Chosŏn'gŭl
translit_lang1_info	함경북도
translit_lang1_type1	Hancha
translit_lang1_info1	{{linktext	咸	鏡	北	道	}}
translit_lang1_type2	McCune-Reischauer
translit_lang1_info2	Hamgyŏngbuk-to
translit_lang1_type3	Revised Romanization
translit_lang1_info3	Hamgyeongbuk-do
image_map	Hamgyongbuk-do in North Korea.svg
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	North Korea
subdivision_type1	Region
subdivision_name1	Kwanbuk
seat_type	Capital
seat	Chongjin
parts_type	Subdivisions
parts_style
parts	3 cities; 12 counties
leader_party	WPK
leader_title	Provincial Party Committee Chief Secretary
leader_name	Kim Young-hwan{{Cite web	title=권력기구도
location	Seoul	publisher=Political and Military Analysis Division, Intelligence and Analysis Bureau; Ministry of Unification	date=June 2025	access-date=19 October 2025	url=https://nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr/nkp/pge/ps/ps.do?menuId=PO009}}
leader_title2	People's Committee Chairman
leader_name2	Park Myeong-ho
area_total_km2	20,345
population_footnotes
population_total	2,327,362
population_as_of	2008
population_density_km2	auto
demographics1_footnotes	tags --
timezone	Pyongyang Time
utc_offset	+9
iso_code	KP-09
blank_name_sec1	Dialect
blank_info_sec1	Hamgyong, Yukjin

the [Administrative divisions of North Korea

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) to the north, South Hamgyong to the southwest and Ryanggang to the west. To the east is the Sea of Japan. The province is home to the Musudan-ri rocket launching site and the Hoeryong concentration camp. In 2004, Rason was reabsorbed back into the province and since 2010, Rason has been a special city of North Korea.

Economy

In critical studies of North Korea, North Hamgyong has a reputation as a neglected and underdeveloped region even by the country's standards. It was where the 1990s famine hit hardest, and food shortages persist even in the 2020s. The majority of North Korean defectors who live in South Korea came from the province after crossing the relatively shallow Tumen River into China. Therefore, the conditions of the province, which analyst Fyodor Tertitskiy has described as "not only a very grim, but also a very boring place," tend to be projected onto the whole country, even though they are not representative.

Administrative divisions

North Hamgyong is divided into three cities (si) and 12 counties (kun). These are further divided into villages (ri) in rural areas and dong (neighborhoods) in cities. Some cities are also divided into wards known as "kuyŏk", which are administered just below the city level.

Cities

Chongjin (Capital) 청진시/清
Hoeryong 회령시/會
Kimchaek 김책시/金

Counties

Hwadae County 화대군/花
Kilju County 길주군/吉
Kyonghung County 경흥군/慶
Kyongsong County 경성군/鏡
Kyongwon County 경원군/慶
Musan County 무산군/茂
Myongchon County 명천군/明
Myonggan County 명간군/明
Onsong County 온성군/穩
Orang County 어랑군/漁
Puryong County 부령군/富
Yonsa County 연사군/延

In popular culture

Cha Ki-seong (played by Kim Joo-hyuk), the main antagonist of the 2017 South Korean action comedy film Confidential Assignment is revealed to be a native of Hoeryong, one of the main cities of North Hamgyong Province.
One of the main characters of Netflix's South Korean thriller series Squid Game, Kang Sae-byeok (played by Jung Ho-yeon) is a North Korean defector who is originally from North Hamgyong Province and lived there before defecting with her younger brother Kang Cheol to South Korea.

References

"D P R Korea - 2008 Population Census National Report".
[https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-hamgyong-province-convenes-meeting-to-address-food-shortages/ "North Hamgyong Province convenes meeting to address food shortages"] ''Daily NK''
Tertitskiy, Fyodor. (8 July 2016). "The flaws and biases in North Korean studies". NK News.
"북한지역정보넷".
(October 14, 2021). "Jung Ho-yeon of 'Squid Game' on dark twists in series, light mood on set".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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