17-580: The Donghae Bukbu Line is a former railway line that connected the present-day city of Anbyon in Kangwon Province, North Korea , with Yangyang , Gangwon Province, South Korea . Since the division of Korea it has only carried trains for a brief period during 2007/8. The line originally connected to the Gyeongwon Line running from Gyeongseong (present-day Seoul) to Wonsan . It began running in 1929 between Anbyon and Hupgok, and
34-459: A less urbanized area within a province or directly governed city. The more populous districts within provinces are cities ( si ; 시 ; 市 ). The city centers of the directly governed cities are organized into districts ( kuyŏk , equivalent to South Korean gu ). Rural parts of cities and counties are organized into villages ( ri , 리 ; 里 ). The downtown areas within cities are divided into neighborhoods ( dong , 동 ; 洞 ), and
51-686: A massive restructuring of local government. Previously, the country had used a multi-level system similar to that still used in South Korea . (The English translations are not official, but approximations. Names are romanized according to the McCune-Reischauer system as officially used in North Korea; the editor was also guided by the spellings used on the 2003 National Geographic map of Korea). The nine provinces ( to ; Korean : 도 ; Hanja : 道 ) derive from
68-542: Is the setting for many North Korean films . Thus it has been dubbed the Hollywood of North Korea. A chemical weapons storage facility is believed to be located in the county's Chiha-ri precinct. The facility is said to include numerous tunnels dug deep into the mountains, and may also host some biological weapons. The Kangwŏn and Kŭmgangsan Ch'ŏngnyŏn lines of the Korean State Railway pass through
85-543: The Anbyŏn Plain, rice-farming is the predominant industry. Orcharding also plays an important role. Tile manufacturing also takes place. There are local deposits of gold, silver, copper and zinc , but they are not widely exploited. In 2000, construction of the Anbyŏn Youth Power Station, a hydroelectric facility, was completed. The workers were honored with a personal communique from Kim Jong-il . Anbyŏn
102-729: The Donghae Bukbu Line, together with the Gyeongui Line in the west. An opened Donghae Bukbu Line would provide ready land access to the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region , which is open to South Korean tourists. After the completion of reconstruction on the 11.1 km (6.9 mi) cross-border section between Jejin in South Korea and Gamho in North Korea, the initial test run was set for May 25, 2006, but North Korean military authorities cancelled
119-676: The North, from Kaesŏng to Dorasan on the Gyeongui line (whose northern section is known as the P'yŏngbu line ). More than one million civilian visitors crossed the DMZ until the route was closed following the shooting death of a 53-year-old South Korean tourist in July 2008. After a joint investigation was rebuffed by the North, the Republic of Korea government suspended tours to the resort. Since then
136-536: The country to under 2 hours by 2020. The section from Gangneung to Sokcho forms a part of the plan as a line for 230 km/h (140 mph), and may see KTX service. Anbyon Anbyŏn is a kun , or county, in Kangwŏn province, North Korea . Originally included in South Hamgyŏng province, it was transferred to Kangwŏn province in a September 1946 reshuffling of local government. The southwest portion of
153-683: The county is bounded by the Masingryŏng (마식령산맥) and Taebaek mountains, which meet at the pass of Ch'ugaryŏng (추가령). The highest point is Paegamsan . Anbyŏn's major streams include the Namdaech'ŏn and the Hakch'ŏn . The Anbyŏn Plain is situated along the Namdaech'ŏn's course. The temperature is warmer in the north than in the south. Anbyŏn county is divided into 1 ŭp (town), 2 rodongjagu (workers' districts) and 28 ri (villages): In
170-544: The county, which is also served by road. Anbyŏn contains a 1000 ha site, Anbyŏn Field , that has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it is a wintering ground for red-crowned cranes . 39°01′48″N 127°30′00″E / 39.03000°N 127.50000°E / 39.03000; 127.50000 Administrative divisions of North Korea The administrative divisions of North Korea are organized into three hierarchical levels. These divisions were created in 2002. Many of
187-522: The development of collaborative ventures with South Korea and other countries. One of them, the Sinuiju Special Administrative Region , was intended to draw Chinese investment and enterprise, but as of 2006 appears never to have been implemented. The special administrative regions do not have any known second- and third-level subdivisions. The most common second-level division is the county ( kun ; 군 ; 郡 ),
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#1732787176433204-599: The end of the Yeongdong Line in Gangneung with Jejin by 110.2 km (68.5 mi) long, single-track, non-electrified line for 150 km/h (93 mph), effectively re-building the Donghae Bukbu Line on a new alignment. Three years later, the project re-surfaced as a domestic project. On September 1, 2010, the South Korean government announced a strategic plan to reduce travel times from Seoul to 95% of
221-522: The plans a day ahead of the scheduled event. On the South Korean side, Korail opened Jejin Station in 2006 and has maintained some rolling stock for a trial run. At a meeting held in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 22, 2007, North and South Korea agreed to restart the project. On May 17, 2007, the first train to cross the border between North and South Korea in over 50 years entered South Korea from
238-556: The resort, and the Donghae Bukbu Line, have effectively been closed by the North. During the efforts to re-open the cross-border section, the South Korean government has taken up the idea of a railway all along the east coast from Pohang to the North Korean border, with a primary aim to serve freight traffic that could eventually access the Trans-Siberian Railway . As part of the project, plans foresaw to connect
255-554: The traditional provinces of Korea , but have been further subdivided since the division of Korea . They are large areas including cities, rural and mountainous regions. The four special cities ( t'ŭkpyŏlsi ; 특별시 ; 特別市 ) are large metropolitan cities that have been separated from their former provinces to become first-level units. Four other cities have been directly governed in the past, but were subsequently reunited with their provinces or otherwise reorganized. The three special administrative regions were all created in 2002 for
272-447: The units have equivalents in the system of South Korea . At the highest level are nine provinces and four special municipalities. The second-level divisions are cities, counties, and districts. These are further subdivided into third-level entities: towns, dongs (neighborhoods), ris (villages), and workers' districts. The three-level administrative system used in North Korea was first inaugurated by Kim Il Sung in 1952, as part of
289-534: Was extended to Yangyang in 1937. Plans had called for it to be extended south to Pohang , where it would have connected with the Donghae Nambu Line . However, this extension was not completed before the fall of the Japanese regime in 1945, and since then the tracks have been idle. With increasing talk of peaceful Korean reunification beginning in the 1990s, there have been various efforts to reopen
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