Wŏnsan

Wŏnsan
Korean alphabet :	원산 시
Chinese characters :	元山 市
Revised Romanization :	Wonsan-si
McCune-Reischauer :	Wŏnsan-si
Basic data
Province :	Kangwon-do
Coordinates :	39 ° 9 '  N , 127 ° 26'  E Coordinates: 39 ° 9 '  N , 127 ° 26'  E
Residents:	329,207  (as of January 1, 2005)
map
Wŏnsan Wonsan on the map of North Korea.

Wŏnsan is a port city in North Korea and the sixth largest city in the country with a population of 329,207. It is a transport hub, industrial city, cultural center with universities, colleges and technical schools, theaters and museums. Wonsan is the capital of Kangwon-do Province .

Geographical location

The city is located in North Korea on the east coast of the Sea of ​​Japan . The geographic coordinates are 39.16 degrees north and 127.43 degrees east.

history

Genzan at the time the city was part of the Japanese Empire

Korea was part of the Japanese Empire between 1910 and 1945 . Since Japanese was the national language at that time, the city name 元山 Japanese Genzan was read.

Mitsubishi A6M aircraft stationed in Genzan (photo from 1940/41)

During the Second World War it served as a base for the armed forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy .

Bomb hits Wonsan during the Korean War

In the Korean War (1950–1953) it was the scene of a landing operation and further fighting. She was badly damaged in the process. After the war, the city was developed into an industrial and transport center for the region.

Culture and sights

The city of Wŏnsan is a popular bathing resort for locals in North Korea and is one of the few areas where tourists can enjoy bathing as part of a regular stay, but in most cases only when accompanied by a tour guide.

In Wŏnsan, Kim Jong-un, as the supreme leader, maintains one of his 13 private resorts with an attached command center.

Double statue Kim Il Sung- Kim Jong Il

The actual bathing district is in the Songdowon district, where visitors can find botanical gardens, zoos, lotus ponds , open-air theaters and pavilions on a 500-hectare area . In the pine forests with the 700 year old trees there are holiday homes and sports fields for various leisure activities. In the nearby park you can take boat trips on an artificial lake.

In December 2013, a bronze double statue of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il corresponding to the Mansudae monument was inaugurated in Wonsan.

There are two large lakes around Wŏnsan:

• Tongjong Lake, 37 km from the city (area: 5 km²), was naturally separated from the sea by a large sand hill and is now used as a bathing lake.
• Sijung Lake (area: 3 km²), located 47 km south of the city in the direction of the Kŭmgang-san tourist region, is quite shallow at 3.5 m deep and, with its sanatorium on the shore, which specializes in mud packs, also serves as a place for spa stays.

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

Wŏnsan is located in an agricultural area. Mainly rice and soybeans are grown. Gold is mined in the vicinity of the city . At the end of the 19th century , Wŏnsan opened up to foreign trade. Fish, rice, soybeans, lumber and graphite are exported.

Department store in Wonsan

The city is home to a large oil refinery , vehicle and mechanical engineering companies, the food industry and a research center for marine products. The production of rice wine and the processing of fish are also important to Wŏnsan .

Wŏnsan has a military base.

traffic

Wŏnsan is a transport hub with roads, railways, ports and airports. In 1912, the railway connections to the capital Pyongyang and Shenyang in the Republic of China were established. On September 2, 1978, the Pyongyang-Vonsan expressway was put into operation.

The city's port is primarily used for shipping connections to Japan . It has extensive port facilities, some of which were also built for military purposes.

Domestic flights usually start from the airport, e.g. B. to Ch'ŏngjin Airport .

Climate table

Wŏnsan
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     15th   1 -8th     11   2 -7     22nd   7th -2     68   15th 5     59   21st 10     70   24 15th     281   27 20th     196   28 20th     84   24 15th     54   19th 8th     41   11 1     17th   4th -5 Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: wetterkontor.de

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Wŏnsan Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 1.0 2.4 7.4 15.4 20.7 23.9 26.8 27.5 23.7 18.7 10.7 3.6 O 15.2 Min. Temperature (° C) -8.1 -6.7 -1.6 4.8 10.1 15.0 19.5 20.2 14.7 8.2 1.4 -5.1 O 6.1 Precipitation ( mm ) 15th 11 22nd 68 59 70 281 196 84 54 41 17th Σ 918 Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 6.6 7.3 7.5 7.8 7.6 6.9 5.6 5.7 6.6 7.2 6.4 6.2 O 6.8 Humidity ( % ) 52 56 62 60 65 80 84 83 77 66 59 54 O 66.6 Source: wetterkontor.de

Web links

Commons : Wŏnsan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Rainer Dormels: Wonsan - provincial capital with tourist potential , 2014 (PDF; 1275 KB)
• Ju-min Park and James Pearson: In Kim Jong Un's summer retreat, fun meets guns - A REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT, Oct. 10, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} DER SPIEGEL: Kim Jong Un: Satellite photos point to side trips to Villa am Meer - DER SPIEGEL - Politics. Retrieved April 29, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il Erected in Wonsan ( Memento from December 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) , KCNA from December 22, 2013
3. ^ New Statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in Wonsan , video of the unveiling ceremony