Originally a small fishing port, Chongjin has grown from a small village in the 1900s to a large city of nearly 630,000 inhabitants today, the third largest in the country. One of the main drivers of development in the area is often overlooked by official guides and descriptions: it was the Japanese who worked to expand Chongjin's economy by creating an industrial zone specializing in the ferrous metals sector, earning it the nickname "Iron City". Its geographical position also makes it a strategic location for maritime transport.On August 13, 1945, Soviet forces liberated the city from Japanese control (only two days before the end of the Second World War), and the city became Korean again. Once control of Pyongyang was restored, Chongjin was integrated into North Hamgyong Province, of which it is still part today (although between 1960 and 1967, and then 1977 and 1988, the city was placed under the direct control of the central government of Pyongyang). During the great famine that affected North Korea in the 1990s, the city was one of the most affected in the country with the loss of more than 20% of its population. The fall of the USSR, the main buyer of manufactured goods, also did not help the local economy.Going to Chongjin is not necessarily a good thing for the North Koreans... Indeed, three prisons are located on the city's territory: the first, Kwan-li-so No. 25 in the north, houses about 3,000 political prisoners. More than a prison, it is a real labour camp where prisoners manufacture bicycles and other manufactured products all day long. The second prison, Kyo-hwa-so No. 12, is a rehabilitation centre where those guilty of violating the regime, for example, are sent. Finally, the last centre is Nongpo, built during the Japanese occupation, and still in operation.The city is not of great tourist interest, but has once again become an important economic centre where locomotives and boats are manufactured, as well as chemicals, industrial rubber and machinery for coal mines. Chongjin has suffered for some years from the lack of raw materials following international sanctions, but this does not prevent it from being presented as a city of the future that breeds nearly a quarter of the country's exports. Proof of the hopes placed in this region, the presence of a Chinese consulate in charge of China-North Korea trade in particular. However, the high concentration of industries makes it one of the most polluted areas in the country.

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