Location: Main office is located in Man'gyŏngdae-kuyŏk (萬景臺區域), Pyongyang, North Korea; factory is located in Hamhŭng (咸興市), South Hamgyŏng Province (咸鏡南道), North Korea

Telephone: (main office) 850-2-381-4256

Fax: (main office) 850-2-381-6124

Subordinate to: The firm is a joint venture company of the International Trading Corporation of Japan and the Korea Yong'aksan General Trading Company of North Korea. The Korea Yong'aksan General Trading Company is subordinate to the Second Economic Committee (第2經濟委員會), National Defense Commission (國防委員會)

Size: At one time, the firm employed about 600 workers. In late 2002, the factory had nearly 100 technicians. The company reportedly has the capacity to process about 1,500 tons of monazite and extract about 400 tons of rare earth metals and oxides annually.

Primary Function: Milling; refining rare earth products from monazite and exporting them to China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Spain

Description: In 1988, the International Trading Corporation of Japan and Korea Yong'aksan General Trading Company invested $20 million to establish the International Chemical Joint Venture Corporation. The joint venture firm was created to refine rare earth products from monazite and export them to Japan. The plant was designed with technology from China's Shanghai Yue Long Chemical Plant, and construction was completed in Hamhŭng in April 1990. The plant began operations in April 1991. According to Bermudez, monazite is mined at the Ch'ŏlsan Uranium Mine in Ch'ŏlsan-kun (鐵山郡), North P'yŏng'an Province, and then transported to the Korea International Chemical Joint Venture Company in Hamhŭng for processing. The Segye Ilbo reported in 1999 that the Korea International Chemical Joint Venture Company had been the largest joint venture company in North Korea, but that it had ceased operations in 1997. However, the Korean Central News Agency reported in November 2002 that the firm was still operating.

	Updated April 2003

Key Sources:
Kim Yŏng Shik, ?Puk Choch?ongryŏn?giŏp Taebubun Choŏp Chungdan Sangt?ae,? Segye Ilbo, 11 March 1999, p. 22, in KINDS, <http://www.kinds.or.kr>; Ch?oe Ŭi Sŏk, ?Ilbukhan Kigansan?ŏp Hapchakto Ch?ujin/ Ch?ŏlgangjŏn?gi Tŭng?e Chipchungt?uja,? Segye Ilbo, 11 February 1990, p. 2, in KINDS, <http://www.kinds.or.kr>; Ha Sŭng Pŏm, ?Pukhan?ŭi Kiŏp List,? Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, June 2002, <http://www.kotra.or.kr>; Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr, ?Exposing North Korea's Nuclear Infrastructure?Part One,? Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 February 1999, p. 38; ?International Chemical Corporation,? Korean Central News Agency, 18 November 2002, <http://www.kcna.co.jp>; Kukchehwahakhab?yŏnghoesa Hŭit?oryujep?um Saengsan, Kukcheshijangdŭl?edo Ch?ulp?um,? Korean Central News Agency, 18 November 2002, <http://www.kcna.co.jp>.