Other Names: Ch’ŏngsu Chemical Factory (靑水化學工場)
Location: Ch’ŏngsu-nodongjagu (靑水勞動者區), Sakchu-kun (朔州郡), North P’yǒng’an Province (平安北道), North Korea. [Note: Ch’ongsu-nodongjagu is located next to Lake Su’p’ung (水豊湖), which flows into the Yalu/Amnok River (鴨綠江).]
Subordinate to: 5th Machine Industry Bureau (第5機械産業總局), Second Economic Committee (第2經濟委員會) for chemical weapons production; and the Ministry of Chemical Industry (化學工業省) for civilian production
Size: Approximately 500,000 square meters
Primary Function: Production of large quantities of calcium carbide and smaller amounts of phosphate fertilizer and calcium cyanamide; alleged production of CW agents, including riot-control agents (e.g., CN) and choking agents (e.g., phosgene)
Description: Construction of the Ch’ongsu Chemical Factory was completed in the early 1950s. In 1954, Dr. Lee Sŭng Ki directed the early stages of a pilot process to produce vinalon, a synthetic fabric, with a daily output of 20kg. However, in 1958, the Korean Workers Party adopted Cabinet Decision No. 122, “On Promoting Construction of a Vinalon and Vinyl Chloride Plant,” and large-scale production of vinalon, approaching 20,000 tons annually, was established at the February 8th Vinalon Complex in Hamhŭng, South Hamgyŏng Province.
 |
| Korean Central News Agency photograph published in the Rodong Sinmun, 13 November 1994, p. 1, and in the Minju Chosun, 26 October 1994. The caption reads, “Pushing ahead with phosphate fertilizer production at the Ch’ongsu Chemical Factory.” |
 |
| |
Updated April 2003 |
|
Key Sources:
Various North Korean media reports in “DPRK’s Ch’ongsu Chemical Factory, Suspect CW Site, Profiled,” 22 November 2000, FBIS Document ID: KPP20001122000099; Osamu Eya, Kimu Jon Iru Daizukan (Tokyo: Shogakkan, 2000), pp. 64-65, in “Alleged Locations of DPRK Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Warfare Facilities Mapped,” 6 June 2001, FBIS Document ID: KPP20010606000075; Inoue Tadao, Boei Gijutsu Janaru, December 1999, in “Ch’ongsu Chemical Factory Alleged CW Site,” 11 January 2000, FBIS Document ID: FTS20000111000855; Yi Chae-sung, “Pukhan Kwahag’ŭi Isanggwa Hyŏnshil,” Chapter Three in Pukhan’ŭl Umjiginŭn Technocrat (Seoul: Ilbit, August 1998), pp. 123-174, in “Chemical Engineering, Experts Described,” 23 December 1999, FBIS Document ID: FTS19991223001168.
