Location: Hŭngnam (興南市), South Hamgyŏng Province (咸鏡南道), North Korea. [Note: In 1960, Hŭngnam was redistricted as a "kuyok" (區域) or "district" within Hamhung. In 2001, Hŭngnam district was elevated to the level of "city."]

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: Total area of 1.4 million square meters, more than 10,000 workers and more than 1,500 engineers, and a combined production capacity of 1.4 million tons (mostly chemical fertilizers). [Note: The time period for the production capacity is unclearit could be one year, or an unspecified planning period.]

Primary Function: Production of civilian chemicals including ammonium sulfate (400,000 tons), ammonium nitrate (350,000 tons), phosphate (400,000 tons), and urea (180,000 tons); reported production of CW agents, namely choking agents (e.g., phosgene) and riot control agents (e.g., CN) [Note: The time period for the production capacity is unclearit could be one year, or an unspecific planning period]

Description: This facility was first established in 1930 during the Japanese colonial period. None of the known chemical products at the Hŭngnam Chemical Fertilizer Complex is directly related to known CW agent manufacture. A significant amount of ammonium nitrate production is reportedly diverted to the manufacture of explosives at Explosives Factory No. 17, an underground site in Yonghŭng-nodongjagu (用興勞動者區), Chŏngp'yong-kun (定平郡), South Hamgyŏng Province.

	Updated April 2003

Key Sources:
Kim Wŏn Pong, Kitachosenjimingun no zenbo, (Tokyo: Ariadone Kikaku, 1996), p. 127; Kim Won-pong, Kitachosen jinmingun no zensho [sic] (Tokyo: Ariadone Kikaku, 1996), p. 127, in "DPRK Factories Suspected of Producing Chemical Agents," FBIS Document ID: KPP20010216000106; Kim Yong Yun, Pukhan, December 1998, pp. 132-143, in "North Korean Chemical Industry," FBIS Document ID: FTS19981230001322; Lee Chae Sŭng, "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; North Korea Information Bank, "Hŭngnamhwahakpiryŏ'gongjang," Hyundai Research Institute, 2000, <http://www.nk-infobank.com/>.