Location: Anju (安州市), South P'yŏng'an Province (平安南道), North Korea. [Note: This chemical complex is located in an area known as the "Ch'ŏngch'ŏngang/Anju-Kong'ŏpjigu 'industrial district' (淸川江/ 安州工業地區)." "Kong'ŏpjigu" means "industrial district," but it is not a formal administrative unit in North Korea. In this case, its use is analogous to "Silicon Valley" in California. The Ch'ŏngch'ŏngang-Kongŏpjigu district, known as the center of North Korea's chemical industry, is spread over Kaech'ŏn and Anju, South P'yŏng'an Province, and over Pakch'ŏn-kun, which is adjacent to both Kaech'ŏn and Anju but in North P'yŏng'an Province.]

Telephone number: Pyongyang office: +850-2-622-4226

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: Annual chemical production capacity of approximately 550,000 tons (combined), including 400,000 tons of urea; anticipated (2001) production capacity of 20,000 tons per year for synthetic fibers (e.g., Orlon) and resins

Primary Function: Production of major civilian chemical products including ammonia, ethylene, fertilizers, fibers, and paper; possible production of blood agents (e.g., cyanogen chloride) and blister agents (e.g., mustard)

Description: Constructed in 1976, this facility was originally built with French, Japanese, and (West) German equipment. As of 1998, it was the only petrochemical plant in North Korea capable of processing seven different hydrocarbon products, including naphtha and ethylene. Naphtha is brought in from the Sŭngni and Ponghwa chemical factories. New equipment has been brought in (2000) to produce sodium carbonate, and plans in 2001 called for the manufacture of Orlon, polyethylene, propylene resins at a capacity of 20,000 tons per year. The Namhŭng Youth Complex has a French-built polyethylene production facility that uses intermediates of propylene and butane. There is also equipment imported from Japan that is used to produce ethylene, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. This facility obtains its electricity from the Ch'ŏngch'ŏn River Thermoelectric Power Plant, which is about 4km away. Considering the ethylene oxide production capacity, it is plausible that blister agents (such as mustard) or their immediate precursors could be produced here. Otherwise, it is difficult to discern the clear relationship between this plant and ongoing CW activity in North Korea. The 16th Nuclear Chemical Defense Battalion under the Nuclear Chemical Defense Bureau is reportedly billeted here and in reserve status.

Outside view of the Namhŭng Youth Chemical Complex (from Foreign Trade of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, January 1994)

Another exterior view (Korea Today, March 1995)

Refinery columns, Namhŭng Youth Chemical Complex (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, March 1993)

Photograph is described in the North Korean media as "gas compressors in the pyrolysis shop," Namhŭng Youth Chemical Complex (Foreign Trade of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, January 1994)

Production of urea (Korea Today, March 1995)

Process control room for (presumably) urea production (Korea Today, March 1995)

Photograph is captioned "Urea Fertilizers are Mass Produced," Namhŭng Youth Chemical Complex (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, March 1993)

	Updated April 2003

Key Sources:
FBIS Report, "DPRK Namhung Youth Chemical Complex, Suspect CW Site, Profiled," 8 June 2001, in FBIS Document KPP20010608000129; Ki Yong Sam, "Namhung Youth Chemical Complex," Korea Today, in English, August 1999, p. 24, transcribed in FBIS Document FTS19990910001303; Kim Yong-chun, Kook Pang Ilbo, 3 December 1999, p. 3, in "Has North Korea Chosen Chemical and Germ War Instead of Nuclear War?" FBIS Document ID: FTS19991212000879; Kim Yong Yun, Pukhan, December 1998, pp. 132-143, in "North Korean Chemical Industry," FBIS Document ID: FTS19981230001322; Osamu Eya, Kimu Jon Iru Daizukan (Tokyo: Shogakkan, 2000), p. 65; 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; North Korea Information Bank, "Namhŭngch'ŏngnyŏnyonhapkiŏpso," Hyundai Research Institute, 2000, <http://www.nk-infobank.com>; Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, "Pukhanŭi Sŏg'yuhwahakkong'ŏp," 2000, <http://www.kotra.or.kr>; Han Chong Ho, "A Sodium-Carbonate Pilot Plant Built," P'yongyang Times, in English, 18 November 2000, p. 3, in FBIS Document KPP20001228000099.