Other Names: Aoji Chemical Factory (阿吾地化學工場)
Location: Near a lignite coal mine in Haksong-ri (鶴松里), Ŭndŏk-kun (恩德郡), North Hamgyŏng Province (咸鏡北道), North Korea. [Note: Aoji-ri (阿吾地里) is the old name for Haksong-ri (鶴松里).]
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: About 3,500 employees, of which about 20% is technicians or engineers; lignite coal processing capacity of 600,000 tons per year
Primary Function: Production of methanol, ammonia, ammonium bicarbonate, coal tar derivatives, liquid fuel products; reported production of unspecified blood agents and vomiting agents
Description: First built in 1937, this facility produces about 51 different products, including methane (35,000 tons per year), ammonia (26,000 tons per year), ammonium bicarbonate (100,000 tons per year ), and coal tar derivatives (15,000 tons per year). Kim Wŏn Pong, director of the "Northeast Asia Research Institute" (北東亞問題硏究所) in Japan, and Eya Osamu, a Japanese journalist, have linked the Aoji-ri Chemical Complex with CW agent production. However, there is no strong evidence in the open source literature to corroborate claims of CW production at the Aoji-ri Chemical Complex. None of the known chemicals used or produced at the facility are direct precursors for CW agents.
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Updated April 2003 |
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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; Osamu Eya, Kimu Jon Iru Daizukan (Tokyo: Shogakkan, 2000), pp. 64-65; 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; Kim Yong Yun, Pukhan, December 1998, pp. 132-143, in "North Korean Chemical Industry," FBIS Document ID: FTS19981230001322; Chang Chun Ik, Pukhan Haek-Missile Chŏnjaeng (Seoul: Sŏmundang, 1999), pp. 360-364; North Korea Information Bank, "Aojihwahakkongjang," Hyundai Research Institute, 2000, <http://www.nk-infobank.com/ >; Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr., The Armed Forces of North Korea (New York: I. B. Tauris Publishers, 2001), p. 225.
