Location: About 2.5km northeast of Changhun 2 Dong (將勛2洞), Man'gyŏngdae-kuyŏk (萬景臺區域), Pyongyang (平壤市), North Korea

Subordinate to: Third Machine Industry Bureau (第3機械工業局), which is also known as the "Third General Bureau" (第3總局) and as the "Electronic Automation Bureau" (電子自動化總局), Second Economic Committee (第2經濟委員會), National Defense Commission (國防委員會)

Size: According to North Korean defector Kim Myŏng Ch'ŏl, there were plans to move the facility to an underground location by 1999. The new location is about 2.5km northeast of the previous facility in Changhun 2 Dong , Man'gyŏngdae-kuyŏk, Pyongyang. The size of the new facility is about 208,0002 meters, and it is about 150m below ground, which is composed of basalt (玄武巖). There were about 3,000 people employed at the previous facility in Changhun 2 Dong.

Primary Function: Production of sighting mirrors and laser pointers for guided weapons

Description: According to North Korean defector Kim Myŏng Ch'ŏl, the Man'gyŏngdae Jewel Processing Factory was located above ground in Changhun 2 Dong, Man'gyŏngdae-kuyŏk, Pyongyang until the time of his defection in 1993. However, Kim says there were plans to move all facilities to an underground location by 1999. All items produced at this factory are shipped as components to other weapons plants, including missile factories. As of January 1993, the factory was divided into eight work sections or workshops (職場):

Workshop 1--Assembly (組立)

Workshop 2--Optics (光學)

Workshop 3--Processing (加工)

Workshop 4--Hydrogen (水素)

Workshop 5--Electronics (電子)

Workshop 6--Casting (鑄物)

Workshop 7--"Transcription" or "Copying and Etching" (轉寫)

Workshop 8--Shipping and Receiving (運輸)

The factory has three shifts and operates 24 hours a day. In 1993, the factory was managed by Shin T'ae Gyun (신태균). Kim Myŏng Ch'ŏl says he traveled to the Russian far east three times to procure integrated circuits (ICs) for use in the factory. The factory also obtained Japanese ICs from the pro-North Korean General Federation of Korean Residents in Japan (Choch'ongnyŏn). Kim knows this information from looking at packing lists and invoices; however, he does not know how the orders were sent to Japan. Kim says the ICs he obtained in Russia were used in the production of rockets, tanks, and submarines, but that this information was not revealed to the Russian supplier. Kim says National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong Il became very interested in precision-guided munitions after the Gulf War, and that Kim Jong Il allocated $500,000 in foreign exchange to develop laser-guided weapons. Kim Myŏng Ch'ŏl also visited the shipping departments of the "Pyongyang Pig Factory" (No. 125 Factory) and the "T'aep'yŏngyang Rocket Factory," which received components from the Man'gyŏngdae Jewel Processing Factory. Kim also claims that this plant manufactures a secret so called "No. 5 weapon," but he does not know what the weapon is.

	Updated April 2003

Key Sources:
Interview with North Korean defector Kim Myŏng Ch'ŏl by Daniel A. Pinkston, senior research associate, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, 14 December 2001, Seoul; Kim Kwang In, "'Twaejigongjang' Sŏn Missile Saengsan," Chosun Ilbo, 11 February 2001, <http://www.chosun.com/ >; "'Pyongyang Pig Factory' Produces Missiles," Chosun Ilbo, 12 February 2001, <http://www.chosun.com/>; Chŏng Ki Hae, "Kyŏngje'nan'ŭi Bburi/Min'gan'gyŏngje Kalg'a'mŏngnŭn Kunsusan'ŏp (A! Bungnyŏk'dongp'o: 23)," Joongang Ilbo, 30 March 1995, p. 8, in KINDS, <http://www.kinds.or.kr/>.