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Ch'ŏngsu Chemical Complex

Other Name: 청수화학연합기업소; Ch'ŏngsu Chemical Factory (청수화학공장)
Location: Ch'ŏngsu-nodongjagu (청수노동자구), Sakchu-kun (삭주군), North P'yǒng'an Province (평안북도), North Korea
Subordinate To: 5th Machine Industry Bureau (제5기계사업총국), Second Economic Committee (제2경제위원회) for chemical weapons production; Ministry of Chemical Industry (화학공업성) for civilian production
Size: Approximately 500,000 square meters
Facility Status: Unknown

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.

Sources:
[1] Various North Korean media reports in "DPRK's Ch'ongsu Chemical Factory, Suspect CW Site, Profiled," 22 November 2000, FBIS Document ID: KPP20001122000099;
[2] 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;
[3] Inoue Tadao, Boei Gijutsu Janaru, December 1999, in "Ch'ongsu Chemical Factory Alleged CW Site," 11 January 2000, FBIS Document ID: FTS20000111000855;
[4] 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.

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This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, or agents. Copyright © 2011 by MIIS.

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