Ryongchon County
Ryongch'ŏn County is a county in North P'yŏngan Province, North Korea, located at the mouth of the Yalu River near the Chinese border. The county seat is Ryongch'ŏn-ŭp, about 20 kilometers from China. The area covers 217 square kilometers and had about 135,600 people in 2008, with a population density of roughly 625 people per square kilometer. The county is divided into 1 ŭp (town), 3 rodongjagu (workers' districts), and 19 ri (villages).
The P'yŏngŭi railway line, which runs between China and Pyongyang, passes through Ryongch'ŏn and serves several stations, including Ryongch'ŏn-ŭp. It is the busiest railway line in North Korea, linking Sinŭiju on the border to Dandong, China.
On 22 April 2004, a major disaster occurred when a flammable cargo exploded at the town's railway station, causing many deaths and extensive damage.
In February 2011, there were rare protests in the area, with a few dozen people calling for more rice and electricity, inspired in part by news about the Arab Spring.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 04:01 (CET).