Pyongyang (Korean: 평양) is the capital and largest city of North Korea. According to the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about 109 kilometers (68 miles) upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Pyongyang is a directly administered city (직할시; 直轄市; chikhalsi) with a status equal to that of the North Korean provinces.
Pyongyang is one of the oldest cities in Korea. According to legend, it was founded in 1122 BC on the site of the capital of the legendary king Tan'gun. It was the capital of two ancient Korean kingdoms, Gojoseon and Goguryeo, and served as the secondary capital of Goryeo. Following the establishment of North Korea in 1948, Pyongyang became its de facto capital. The city was again devastated during the Korean War, but was quickly rebuilt after the war with Soviet assistance. The city was declared to be the official capital with the 1972 Constitution. Under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, there has been a construction boom in the city.
Pyongyang is the political, industrial and transport center of North Korea. It is estimated that 99% of those living in Pyongyang are members, candidate members, or dependents of members of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). It is home to North Korea's major government institutions, as well as the WPK which has its headquarters in the Government Complex No. 1.
Names
The name "Pyongyang" derives from the Sino-Korean words 平 (flat) and 壤 (land). It is the McCune–Reischauer romanisation of the Korean term '평양', which translates to 'flat land', reflecting the smooth terrain of the city. In native Korean, the city was called "Buruna" (부루나) or less commonly "Barana" (바라나) which, using the idu system, was the pronunciation of the Chinese characters of "Pyongyang". "Buru" (부루) means "field" whereas "na" (나) means "land", therefore the meaning of Pyongyang in native Korean would be "Land of the field".
The city's other historic names include Ryugyong, Kisong, Hwangsong, Rakrang, Sŏgyong, Sodo, Hogyong, Changan, and Heijō (during Japanese rule in Korea). There are several variants. During the early 20th century, Pyongyang came to be known among missionaries as being the "Jerusalem of the East", due to its historical status as a stronghold of Christianity, namely Protestantism, especially during the Pyongyang Revival of 1907.
In North Korean news, media, and publications, Pyongyang is occasionally labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (혁명의 수도).
After Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, some members of Kim Jong Il's faction proposed changing the name of Pyongyang to "Kim Il Sung City" (Korean: 김일성시; Hanja: 金日成市), but others suggested that North Korea should begin calling Seoul "Kim Il Sung City" instead and grant Pyongyang the moniker "Kim Jong Il City". In the end, neither proposal was implemented.
History
Prehistory
In 1955, archaeologists excavated evidence of prehistoric dwellings in a large ancient village in the Pyongyang area, called Kŭmtan-ni, dating to the Jeulmun and Mumun pottery periods. North Koreans associate Pyongyang with the mythological city of "Asadal", or Wanggeom-seong, the first capital of Gojoseon ("Old Joseon") in the second millennium BC, according to Korean historiographies beginning with the 13th-century Samguk yusa.
Historians deny this claim because earlier Chinese historiographical works such as the Guanzi, Classic of Mountains and Seas, Records of the Grand Historian, and Records of the Three Kingdoms, mention a much later "Joseon". The connection between the two therefore may have been asserted by North Korea for the use of propaganda. Nevertheless, Pyongyang became a major city in old Joseon.
Historical period
According to legend, Pyongyang was founded in 1122 BC on the site of the capital of the legendary king Tan'gun. Wanggeom-seong, which was located in the same place as modern-day Pyongyang, served as the capital of Gojoseon from 194 to 108 BC. It fell in the Han conquest of Gojoseon in 108 BC. Emperor Wu of Han ordered four commanderies be set up, with Lelang Commandery in the center and its capital established as "Joseon" (朝鮮縣, 조선현) at the location of Pyongyang. Several archaeological findings in the Pyongyang area dated to the later Eastern Han (20–220 AD) period seem to suggest that Han forces later launched brief incursions nearby.
The area around the city was called Nanglang during the early Three Kingdoms period. As the capital of Nanglang (낙랑국; 樂浪國), Pyongyang remained an important commercial and cultural outpost after the Lelang Commandery was destroyed by an expanding Goguryeo in 313.
Goguryeo moved its capital there in 427. According to Christopher I. Beckwith, Pyongyang is the Sino-Korean reading of the name they gave it in the Goguryeo language: *Piarna, or "level land". He also writes that the Goguryeo term *Piarna has never been documented, but has been reconstructed based on the individual terms for flat and land in the language.
In 668, Pyongyang became the capital of the Protectorate General to Pacify the East established by the Tang dynasty of China. By 676, it was conquered by Silla, but was left on the border between Silla and Balhae. Pyongyang was left abandoned during the Later Silla period, until it was recovered by Wang Geon and decreed as the Western Capital of Goryeo.
During the Imjin War, Pyongyang was captured by the Japanese, who held the city wall until they were defeated in the Siege of Pyongyang. Later in the 17th century, it was temporarily occupied during the Qing invasion of Joseon until peace arrangements were made between Korea and Qing China. While the invasions made Koreans suspicious of foreigners, the influence of Christianity began to grow after the country opened itself up to foreigners in the 16th century. Pyongyang became the base of Christian expansion in Korea. By 1880 it had more than 100 churches and more Protestant missionaries than any other Asian city, and was called "the Jerusalem of the East".
In 1890, the city had 40,000 inhabitants. It was the site of the Battle of Pyongyang during the First Sino-Japanese War, which led to the destruction and depopulation of much of the city. It was the provincial capital of South Pyongan Province beginning in 1896. During the Japanese colonial rule, Japan tried to develop the city as an industrial center, but faced the March First Movement in 1919 and severe anti-Japanese socialist movements in 1920s due to economic exploitation. It was called Heijō (composed of the same Chinese characters 平壤, but read as へいじょう) in Japanese.
In July 1931, the city experienced anti-Chinese riots as a result of the Wanpaoshan Incident and the sensationalized media reports about it which appeared in Imperial Japanese and Korean newspapers. By 1938, Pyongyang had a population of 235,000.
After 1945
On 25 August 1945, the Soviet 25th Army entered Pyongyang and it became the temporary capital of the Provisional People's Committee of North Korea. A People's Committee was already established there, led by veteran Christian nationalist Cho Man-sik. Pyongyang became the de facto capital of North Korea upon its establishment in 1948. At the time, the Pyongyang government aimed to recapture Korea's official capital, Seoul. Pyongyang was again severely damaged in the Korean War, during which it was briefly occupied by South Korean forces from 19 October to 6 December 1950. The city saw many refugees evacuate when advancing Chinese forces pushed southward towards Pyongyang. UN forces oversaw the evacuation of refugees as they retreated from Pyongyang in December 1950. In 1952, it was the target of the largest aerial raid of the entire war, involving 1,400 UN aircraft.
Already during the war, plans were made to reconstruct the city. The plans for the modern city of Pyongyang were first displayed for public viewing in a theatre building. On 27 July 1953 – the day the armistice between North Korea and South Korea was signed – The Pyongyang Review wrote: "While streets were in flames, an exhibition showing the general plan of restoration of Pyongyang was held at the Moranbong Underground Theater", the air raid shelter of the government under Moranbong. "On the way of victory... fireworks which streamed high into the night sky of the capital in a gun salute briefly illuminated the construction plan of the city which would rise soon with a new look". After the war, the city was quickly rebuilt with assistance from the Soviet Union, and many buildings were built in the style of Stalinist architecture. Kim Jung-hee, one of the founding members of the Korean Architects Alliance, who had studied architecture in prewar Japan, was appointed by Kim Il Sung to design the city's master plan. Moscow Architectural Institute designed the "Pyongyang City Reconstruction and Construction Comprehensive Plan" in 1951, and it was officially adopted in 1953. The transformation into a modern, propaganda-designed city featuring Stalinist architecture with Korean arrangement (and other modernist architecture said to have been greatly influenced by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer) began. The 1972 Constitution officially declared Pyongyang the capital. During Kim Il Sung's 1956 diplomatic tour of the USSR, he was heavily inspired by Proto-Krushchyovka mass housing concepts introduced to him, which were urgently replicated in the fast-expanding region south of the Taedong. Soviet architectural influence re-emerged in the 1980s; the newly-built Kwangbok and Tongil Street apartments were of near-identical design to Brezhnevka.
The funeral of Kim Il Sung was held in Pyongyang in 1994. On 19 July, it concluded with a procession in which his corpse moved through the streets in a hearse as people cried out in hysteria.
In 2001, North Korean authorities began a long-term modernisation programme. The Ministry of Capital City Construction Development was included in the Cabinet that year. In 2006, Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law Jang Song Thaek took charge of the ministry.
Throughout the rule of Kim Jong Un, a number of residential projects were constructed. In 2012, a residential project with 2,784 units was inaugurated on Changjon Street in the heart of Pyongyang. In 2013 and 2014, residential projects dedicated to scientists were completed on Unha Scientists Street and Wisong Scientists Street, with more than 1,000 units each, while in 2015 work took place on a residential project on Mirae Scientists Street with 2,584 units. In 2017, in dedication to the 105th birthday of the founder and first leader, Kim Il Sung, 4,804 units were built in the new Ryomyong Street complex.
Other recent public building projects include the Mansudae People's Theatre opened in 2012, the Munsu Water Park opened in 2013, and the renovated and expanded Sunan International Airport and Pyongyang Sci-Tech Complex, both completed in 2015, the Samjiyon Orchestra Theater, which was fitted out of the domed Korean People's Army Circus built in 1964, and the Pyongyang General Hospital, of which construction started in 2020. Additional redevelopment projects occurred in the area around the Arch of Triumph where the Pyongyang People's Hospital no. 1 was demolished. Apartment blocks in the area of Inhŭng-dong, in Moranbong District and in the area of Sinwon-dong in Potonggang District were demolished in 2018–2019 for the construction of new apartment buildings. Also in 2018, the Youth Park Open-Air Theatre on Sungri Street, used to host political rallies, was rebuilt.
In 2021, Kim Jong Un during the 8th Congress of the WPK set forth a major 5 year plan for the construction of 50,000 new flats, with 10,000 flats to be completed each year. The first phase of construction began in March 2021 with Songhwa Street in Songhwa and Songsin areas of Sadong District in the eastern part of the city which included the 80 story Songhwa Street Main Tower. It also saw the construction of the Pothong Riverside Terraced Residential District located at the city center on land previously used by the headquarters of the International Taekwon-Do Federation. Kim Jong Un ordered that the residential district be renamed "Kyongru-dong" meaning "beautiful bead terrace". From the 50s to the 70s the area was the location of the residence of Kim Il Sung and was known as "Mansion No. 5". In 2022, construction shifted into the Hwasong area of Hwasong District in the northwest of the city, where 40,000 flats would be built in 4 years to create a model district. Construction of Hwasong Street with 10,000 flats serves as the first stage out of four stages of construction in the district. In April 2023, the first stage of the Hwasong area was completed, and stage two the Hwasong area was launched on the former land of the Pyongyang Vegetable Science Institute. This stage also saw construction of new high-rises in Sopho area of Hyongjesan District. In addition, a complex of greenhouse farms and housing was initiated on the former territory of Kangdong Airfield, which was demolished in 2019.