North Korea is reportedly gearing up to
relocate the Kim Chaek Air Force Academy in Chongjin City, North Hamkyung
Province, stirring up speculation that preparations to open the city up for
economic development may be underway. Chongjin enumerated among the cities included
in Pyongyang’s list of 13 special economic zones for
development back in November 2013.
“Rumors about Chongjin opening up have been
ongoing, but now it looks like those plans will materialize this fall,” a source based in North Hamkyung Province told the Daily NK on
January 14th. “The Chongjin development project has been
picking up speed ever since Choe Ryong Hae returned from his trip to Russia as
Kim Jong Eun’s special envoy.”
Operations at the Chongjin Special Economic
Zone will revolve mainly around developing metals, machinery and electronics,
and manufacturing for exports using Chongjin Port, which along with Rajin Port, is already utilized by China to ship coal and other goods in northeastern
China to southern regions or other countries.
According to the source, preparations are already underway to move Kimchaek
Air Force Academy in downtown Chongjin to Kusong City in North Pyongan
Province. “When
the move is complete, Rajin University of Marine Transport and Hoeryong
University of Education will take over the campus,” he explained.
Kim Chaek Air Academy is a four-year
university located in Sunam District and outputs hundreds of aviation control,
administration and air force officers each year. Kim Il Sung visited the
university numerous times during his life, while Kim
Jong Il made a famous visit to the institution in the early 2000s, with his wife, Ko
Yong Hui, and current leader Kim Jong Eun.
These Kim family visits make the state’s decision to relocate the facilities rather atypical by North Korean standards. “Considering it has the honor of being a
permanent “historic landmark”
with all leaders across three generations conducting ‘field guidance’ there, it
is highly unusual for the academy to be moved,” the
source said, going on to speculate the decision to relocate such an expansive facility–surely a burdensome undertaking–is to minimize the interference a burgeoning development zone would cause while trying to educate soldiers.
“Now that the third year of mourning [for
Kim Jong Il] is over and the Kim Jong Eun era has truly commenced, it’s a time to reap in economic results,” the
source asserted. “Rather than exposing military facilities
to outside investors, the move seems to be in order to show investors a more
proactive image aimed at opening up.”
Rajin University of Marine Transport and
Kim Jong Suk University of Education are both said to have completed arrangements to move this coming April, prior to which winter training and frigid temperatures would make things too difficult, according to the source. He expects the transition to run fairly smoothly once underway–after all, Kim Chaek
Air Force Academy’s sprawling campus features a
plethora of buildings, ensuring no issues in accommodating two new
schools, he pointed out.
Located in the city of Rasun, North
Hamkyung Province, Rajin University of Marine Transport was founded in 1968, and
is known to be a specialized school aiming to foster engineers and business
experts in the field of marine transport.
