Ŭnsan County is a kun (county) in South P'yŏngan province, North Korea.Road map of Korea, North and South, published December 2010 by Freytag and Berndt, Vienna, Austria,
Name The name Unsan is proposed to have been derived from either the Chinese character 银 or 隐, both read as "un" in Korean, referring to the possibility of silver being mined in a mine located in Sinchang, or 'hidden', as the area is surrounded by mountains, such as Hwasan. However, in historical records, only the word 殷 has been recorded as a name.
History Hungdok-gun, the predecessor to the current administrative division, was formed in the early Goguryeo period from Sunchon-gun. This later became Unju in 983 and subsequently Unsan-hyon in 1278. In 1414, after the establishment of the Joseon, it was briefly absorbed into Chasan-gun, then reestablished in 1415. In 1895, the myon was reorganised into a gun and subsequently was changed into a hyon in 1896. It was again absorbed into Sunchon-gun in 1907 and reestablished in 1952.
In 1954, the original Unsan-up and Suwon-ri were merged and renamed to Sinchang-ri, while parts of Jinsan-ri and Sonam-ri became the new Unsan-up.
In 1974, several dongs were promoted to rodongjagu amongst a large scale reorganisation of districts, with some districts joining Sunchon.
In 1994, Sinpyong-ri was transferred to Pukchang County.
By the 1990s, Kubong-rodongjagu had been developed into a large mining town, with over 4600 residences and various services, such as hospitals, culture halls and schools.Korean Central News Agency (12 June 1993). "무궤도전차와 통근려객렬차가 달린다". Minju Choson (in Korean)
Administrative divisions Ŭnsan county is divided into 1 ŭp (town), 5 rodongjagu (workers' districts) and 16 ri (villages):
Ŭnsan-ŭp (은산읍) Chaedong-rodongjagu (재동로동자구) Ch'ŏnsŏng-rodongjagu (천성로동자구) Haksal-lodongjagu (학산로동자구) Kubong-rodongjagu (구봉로동자구) Sŏngsal-lodongjagu (성산로동자구) Chehyŏl-li (제현리) Mang'il-li (망일리) Mirjŏl-li (밀전리) Nam'ong-ri (남옥리) Namwŏl-li (남원리) Sinch'ang-ri (신창리) Sudŏng-ri (수덕리) Sunghwa-ri (숭화리) Suwŏl-li (수원리) Suyang-ri (수양리) Taeyang-ri (대양리) Tongsam-ri (동삼리) Yonghwa-ri (용화리) Yŏnham-ri (연합리) Yudong-ri (유동리) Yujŏng-ri (유정리)
Transportation Ŭnsan County is served by the P'yŏngra and Ŭnsan lines of the Korean State Railway.
A trolleybuses existed in Kubong-rodongjagu, serving the Ryongdae Mine. This line had a stated length of 10-ri with 4 stops, connecting the workers' district to the entrance 2nd pit of Ryongdae Mine. Services run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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