Sonbong

Infobox Korean settlement
context=north
hangul=선봉군
hanja=linktext|先|鋒|郡
rr=Seonbong-gun
mr=Sŏnbong-gun
divs=1 "p", 2 workers' districts, 10 "ri"

Sonbong, formerly called Unggi, is a subdivision of the North Korean city of Rason. It is located at the northeastern extreme of North Korea, bordering Russia and China. It lies on Unggi Bay, an extension of the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea). A uranium mine is allegedly located there, as is a 200 megawatt oil-fired power plant.ref|power1 The word Sonbong means "Vanguard" in Korean.

Transportation

Sonbong is North Korea's rail link to Russia. A rail bridge crosses the Tumen River between the border rail stations of Tumangang Workers' District, Sonbong, and Khasan, Russia. This connection lies on one of two proposed paths for linking South Korea by rail to the Trans-Siberian Railroad and the rest of Eurasia, the other being through Sinuiju. The rail link through Sonbong is lightly used, carrying only 10,000 passengers in 2005.ref|blagov

Sonbong is one terminus of the Hambuk Line railroad. It is also served by roads.

Notes

# cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/unggi.htm|title=Unggi/Sonbong-gun|work=GlobalSecurity.org|accessdate=2006-01-24
# cite web
last = Blagov
first = Sergei
datepublished = September 11, 2006
url = http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2371433
title = Russia, China, Japan and South Korea to launch new sea route linking China and Japan
publisher = The Jamestown Foundation
accessdate = 2006-11-15

ee also

*List of cities in North Korea
*Geography of North Korea

External links

* [http://www.tumenprogramme.org/tumen/region/rason Tumen River Area Development Program profile of the area]