P'yŏngch'ŏn-guyŏk (Phyongchon District) is one of the 18 guyŏk (political districts or wards) of P'yŏngyang, North Korea. It is bordered by the Taedong River in the south and the Pothonggang Canal in the north and Potong River in the west, and to the east by Chung-guyŏk, from which it is separated by the yard area of P'yŏngyang railway station.
History
The name of the district, passed down from the former Pyongchon-myon, means a flat area, which water flows through.
It was newly established as a guyŏk in October 1960 by the P'yŏngyang City People's Committee through a mandate of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.
In 1963, a part of Pyongchon-dong was separated to form Haeun-dong, a part of Kansong-dong was separated to form Ryukkyo-dong and parts of Puksong-dong and Pongji-dong were split off to form Pongnam-dong and Ansan-dong.
In 1967, Ryukkyo-dong was divided into two administrative dong and a part of Pyongchon-dong was separated to create Saemaul-dong.
In 1972, Pyongchon-dong and Saemaul-dong were both divided into two administrative dong.
In 1989, Puksong-dong and Haeun-dong were both divided into two administrative dong.
2014 building collapse
On 13 May 2014, a 23-story building under construction in Ansan 1-dong 'collapsed', with the following cleanup apparently lasting at most 4 days. According to tourist photos taken from Juche Tower, the building vanished between photos taken around midday on May 13 and 9:35 on May 14, confirming the report made by Rodong Sinmun, while on 13 May, a NGO was approached to provide temporary shelter. Prior to collapse, photos of the building taken in April and May reveal the building had only slightly changed, potentially indicating that the building had been abandoned. When the building collapsed, it did not damage nearby buildings, revealing it had likely collapsed vertically downwards, which according to experts interviewed by NK News, is potentially indicative of a demolition of the apparently abandoned building.
South Korean sources speculated that the collapse was carried in the news to be in a demonstration of the care of the government, in contrast to the Sewol disaster. While NK News initially claimed that the government was left with no choice but to reveal the accident due to foreigners knowing, the accident was not known until state media reported it and the move is likely to be an overall shift in state media to report negative events to show the government as more accountable of issues. In the aftermath, Kim Jong Un visited injured soldiers at Taesongsan Hospital, possibly construction workers from the collapse.
An unverified claim by defector suggested that the building was might have been over the height for the area and that the concrete mixture used was suboptimal. It was further alleged that water was leaking into the basement while 'rocks were protruding and piercing through the concrete', and that some factory managers siphon material for personal gain, leading to decreases in product quality. According to Associated Press interviews, the accident happened was because 'they broke the rules and methods of construction'. In the Kyongje Yongu journal, it stated that 'Technical regulations and construction methods are disregarded when projects are rushed to be finished by their completion date, which is often decided in advance to coincide with a holiday or anniversary', and to advance self-sustainability, substandard materials are used.
Administrative divisions
P'yŏngch'ŏn-guyŏk is divided into 17 administrative districts known as dong.
Economy
Electricity generation
It is probably best known as the location of the P'yŏngyang Thermal Power Plant, in Saemaŭl-dong, which is the electricity and heating source for P'yŏngyang's central neighbourhoods and the surrounding region. The plant has a design capacity of 700 MW and an estimated capacity of 500 MW, although in statistics released in 2009, it generated around 227 MW. Sanctions have restricted the amount of fossil fuel available, although they have also developed alternate forms of energy. The plant was built in 1960 with Soviet assistance, although in 1960, due to above average rainfall, there was sufficient electricity generated by the dams on the Yalu River but that was dependent on rainfall and thus sometimes unreliable.