Nampo

Nampo (North Korean official spelling: Nampho; nam.pho), also spelled Namp'o, is the second largest city by population and an important seaport in North Korea, which lies on the northern shore of the Taedong River, 15 km east of the river's mouth. Formerly known as Chinnamp'o, it was a provincial-level "Directly Governed City" ("Chikhalsi") from 1980 to 2004, and was designated a "Special City" ("T'ŭkpyŏlsi", 특별시; 特別市) in 2010. Nampo is approximately 50 km southwest of Pyongyang, at the mouth of the Taedong River. Since North Korean independence, the city has developed a wide range of industry and has seen significant recent redevelopment. The city belonged to Gojoseon until the Three Kingdoms era, when it was taken by Goguryeo. During this time, the city was part of Sogyong (now Pyongyang) until the Goryeo dynasty, when in the aftermath of the Myocheong rebellion, Sogyong was split into six counties, of which currently constitute Nampo are Kangso-hyon, Ryonggang-hyon and Samhwa-hyon. In the late Goryeo period, the area was named Chungnampo for the village of Pogu, located to the south of Chungsan County. After the establishment of Joseon dynsasty, the area belonged to Pyongan Province. In 1871, the General Sherman incident occurred when an American ship attempted to sail on the Taedong to Pyongyang to engage the Joseon dynasty with trade, but was declined. According to North Korean history, Kim Il Sung's grandfather raised the alarm on the foreign ship and led the attack on it. The name of the city comes from the fishing village that was originally located in the Samhwa-hyon area of South Pyongan Province. The city was renamed to Chinnampo during the Japanese occupation of Korea, by adding the character '鎭' as during the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese landed in Nampo and defeated the Qing dynasty forces. The name was immediately reverted to Nampo after liberation to be rid of colonial legacies. The city was founded in 1950 and contained 27 ri. Various rearrangements occurred in 1952 and by 1960, there were 15 dong and 8 ri.