PULP, SHIPBUILDING AND CHEMICAL FIRMS IN NORTHWEST KOREA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R014300660003-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 21, 2003
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: October 20, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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FEB 1952 3L-+A
25X1
INFORMATION REPORT REPORT NO.
CD NO.
COUNTRY Korea
SUBJECT Pulp, Shipbuilding, and Chemical Firms in
Northwest Korea
DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE
ACQUIRED
25X1
OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 18, SECTIONS 793
AND 794, OF THE U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE-
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
PROHIBITED BY LAW. THE REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
25X1
DATE DISTR. 20 October 1952
NO. OF PAGES 4
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO. 25X1
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Yalu River Pulp Factory
1.. In May 1952, the Yalu River Pulp Factory at XE-181395, in Sinuiju, occupied
the buildings which housed the Kanegafuchi Spinning Company before 1945. The
pulp factory was under the control of the Heavy Industry Ministry of the North
Korean government.
The managing director of the factory was KIM To-nak, a Labor Party member, aged
42, and a native of North Py6ngan Province. The factory employed 750 men,
including 39 technicians, 166 office workers, and 545 laborers. These workers
lived in factory-owned houses or in dormitories within the plant compound. The
factory was in operation 24 hours a day, with the employees working two 12-
hour shifts, Twelve guards, armed with rifles, were assigned to duty at the
factory. The guards also worked two 12-hour shifts.
In addition to the main factory building and the warehouse, there were eight
smaller buildings which were used for pulp production. The factory compound,
which was across the road from the plant buildings, contained 150 houses. The
building used by the transportation section was at the river front, close to
the spot where a 25-ton and a 12-ton power boat were docked.
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Raw materials used at the factory included reeds, caustic soda, and sulphur.
The reeds were collected by the Reed Collecting Guild, at XE-1+24, and brought
to the plant in the 25-ton power boat, The Sup'ung (121+-57, 1+0-27) (XE-6579)
Power Plant was supplying 32,000 volts of electricity to the pulp factory,l
In May 1952, the factory was producing 605 tons of rough paper, 150 tons of
cardboard, and 180 tons of blotting paper monthly. The cardboard and blotting
paper were being shipped to the North Korean army and to medical manufacturing
companies in North Korea,
Sinuiju Maritime Enterprise Firm
6. In January 1952, the Sinuiju Maritime Enterprise Company was placed under the
direct control of the Marine Department of the North Korean cabinet. Formerly
it had been controlled by the Ministry of Transportation..
7. In June 1952, the firm's main buildings were at XE-187399, in an area covering
300 square meters, and included the following structures:
a. Offices, in a red brick building 40 meters long, 10 meters wide, and 5,5
meters high. The roof was of Japanese tile. There were six office rooms,
occupied by the managing director, the deputy director, the industrial
security bureau., the Labor Party bureau, the labor union, and the
accounting and supply section.
b, Lumber shop and rope mill, in a zinc-roofed cement building 20 meters long,
6 meters wide, and 5 meters high.
Lumber and rope warehouse, in a zinc-roofed wooden building of the same
size as the mill and close to the mill.
d. Machine shop, in a dug-out 40 meters long and 15 meters wide, extending 2
meters below ground level and 1 meter above ground. The dug-out's roof
was .9 meters thick and was covered with logs, earth and zinc.
e. Foundry, constructed like the machine show
f. Lecture room, in a one-story zinc-roofed cement building 40 meters long
and 15 meters wide. This room accommodated 1,200 people and was used for
propaganda lectures.
Shipbuilding plant, i.n,a compound 100 meters long and 70 meters wide.
8. In addition to the main buildings, a warehouse belonging to the firm was at
XE-188)+0l. This building had a Japanese tile roof, was made of cement, and
measured 150 meters long, 20 meters wide, and 8 meters high. Newsprint,
automobile accessories for the North Korean army, and salt were stored there.
One room was used as a supply room and office by the National Sinuiju Match
Mill,
The shipbuilding section of the firm was planning to complete the following
work schedule by the end of 1952: build two 60-ton sailboats and one 25-ton
motor boat with a 60-horsepower engine; complete construction on two additional
boats by October; overhaul 8 ships and repair
10
ships. By
20 June
1952, the
repair work on three boats and the overhauling
Work on the two sailboats had not begun.
of
one boat
had been
completed.
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10. In June 1952, employees of the shipbuilding section were working in four
units of ten. men each. One of these units was made up of model workers who
were members of the Dempcratic Youth Alliance.
11. Vessels owned by the firm included the following' 7 motor boats; 15 sixty-ton
barges; 7 thirty-ton flat barges; and 12 fifteen-ton lighters. In 1951 the
firm's boat; were transporting automobile accessories, silk, high quality
liquor, paper, grain, and a number of other commodities from Dairen and Antung
to North Korea. In September 1951, however, intensive sea attacks by United
Nations units forced the Dairen line to discontinue operations. The firm's
ships continued to bring in salt and grain from Ch'olsang-ni (124-39, 40-13)
(XE-4053), Yongamp'o (124-22, 39-56) (XE-1721), and Namsi.-dong (approximately
124-40, 39-58) (XE-3516). In June 1952, the following boats were anchoring
in front of the firm's warehouse at XE-187402; most were still in operations
a. YAI.GCB'10N-H0, a 50-horsepower_passenger boat with a crew of five and a
normal capacity of 80 people. However, it usually carried 120 passengers.
Its route was between Yongamp'o, Sinuiju, and Huangts'aop'ing (approxi-
mately 124-17, 39-57) (XE-11+23).
b. MY6.NGSONG_H0, a 50-horsepower tugboat with a crew of five. This boat's
engine was considered the best owned by the firm, but in June 1952 the
engine was removed and taken to Pyongyang by order of the Marine Depart-
ment of the North Korean cabinet. This form planned to replace the
engine with one taken from a dairl9.ged boat' in the vicinity of the Sup'ung
Dam.
SONGBAE.-HQ, a 25-ton transport with a 25-horsepower engine, carrying a
crew of five, This boat was plying between Yongamp'o and Antung.
d. KWA.N0UN.-H09 a 60-horsepower rugboat with a crew of five, plying between
Yongamp'o, Antung, and Sinuiju
e. An unidentified passenger boat with a crew of five. On 1 July 1952 this
boat began operating between S:Inu:iju, Sakohu (125-03, 40-23) (XE-7472),
and Suplung.
fU An unidentified passenger boat with a crew of five In June 1952 this
boat was out of commission.
g. An unidentified 25-ton transport with a 30-horsepower engine, carrying
a crew of five.
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12. The buildings of the firm were near gas tanks and military installations of
'the North Korean army and of Soviet troops. The whole area was closely guarded
by North Korean soldiers. The Nbrth Korean army controlled the issuance of
passes to company workers,
13. Two Chinese Communist motor boats, the 'AEYANG-HO and an unidentified boat,
patrolled. the coast line in the area of Sinuiju. The TAEYANG-HO had a speed
of 12 miles per hour, and the other boat a speed of 8 miles per hour. All
vessels leaving Sinuiju had to have clearance papers issued by the maritime
section of the Department of Internal Affairs, North Pyongan Province. Night
sailing was strictly prohibited. No particular syBtem of signals was being
used. Boats anchored near Si.nu.iju were under orders to flee to the Manchurian
side of the river in the event that the emergency siren was sounded or 1
minute.
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14. The managing director of the Sinuiju Maritime Enterprise Company was KIM T'ae-
song, aged 45, and a member of the Labor Party, The names of some of the
section chiefs were as follows. CHANG Yu-kun, Planning Section; CHANG Yong-
sun, Administrative Section; KIM Song-gong, Materiel Section; HO Hun,
Transportation Section; PY?SN Sung-kyu, Production Section; and KIM Kyong-t'ae,
chairman of the Labor Party branch in the company.
15. The company employed 47 clerical workers and 266 laborers. The average
worker's salary was 1,000 North Korean won a month, and the daily food ration
varied from 300 to 800 grams, half wheat flour and half millet, the amount of
the ration depending on the type of work done, In April 1952, wheat flour
replaced rice in the daily ration.2 Prior to March 1952, a reduction of 30
percent in the food ration was put into effect. On 15 March ninety workers
went on a protest strike. They were promptly arrested by the Industrial
Security Bureau, but were released after a reprimand. Their former food
ration was restored. In March each worker received 3 meters of Soviet-manu-
factured cloth for a suit. At the same time the firm's employees were given
second-hand clothing donated by the people of Rumania and Czechoslovakia. Most
of the workers were unmarried and lived in dormitories.
Ch'ongsu-ri Chemical Factory
16. On 23 June, there was a chemical factory operating in the Ch'ongru-ri
(124-53, 40?-28) (XE-6081) area. The factory was at XE-688746, about 5 1/2
kilometers northwest of the Sakchu railroad station (125-04, 40-19) (XE-7665).
17. The buildings of the factory included a 5-story main building made of brick,
six workshop buildings, two 30-foot concrete chimneys, and two furnaces. The
large buildings were camouflaged with paint and the small ones with grass and
trees.
18.. The factory was producing carbite, graphite, carbon, and tungsten for shipment
to Russia by way of Antung. Limestone was obtained from a mine near the
factory.
19. Shipments from the factory were being made twice a month by train. Carbite
was taken to Antung where it was packed in drums. Carbon was packed in paper
bags for shipment.
20. There were approximately 2,000 people of both sexes employed at the factory,
which was managed by 50 Soviet advisers. A technical training center for
improving the technical skill of the plant employees had been established.
21. The factory compound area was closely guarded by police. Anti-aircraft gun
positions were believed to have been installed in the surrounding hills.
25X1 2.omment. The substitution of wheat flour for rice could have taken
pace because of flour suppli enelv8d om Russia and Communist China
in April and May, as reported 25X1
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