Amnok River
The Amnok River (in Korean, Amnokkgang), known in Chinese as the Yalu River, is the longest river in Korea and is one of two rivers that form the border between North Korea and China. (The name Yalu is supposedly derived from the green color of the ducks' heads, which match the green colored river waters.) It begins on the slopes of Mount Paektu and flows southwest in a deeply entrenched course for 790 kilometers until it passes through an industrial area to its mouth at two cities on the East China Sea (Yellow Sea)—Sinuiju, North Korea, and Dandong, China. In its middle reaches it is up to 160 meters wide, although the flow varies from season to season. It has a drainage basin of 38,700 square kilometers, half of which is in the Chinese provinces of Jilin (Kirin) and Liaoning. In the early1900s, the Amnok was navigable for 672 kilometers by 1,000-ton ships, but due to sedimentation, only 500-ton ships can navigate the river at present.
The Amnok River has been the tentative northwest border of Korea since the end of the fourteenth century. Under King Sejong of Korea (reigned 1419–1450) four outposts were created along the upper Amnok River, making the river the de facto northern border. In 1875 it became the legal international border. During the Korean War (1950–1953), the Chinese army crossed the Yalu River to fight the United Nations forces.
The Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945) built a series of dams along the Yalu River in order to harvest hydroelectric power for Korea and Manchukuo. The Yalu River remains an important source of hydroelectric power for both North Korea and China.
Further Reading
Korean Overseas Information Service. (1993) A Handbook of Korea. Seoul: Korean Overseas Information Service.
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