Chongchon

English

Etymology

From Korean 청천강(清川江) (Cheongcheon'gang).

Pronunciation

• enPR: chǔngʹchǔnʹ

Proper noun

Chongchon

1. A river in North Korea.
   • 1988 November 11, David K. Carlisle, “Black Veterans: Justice Overdue”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-06, Opinion, page 31‎^[3]:

     In the fierce fighting, B Company, which was under strength, was reduced to 34 soldiers. Among the survivors holding a hilltop adjacent to the Chongchon River was a defiant black, an enlisted man, who wielded a Browning automatic rifle and was destined that night to earn a Silver Star.

   • 2003 July 8, Robert Burns, “N. Korea OKs Talks on U.S. Servicemen”, in AP News‎^[4], archived from the original on 2023-08-06‎^[5]:

     The U.S. search for remains has focused on former battlefields in the vicinity of the Chongchon River, north of Pyongyang, and in the Chosin Reservoir area, scene of some of the most savage fighting of the war in late November and early December 1950.

   • 2013 July 3, Catalina Camia, “For Rep. Rangel, Kunu-ri battle was his 'last bad day'”, in USA Today‎^[6], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-07-07, News‎^[7]:

     He was 20 years old in late 1950 when Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander of the United Nations' forces in South Korea, launched the "Home by Christmas" offensive. The goal was to evict Chinese forces from the country and end the Korean War.
     The Chinese had other ideas, launching a counteroffensive that left the entire 8th Army — including Rangel's beloved 2nd Infantry Division — encircled at Kunu-ri, located near the Chongchon River by the Chinese border.

   • 2018 March 16, “N. Korea to join Ramsar Convention in May”, in Yonhap News Agency‎^[8], archived from the original on 2023-08-07, All News‎^[9]:

     The Mundok Reserve, which lies at the mouth of Chongchon River on North Korea's west coast, is an important habitat for such endangered migratory birds as the red-crowned crane, hooded crane and swan goose.

   • 2018 September 10, Phil Stewart, “First two U.S. troops from North Korean remains identified”, in Paul Tait, David Stamp, editors, Reuters‎^[10], archived from the original on 2023-08-06, WORLD NEWS‎^[11]:

     The remains of both servicemembers came from the same 1950 battlegrounds near the Chongchon River in what is present-day North Korea. U.S. troops suffered heavy casualties there against Chinese forces that had intervened in the war.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Chongchon.

Synonyms

• (from Japanese) Seisen
• (from Mandarin Chinese) Qingchuan
• (obsolete) Ching-chong

Translations

river

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 清川江 (Qīngchuānjiāng)

• Korean: 청천강 (cheongcheon'gang)

Further reading

• Chongchon at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.
• Saul B. Cohen, editor (2008), “Chongchon River”, in The Columbia Gazetteer of the World‎^[12], 2nd edition, volume 1, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 791, column 3