Journal of Soviet Ambassador to the DPRK A.M. Puzanov for 15-16 September 1960

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USSR MFA stamp:   Copy Nº 3

FROM THE JOURNAL

OF A. M. PUZANOV

02153-gs

10 October 1960

30 September 1960

Nº 162

[handwritten in the left margin: "to G. Ye. Samsonov" and two other illegible names, one followed by "delo [file]] 035" and the other by "17 October 1960"]

JOURNAL

of Soviet Ambassador in the DPRK Cde. A. M. PUZANOV

from 12 through 30 September 1960

Pyongyang

[…]

15-16 September 1960

I visited and inspected the main structures of the Anju irrigation system together with Chief of the DPRK MFA 1^st Department and Embassy Third Secretary D. A. Priyemsky: the spillway on the Taedong River; the Yenpkhun [sic] Reservoir, and the water intake on the Chkhonchkhon [sic] River.

During the construction of the Anju irrigation system the Soviet Union and other socialist countries gave technical assistance and aid with construction materials and equipment. A group of Soviet specialists headed by engineer Belikov gave practical assistance right at the construction site. Eight 28-inch pumps, eight 415-hp electric motors each were delivered for the Kymson [sic] pumping station on the Chkhonchkhon [sic] River and other electrical and construction equipment.

The construction of the irrigation system was begun in the period of the Japanese occupation of Korea in 1919; when this was being done provision was made to irrigate an area of 12,000 jeongbo. However, the Japanese managed to perform only a part of the construction work, less than one-fifth.

After the liberation of Korea by the Soviet Army by decision of the DPRK government construction of the Anju irrigation system was continued in September 1948. The construction was about 40% done. Construction was stopped during the war. Some of what had been done remained intact.

In August 1954 the DPRK government decided to construct an irrigation system in two stages between 1954 and 1957. It was intended to irrigate about 30,000 jeongbo.

Construction of the irrigation system was finished ahead of schedule, on 22 May 1956, that is, in a very short period, one year and 10 months, thanks to the selfless labor of the manual laborers, officer workers, peasants, students and KNA soldiers, and also units of the Chinese People's Volunteers.

The waters of the Anju irrigation system are now used by 92 agricultural cooperatives, which unite 45,755 peasant households and irrigate more than 44,000 jeongbo of flooded and waterless fields of the districts of Anju, Mundok, Pkhenwon [sic], and Sukchkhon [sic], located in the Yel'tusamchkhonni [sic] Valley. Before the start of construction cultivated plots on the territory of the above districts was 66,500 jeongbo, including 38,400 jeongbo of rice fields, of which 70% did not have reliable irrigation. Thanks to the steady irrigation the rice yield will grow annually and this year an average of up to 4-4.5 tons per jeongbo will be collected instead of the 1.5-1.7 collected before the construction of the system.

An interesting technical solution of the construction of the Anju irrigation system stands out. The Taedong and Chkhonchkhon Rivers, between which lies Yel'tusamchkhonni Valley, serve as the water sources feeding this system. The unmanned water intake on the Taedong River, which lets 33 m³ of water a second through, is the head unit in the system. The waters of the Taedong River enter the Yenpkhun Reservoir from the water intake, passing by gravity through a four-kilometer tunnel.

This reservoir is described by the following dimensions: the area of the water level is 1,595 jeongbo; the height of the embankment is 33.5 km; the length of the embankment is 245 m; the width of the reservoir varies from 0.5 to 2.5 km, and the length is up to 10 km; the average width is 8-12 meters, and in individual spots, up to 20-25 meters. The usable volume of the reservoir is about 154,000,000 m³.

The water also goes from the Yenpkhun Reservoir into the main channel via gravity. In the event the water in the reservoir is insufficient and it cannot go into the main channel via gravity the necessary amount of water for irrigation is taken from the Chkhonchkhon River with the aid of the Kymson water-pumping station at which eight Soviet pumps have been installed capable of passing up to 10 tons of water a second from a height of up to 14.7 meters. The water goes directly into the main channel.

The Lipsok [sic] Agricultural Cooperative (the name of the village of Lipsok [sic] translates to "standing rock") of the Mundok District, South Pyongan Province.

Kang In-hak [sic], chairman of the board of the agricultural cooperative and a Hero of Labor, said the following. The agricultural cooperative was organized in September 1954 and counts 218 peasant households. After cooperation was concluded in 1958 all six agricultural cooperatives located on the territory of the ri were combined into one consolidated agricultural cooperative, which started to number 750 peasant households. The main direction in administration is field cultivation and the main crop is rice. There are 14 field cultivation, one animal husbandry, and one construction teams, and an agricultural machine repair team. Of the 1,115 jeongbo of cultivated land 837 jeongbo are watered rice fields, 244 jeongbo are unwatered fields in which corn, wheat, and vegetables are cultivated, and 34 jeongbo are an orchard. Last year the gross grain harvest was 3,800 tons, including 3,600 tons of rice. The average rice harvest per jeongbo reached 4.5 tons. This year it is proposed to gather up to 4,500 tons of grain, of which about 4,000 tons are rice with an average harvest of 4.9 tons per jeongbo.

The agricultural cooperative has 268 head of Korean cattle, 260 pigs, more than 3,000 barnyard fowl, and more than 800 rabbits.

Last year an average of 2,640 kg of grain and 120 won were given to each household; this year it is proposed to issue 2,400 kg of grain and 320 won. In 1959 4.3 kg of grain were issued per workday, and this year it is proposed to be five kilograms. Last year the agricultural cooperative handed over and sold the state 2,254 tons of grain.

The construction of new houses for their members is being done in the agricultural cooperative. A total of 90 have been built. The construction is being done by their own construction team. In the chairman's words, the cost of the construction of one home is 350 won.

Together with the chairman of the board of the agricultural cooperative, the chairmen from the district Party committee and the Ministry of Agriculture who were at a farm we inspected the rice fields and the animal husbandry farms. Feeding troughs with tethers for cows had been made in the cattle yard and there is a small suspended wagon for taking out the manure. The construction of three silage towers with a capacity of 50 tons of silage each is going quickly around the cattle yard. It is completely obvious that they are being built in connection with the proposed visit. The pig farm is small, a height of up to 1.5 meters, a brick structure with three walls, a sow in each section. The pigs are predominantly Korean. Part of the pigs were received from the Pyongyang state farm. The pigs are emaciated and make a poor impression.

[…]

SOVIET AMBASSADOR IN THE DPRK [signature] (A. Puzanov)

Five copies sent

1 - Cde. A. A. Gromyko

2 - Cde. Yu. V. Andropov

3 - Cde. V. I. Tugarinov

4 - UVPI MID SSSR

5 - to file

Nº 480, at

30 September 1960