New book documents lives of North Koreans through frontier train stations

Kang Dong-wan, a political science professor at Dong-A University, released a new book documenting the lives of North Korean residents in areas near the northern border of the country.

“Whenever I saw a northern village, there was always a train station, and the station was named after that village,” says an except from his new book, “700-ri Along the Yalu River: North Korean Train Stations and People” (translated), which illustrates his motivation for collecting materials documenting the lives of North Korean residents in areas near the North Korea-China and North Korea-Russia borders.

The book captures the scenery along the North Inland Line railway, which runs parallel to the Yalu River on the North Korean side of the border.

Since 2008, the author has spent 18 years conducting field research in the border regions of China and Russia — places where one can still catch distant glimpses of North Korean civilians. He has focused his studies on the daily lives and culture of North Koreans.

In particular, the North Inland Line, which spans 240 kilometers (149 miles) from Manpo in Chagang to Hyesan in Ryanggang Province, is described by the author as “a textbook through which one can observe the geography around the Yalu River and glimpse the lives of North Korean residents.”

His initial interest in the small train stations of North Korea — like those in the old song “Next to the Track” — stemmed from curiosity about place names.

“Whenever I saw a northern village, there was always a train station,” said Kang. “I realized the station name was always the name of the village. That’s when I started following the Yalu River in search of train stations.”

While traveling the 700-ri (175-mile) stretch of the Yalu River and capturing the landscapes of these northern train stations, his only clue was a single-page map of the North Korean railway network.

The North Inland Line winds through the rugged terrain of the Gaema Plateau and skirts the Yalu River. It is also known as the “Manpo-Hyesan Chongnyon Line.”

When he failed to find a station marked on the map, the only solution was to turn back and retrace his path. The book chronicles this grueling and uncertain journey.

Kang is currently the head of the nonprofit organization U-Korea. His major works include “Kim Jong-un’s Music Politics: The Moranbong Band, Speaking of Kim Jong-un” (translated, 2014), “Mother’s Mother: Lives and Human Rights of North Korean Defector Women Met in China” (translated, 2018) and “Life in the Prison State: Uncovering North Korea’s Human Rights Violations through Photographs” (2024).

BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO  [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]