Taean Friendship Glass Factory

The Taean Friendship Glass Factory, located in Taean-guyŏk, Namp'o, North Korea, is a factory producing plate glass and other glass products.^[1]

The factory, completed in 2005 with funding from the Chinese government,^[1] has a floor area of 158,000 m² (1,700,000 sq ft) on a total area of 293,000 m² (3,150,000 sq ft), and has both a pier and a railway connection.^[2] Most raw materials, such as sand, feldspar, sodium carbonate and dolomite, arrive by ship via the factory's pier from nearby sources.^[1] The rail spur from the Taean freight station located on the Korean State Railway's Taean Line,^[3] enters the factory itself, and plate glass is loaded into railcars indoors.^[1] Electricity powering the plant is supplied by the P'yŏngyang Thermal Power Plant.^[2]

According to North Korean media, along with Taean Heavy Machine Complex, Chollima Steel Complex and Kumsong Tractor Factory, the factory is a member of the "four brother factories(네형제공장,Nehyongjegongjang)" and is reported to engage in "Socialist competitions" between the companies that are held every year in the country.^[4]

The Namp'o Glass Bottle Factory (남포유리병공장, Namp'o Yuribyŏng Kongjang), a subsidiary of the Taean Friendship Glass Factory, is a factory producing bottles and glassware in Namp'o, North Korea. The factory was originally located immediately adjacent to Sinnamp'o railway station, but this had been abandoned by 1971.^[5] In 2002 the decision was made to reopen the factory, and in 2010 the new plant was opened,^[5] located on a site near the Namp'o Shipyard. According to a KCNA report, the production process was modernised in 2012.^[6] Raw materials (sand) are brought from Monggŭmp'o near Changyŏn (terminus of the Changyŏn railway line) and from Kŭmip'o, both in Ryongyŏn County.^[5]

The facility is served by the Korean State Railway via the Namp'ohang Branch of the P'yŏngnam Line.