The Chonsam Cooperative Farm was originally comprised of three small villages, with the largest named Chon. The Korean word for three is ‘Sam’, and combined this is where the farm derived its name.
Founded in October 1952, the farm remains a fixture of Kangwon Province, supplying the agricultural needs to surrounding communities, and has since expanded to cover 500 hectares with 300 of those dedicated to rice paddy fields. The farm supports a population of 1,700 people, 800 of whom are farmers cultivating rice, vegetables, maize, with the rest involved in supporting operations.
Chonsam Cooperative Farm is one of many cooperative farms in North Korea open to visitors, and you’ll be able to see socialist farming life including the inside of a home, and often see a performance by the schoolchildren that live in the complex. The area boasts a library, a concert hall, and even a cinema. There is also a traditional Korean pagoda that overlooks the farm from atop a hill.
The farm is known for its persimmon, which you can taste test here, and there is a famous persimmon tree in the farm where Kim Il Sung convened a ‘consultive meeting’ with the farmers in October of 1976. There is a mosaic mural depicting this field guidance event nearby.