Tumen River

{{short description|River in China, North Korea, and Russia}} {{redirect|Dumangang|the town in North Korea|Tumangang}} {{For|the Tuman River in Xinjiang, China|Tuman River}} {{Infobox river | name = Tumen River<br>{{nobold|图们江}} | native_name ={{native name|zh-hans|图们江}} | name_other = Duman River ({{nobold|{{Korean|labels=no|두만강|豆滿江}}}}) ''or'' Tuman River | name_etymology = Old Turkic and Mongolian, tümen "ten thousand"  | image = | image_size = | image_caption = | map = Location Tumen-River.png | map_size = | map_caption = Location of the Tumen River | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption = | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 7  | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = North Korea (DPRK), China (PRC), Russia | subdivision_type2 = Province (DPRK) | subdivision_name2 = North Hamgyong, Ryanggang | subdivision_type3 = Province (PRC) | subdivision_name3 = Jilin | subdivision_type4 = Federal subject (Russia) | subdivision_name4 = Primorsky Krai | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 =  | length = {{convert|521|km|mi|abbr=on}} | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max =  | source1 = Paektu Mountain | source1_location = | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = | mouth = Sea of Japan | mouth_location = Sea of Japan, Russia, North Korea | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|42|17|34|N|130|41|56|E|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = {{convert|0|m|abbr=on}} | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|33,800|km2|abbr=on}} | tributaries_left = {{hlist|Gaya River|Hunchun River}} | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }} {{Infobox Chinese | pic = | piccap = | t = {{linktext|圖們江}} | s = {{linktext|图们江}} | p = Túmén Jiāng | w = Tʻu²-mên² Chiang¹ | northkorea = yes | hangul = 두만강 | hanja = {{linktext|豆|滿|江}} | rr = Dumangang | mr = Tuman'gang | cnhangul = 도문강 | cnhanja = 圖們江 | cnrr = Domungang | cnmr = Tomun'gang | mon = {{lang|mn|Түмэн гол}} | monr = Tümen gol | mnc = {{ManchuSibeUnicode|ᡨᡠᠮᡝᠨ ᡠᠯᠠ}} | mnc_rom = Tumen ula | rus = Туманная река | rusr = Tumannaya reka }}

The '''Tumen River''' ({{zh|s=图们江|p=Túmén Jiāng}}, {{langx|ru|река Туманная}}, {{Korean|hangul=두만강}}; <small> Korean pronunciation: [<nowiki/>tuman.gaŋ])</small>, also known as the '''Tuman River''' or '''Duman River''',{{efn|In the 19th century, the river was also known to the West as the {{nowrap|'''Mi Kiang'''.}}{{sfnp|''EB''|1878|p=390}}}} is a {{convert|521|km|mi|adj=on}} long river that serves as part of the boundary between China (left shore), North Korea (right) and Russia (left), rising on the slopes of Mount Paektu and flowing into the Sea of Japan. The river has a drainage basin of {{convert|33,800|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Drainage Basins of the Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan |url=https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/water/blanks/assessment/okhotsk_japan.pdf |website=www.unece.org}}</ref>

The river flows in northeast Asia, on the border between China and North Korea in its upper reaches, and between North Korea and Russia in its last {{convert|17|km|mi|sp=us}} before entering the Sea of Japan. The river forms much of the southern border of Jilin Province in Northeast China and the northern borders of North Korea's North Hamgyong and Ryanggang provinces. Paektu Mountain on the Chinese-North Korean border is the source of the river,<ref name=times1006>{{Cite news |author= Onishi, Norimitsu |title=Tension, Desperation: The China-North Korean Border |date=22 October 2006 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/weekinreview/22marsh.html }} Much of the information comes from the captions to the large illustrated map published with the newspaper article and available online with it.</ref> as well as of the Yalu River. The two rivers and the region of Paektu Mountain between their headwaters form the border between North Korea and China.

The name of the river comes from the Mongolian word ''tümen'', meaning "ten thousand" or a myriad. In Tumen, Jilin, a riverfront promenade has restaurants where patrons can gaze across the river into North Korea.<ref name=times1006/> The Russian name of the river is ''Tumannaya'', literally meaning ''foggy''.

In 1938 the Japanese built the Tumen River Bridge, where the Quan River meets the Tumen River, between the villages of Wonjong (Hunchun) and Quanhe. Important cities and towns on the river are Hoeryong and Onsong in North Korea, Tumen and Nanping ({{lang|zh-hans|南坪镇}}, in the county-level city of Helong) in China's Jilin province.

In 1995, the People's Republic of China, Mongolia, Russia, North Korea and South Korea signed three agreements to create the Tumen River Economic Development Area.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Accord on Tumen River Area Development to Be Signed |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-17902415.html |journal= |access-date=2010-01-23 |archive-date=2019-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215032307/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-17902415.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tumen River Area Development Program |year=2009 |publisher=Network of East Asian Think-tanks (NEAT) |url=http://www.neat.org.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=247:tumen-river-area-development-program&catid=76:subregional-cooperation&Itemid=130 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209011912/http://www.neat.org.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=247:tumen-river-area-development-program&catid=76:subregional-cooperation&Itemid=130 |archive-date=9 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Kim, Myung-sung |script-title=ko:최고 싱크탱크(think tank)도 "두만강 지역 개발하자" |trans-title=From top think tank: "Let's develop the Tumen River area" |date=14 January 2015 |language=ko |newspaper=Chosun News |url=http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/01/14/2015011400213.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150115173444/http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/01/14/2015011400213.html |archive-date=15 January 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp53.html|title=JPRI Working Paper No. 53 |website=www.jpri.org |access-date=2017-05-01 |archive-date=2021-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116091710/http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp53.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Noktundo== {{main|Noktundo}} Noktundo, a former island (now effectively a peninsula) at the mouth of the Tumen, has been a boundary contention between Russia and North Korea.<ref name="Boundary">{{Cite journal|first=В. И.|last=Головнин|title=Прошлое как оружие (The past as a weapon) |language=ru|journal=Россия в глобальной политике|volume=6|number=35|year=2008 |url=http://www.globalaffairs.ru/numbers/35/10838.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206062610/http://www.globalaffairs.ru/number/n_12054 |archive-date=6 December 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> The Qing dynasty ceded the island to Russia as part of the Primorsky Maritimes (East Tartary) in the 1860 Treaty of Peking.<ref name="Boundary" /> In 1990, the then Soviet Union and North Korea signed a border treaty which made the border run through the center of the river, leaving territory of the former island on Russian side. South Korea refuses to acknowledge the treaty and demanded that Russia return the territory to Korea.<ref name="The problem of the Noktundo island in the media in South Korea (Проблема острова Ноктундо в средствах массовой информации Южной Кореи)">{{cite web|url=http://ru.apircenter.org/publications/the-problem-of-the-noktundo-island-in-the-media-in-south-korea/ |title=The problem of the Noktundo island in the media in South Korea (Проблема острова Ноктундо в средствах массовой информации Южной Кореи) |language=ru |publisher=ru.apircenter.org |access-date=2015-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910052035/http://ru.apircenter.org/publications/the-problem-of-the-noktundo-island-in-the-media-in-south-korea/ |archive-date=10 September 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Fishing== There are several popular species of fish endemic to Tumen river, such as Tumen lenok and bighead gudgeon.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guo |first1=Rongxing |title=11 - The Tumen River Delta: Development and the Environment |journal=Developments in Environmental Science |date=1 January 2012 |volume=10 |pages=307–323 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B978008098319600011X |access-date=14 January 2024 |publisher=Elsevier}}</ref> In 2016, China released 800,000 salmon seedlings into Tumen river in order to expand the regional fishing industry and meet the increasing demand for sea products.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Godfrey |first1=Mark |title=China expands salmon farm on North Korean border |url=https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/china-expands-salmon-farm-on-north-korean-border |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=www.seafoodsource.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Illegal crossings== The Tumen has been crossed for years by North Korean refugees defecting across the Chinese border. Most refugees from North Korea during the 1990s famine crossed it, and most recent refugees have also used it, as it is far easier than crossing the Amnok River.<ref name="winter-crossings" /> The Tumen is the preferred crossing because, unlike the swift, deep and broad Amnok River that runs along most of the border between the two countries, the Tumen is shallow and narrow.<ref name=times1006 /> In some areas it can be crossed on foot, or by short swims.<ref name=times1006 /> It freezes in winter, allowing dry crossings.<ref name="winter-crossings" /><ref>{{cite news |quote=[...] adding that winter is the optimal time of year for North Koreans who wish to defect to cross the frozen Tumen River that separates the country from China, if security is not too heavy. |first=Sunghui |last=Moon |translator-first=Leejin |translator-last=Jun |translator-first2=Roseanne |translator-last2=Gerin |publisher=Radio Free Asia |title=North Korea Tightens Security Before Major Military Parade |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/north-korea-tightens-security-before-major-military-parade-01242018161419.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125013902/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/north-korea-tightens-security-before-major-military-parade-01242018161419.html |archive-date=25 January 2018}}</ref> Defectors wishing to cross the Tumen often ignore its pollutants and dangerous border patrol, and spend weeks if not months or years waiting for the perfect opportunity to cross. "Long, desolate stretches of the Chinese-North Korean border are not patrolled at all", according to a ''New York Times'' article.<ref name=times1006 />

Refugees rarely cross the Tumen into Russia. This is because Russia's short stretch of the river is far better patrolled than China's stretch.<ref name=times1006 /> In addition, the rewards for doing so are not as high since the ethnic Korean community in Russia is far smaller to receive sufficient support from, as opposed to China, which has a larger Korean population. Lastly, North Korean authorities have been known to infiltrate Russia looking for defectors and those who collaborate to assist them; the 1996 murder of Choe Deok-geun in the border city of Vladivostok prompted South Korean authorities to be very reluctant to provide defectors with any assistance.

The Tumen is also crossed illegally by soldiers and others seeking food and money. Some Chinese villagers have left the border area because of the attacks.<ref name="winter-crossings">{{Cite news|author1=Zhai, Keith |author2=Kim, Sam |name-list-style=amp |title=North Koreans Walk Across Frozen River to Kill Chinese for Food|date=14 January 2015|newspaper=Bloomberg News|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-13/north-koreans-walk-across-frozen-river-to-china-to-commit-murder.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150115082328/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-13/north-koreans-walk-across-frozen-river-to-china-to-commit-murder.html|archive-date=15 January 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

The history of conflict in the area (examples include incidents during the Battle of Lake Khasan) was alluded to in singer Kim Jeong-gu's song 'Tearful Tumen River (눈물 젖은 두만강)', which became an ode to families separated by such tragedies and by defections during the Korean War.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kim |first1=Seon-hee [a.k.a. Sonya] |title=VOD ~ 디지털 KBS|url=http://vod.kbs.co.kr//index.html?source=episode&sname=vod&stype=vod&program_code=T2011-0781&program_id=PS-2018039707-01-000&section_code=04&broadcast_complete_yn=N&local_station_code=00 |publisher=KBS |location=@ 15m 19s mark in video |language=ko |date=24 March 2018 |quote=[Translation] I heard that the song consoled many of those who lost their families, or had to leave their hometowns under Japanese occupation and during the Korean war. It made me realize the power of music once again}}</ref> The humanitarian crisis along the Tumen River was dramatized in the 2010 feature-length film ''Dooman River''.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Bardot, Nicolas|year=2010|title=La Rivière Tumen |language=fr |website=Film de Culte |url=http://www.filmdeculte.com/cinema/film/Riviere-Tumen-La-3345.html|access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref>

<gallery> File:Tumen River Bridge.jpg|Bridge of Tumen River, built in 1941 File:Tumen River Bridge in 2018.jpg|Bridge of Tumen River, shot in 2018 File:Tumen River Winter.jpg|North Korea is on the other side of the Tumen River File:Tumen River Winter2.jpg|View across the river from Tumen city in China to the town of Namyang in North Korea </gallery>

==Notes== {{notelist}}

== References == === Citations === {{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources === * {{cite book |first = Hugh Alexander |last = Webster |display-authors = 0 |contribution = Corea |title = Encyclopædia Britannica |edition=9th |volume=VI |editor-last = Baynes |editor-first = Thomas Spencer |display-editors = 0 |publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons |location = New York |year = 1878 |ref = {{harvid|''EB''|1878}} |pages = 390–394 }} * Nianshen Song. 2018. ''[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/making-borders-in-modern-east-asia/6A7C6D4BF42E7527B1552FB9F53E5206 Making Borders in Modern East Asia: The Tumen River Demarcation, 1881–1919]''. Cambridge University Press.

== External links == {{Wiktionary|Tumen|Tuman|T'u-men}} * {{Commons-inline}}

Category:Tumen River Category:Rivers of North Korea Category:Rivers of Jilin Category:Rivers of Primorsky Krai Category:International rivers of Asia Category:Border rivers Category:China–North Korea border Category:North Korea–Russia border Category:Geography of Yanbian Category:Drainage basins of the Sea of Japan