From 1945, the manufacturing industry developed rapidly. Kanggye has a
mining industry producing
copper,
zinc ore,
coal and
graphite. Kanggye hosts one of the main
timber processing factories of
Chagang province and
North Korea. The city has various light industry along with production of construction, electrical and precision machinery. The pencils produced, which are also exported, have 'national significance'. The city also has agricultural, fruit, vegetable and livestock production.
Electricity production The city has a large number of hydropower plants due to its location near a number of rivers. The first hydropower station in a series of them is called Hungju No.1 Youth Power Station, is located 3.5 km north of Kanggye. It is supported by the Ryongrim dam, which does not have a power station attached to it. This allows a careful management of the water level to ensure efficient operation. This is followed by the Hungju Youth Power Station No. 2 and 3. No.2 was completed in 2007 and No.3 was completed by February 2019, fitted with three generator turbines.
Kanggye Timber Processing Factory Kanggye Timber Processing Factory(강계목재가공공장) is a small state-run factory located in Kanggye City. At the start of operations, it produced only two kinds of furniture (dining tables and sterilized chopsticks) through manual labour. Over time it has developed into a comprehensive modernized furniture producer, producing woodwork with a hundred and dozens of modern facilities in production. Amongst machinery in use are three- and four-faced automatic planes, all-purpose polishers, joining machines, and grooving saws. Meanwhile, the factory has directed an effort into the programme of modernizing the drying job, which is an important part of the woodworking process. By making technical innovations (such as replacing a boiler-induced drying process drying ovens and using fuels other than coal) the factory increased production and lowered manpower.
No.26 General Plant The No.26 factory is the largest underground military facility in Korea. The plant manufactures ammunition which has been exported to Libya, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Egypt. It employs more than 20,000 workers and can produce 126,000 mortar rounds and 1.76 million rounds of rifle ammunition per year. On November 30, 1991, up to a thousand people were allegedly killed after a massive explosion at the plant. South Korean sources put the number of fatalities at six times that amount or more based on the claims of survivors of the incident. ==Administrative divisions==