The name of the district, passed down from the former
Pyongchon-myon, means a flat area, which water flows through. It was newly established as a guyŏk in October 1960 by the Pyongyang City People's Committee through a mandate of the
Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.
2014 building collapse On 13 May 2014, a 23-story building under construction in Ansan 1-dong collapsed, with the following cleanup apparently lasting at most four days. According to tourist photos taken from
Juche Tower, the building vanished between around midday on May 13 and 9:35 on May 14, confirming the report by
Rodong Sinmun, while on 13 May, an NGO was approached to provide temporary shelter. Prior to collapse, photos of the building taken in April and May reveal the building had only slightly changed, potentially indicating that it had been abandoned. When the building collapsed, it did not damage nearby buildings, revealing it had likely collapsed vertically downwards, which according to experts interviewed by NK News, potentially indicates the
demolition of the apparently abandoned building. While
NK News initially claimed that the government was left with no choice but to reveal the accident due to foreigners knowing, the accident was not known until state media reported it and the move was likely due to an overall shift in state media to report negative events to show the government as more accountable. In the aftermath,
Kim Jong Un visited injured soldiers at Taesongsan Hospital, possibly construction workers from the collapse. An unverified claim by a defector suggested that the building might have been over the height for the area and that the concrete mixture used was suboptimal. It was further alleged that water was leaking into the basement while 'rocks were protruding and piercing through the concrete', and that some factory managers had siphoned material for personal gain, leading to decreases in product quality. According to
Associated Press interviews, the accident happened was because 'they broke the rules and methods of construction'. The North Korean economics journal
Kyongje Yongu, stated that 'Technical regulations and construction methods are disregarded when projects are rushed to be finished by their completion date, which is often decided in advance to coincide with a holiday or anniversary', and to advance self-sustainability, substandard materials are used. ==Administrative divisions==