Wihwa Island
island of North Korea
Wihwa Island (Korean: 위화도/威化島, Wihwado, Chinese: 威化島) is a river island in the Yalu river, lying on the border between North Korea and China. It is now under the effective jurisdiction of North Korea, due to ethnic Koreans living on the island at the time of the 1962 border treaty.
Wihwa Island is historically well known for being where General Yi Songgye decided, in 1388, to turn back his army southward to Kaesong in the first of a series of revolts that eventually led to the establishment of the Yi Dynasty.
In June 2011, an agreement with China was made to establish a joint free trade area on Hwanggumpyong and Wihwa Islands, and the China border area near Dandong.
“Wihwa Island” enters the record as island of North Korea. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Wihwa, Island and island can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Wihwa Island” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Wihwa, Island and island provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q706605. Authority coordinates are 40.137, 124.446. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1962, 1388 and 2011.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Wihwa Island”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Wihwa Island primary sources, Wihwa Island archive and Wihwa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Wihwa Island”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Wihwa Island” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.