Pyeongju

P'yŏngju, later P'yŏngsan, lies on the road northwest from Kaesŏng through the hills of Hwanghae. Its strategic position gave it a succession of fortified strongholds. The Joseon court raised it to a protectorate in 1413; in the mid-fifteenth century it was one of the province's larger towns. King Sŏnjo stopped in the district while fleeing to Ŭiju during the Japanese invasion of 1592.