The station was opened, along with the rest of this section of the Kyŏngŭi Line, on 5 November 1905.
After the bridge across the Yalu River was opened on 1 November 1911, connecting Sinŭiju to Dandong, China, Chŏngju station became a stop for international trains to and from Manchuria. It is still a stopping point for international trains between P'yŏngyang and Beijing.
Destroyed during the Korean War, the station was rebuilt after the end of the war by Youth Shock Troops, and was renamed Chŏngju Ch'ŏngnyŏn station (= Chŏngju Youth) at that time.
A major accident occurred at the station on 27 January 2008, when ten cars of a freight train derailed, killing two railway workers.[2] After the accident, improvements were made to the station and its buildings in addition to the repair work.[3]