Originally erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Wonsan in 1920, the name has been changed twice, once to Kankoensis o Hameungensis in 1940, and finally, as the Apostolic Vicariate of Hamhung in 1950.

In 1949, 166 priests and religious were martyred in the Communist revolution of Kim Il Sung.

Bishop Boniface Sauer, the abbot of Tokwon Abbey, had died in 1950, and no bishop had been re-appointed to the diocese.

Finally, in 1962, Timotheus (Franz Xaver) Bitterli, was appointed in absentia as the bishop of the diocese, and was the apostolic administrator for 20 years until his resignation in 1981.

Since then, the diocese has remained vacant, and it will likely remain so as long as the persecution of Christians in North Korea continues.