North Korea-China trade may resume next week: report

Trade between North Korea and China that has remained at a standstill for more than a year amid the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to resume possibly next week, a South Korean broadcaster reported Friday.

According to JTBC, officials in the Chinese city of Dandong at the North Korean border have started accepting export registration ahead of a potential border reopening on April 16, the day after the birth anniversary of state founder Kim Il-sung on April 15.

North Korea sealed off its borders with China on Jan. 30 last year, two days after five coronavirus infections were confirmed in the border city of Dandong. Despite the shutdown, some quarantine items were being transported to the North via freight trains.

But the country declared a state of emergency in August, with trade with its largest trading partner coming to a complete halt.

“(Trade resumption) is considered an established fact. Customs officials of the two countries are carrying out quarantine education for trading companies,” an unnamed trader in Dandong was quoted as saying by JTBC.

“We are busy preparing for goods, money and contacts for the customs process. Goods have already been moved to a warehouse for shipping. Along with trains, large cargo will be transported using vessels.”

The first goods to be shipped include coal and chemical fertilizer, the trader added.

Another source close to the matter was also quoted as saying that trade resumption is likely to come on April 16 or 17, but that will be limited to goods, not people-to-people exchanges, due to COVID-19.

The birth anniversary of the late grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, or the Day of the Sun, is the nation’s biggest national holiday and has been commemorated with massive military parades and other cultural and sports events.

Over the past year, the North’s trade with China plummeted 80.7 percent to $540 million, according to the Seoul-based Korea International Trade Association. It was a sharper fall than in 2017, when trade with China was cut in half amid toughened sanctions in response to its nuclear weapons tests.

Cash flow has also dried up as popular exports like wigs, watches and shoes have fallen the most, alongside the suspended visits of Chinese tourists, another key pillar of the North’s revenue sources.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)