Mainichi Japan "North Korea Lifts COVID Border Closure... 10,000 Workers in China's Hunchun Only"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] According to Japan's Mainichi Shimbun, North Korea is lifting the border closure it had maintained since early this year to prevent the influx of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and is resuming external economic exchanges. It is estimated that about 10,000 North Korean workers are working in the Hunchun area, which borders China, and are continuously crossing the North Korea-China border.

On the 15th, Mainichi Shimbun cited multiple North Korea-China trade officials reporting that the North Korean government lifted the border closure imposed after the COVID-19 outbreak earlier this year, allowing cargo ships to enter through three ports including Nampo and Chongjin, and that from next month, rail freight transport will also be permitted. They analyzed that trade in the border area with China and the dispatch of North Korean workers are already taking place, indicating that external economic exchanges are resuming.

In Hunchun City, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province, located in the border area between China and North Korea, North Korean workers newly entering China are subject to about 10 days of quarantine in lodging facilities, and it is known that the number of North Korean workers going to China by this method sometimes reaches about 200 per day.

Mainichi reported that there is a large factory named the "International Intelligent Manufacturing Management Institute," which produces materials for well-known Chinese brand clothing in Hunchun City, where many North Korean workers are employed. Citing trade officials, it reported that including those working in Chinese-run restaurants and wedding halls, the number of North Korean workers in Hunchun City is currently estimated to exceed 10,000.

Although employing North Korean workers violates UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, both China and North Korea want to quickly recover from the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, and Mainichi analyzed that China may have accepted North Korean workers under visas other than labor visas for this purpose.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.