How trade moves to and from North Korea
The article by Giuseppe Gagliano
Whether and how long the sanctioned North Korean regime will last in self-isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic depends on the role Beijing plays in supporting Pyongyang. In 2019, China accounted for around 95 percent of North Korea's total trade. According to Chinese customs data, Chinese exports to the country dropped from more than $ 250 million in November 2019 to just $ 3,000 in February.
There has been no return of cross-border trade to date.
In March 2021, the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of Korea passed a law making disinfection of all imported goods mandatory. Later, the disinfection facilities were built in record time in Sinuiju, on the border with China.
However, Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora said the border would reopen and the country's trading companies were only on standby. However, dates were pushed back each time between new strains of the virus and related waves of infection in China.
The ROK National Intelligence Service reported that North Korea is in talks with China and Russia to resume rail traffic across the border and border towns of North Korea and China, connecting Sinuiju and Dandong, which may resume it already at November.
More data on maritime trade are also confirmed. As reported by NKNews , at least five ships linked to North Korea took turns at the port of Longkou for possible coal sales between March 29 and April 13, a level comparable to the pre-pandemic.
However, the only operational channel for Sino-North Korean trade is the port of Nampo, but it is overloaded due to congestion of cargoes subject to mandatory quarantine. In this regard, there are signs of possible preparations to open and receive goods at Ryongcheon Station in North Pyongan Province.
Another vital supply line is the oil pipeline. According to the analysis by NK Pro , recent satellite images show that construction work began in April both at the China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co plants on the edge of the Yalu River and on North Korean territory. Meanwhile, China continued to send crude oil, as shown by stable fuel prices.
Specific data on trade between the two countries are somewhat scattered and show (so far) a declining trend.
According to the Seoul Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency, North Korea's total foreign trade fell 73.4 percent to $ 863 million in 2020. Meanwhile, from January to July this year, North Korea-China trade amounted to $ 86 million, down 82.1 percent due to prolonged border closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. With other data showing it surpassed $ 185 million in the first nine months of 2021, it remains 1/3 lower than the same period in 2020 and does not exceed 29% of the 2019 figures. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the volume of trade between China and the DPRK had dropped to almost zero.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/corea-del-nord-commercio/ on Fri, 19 Nov 2021 07:40:52 +0000.