Posts
North Korea announces border closures
by Scott Gilbreath ~ November 14th, 2008
North Korea has taken its habitual isolationism to the logical extreme: It has announced the closure of its borders with China and South Korea.
Beginning December 10, land routes to and from China will be interrupted; Chinese tourists who want to go to the North Korean capital will have to take direct flights from Beijing or Shenyang. No visas will be given to the inhabitants of the three Chinese provinces bordering North Korea, who are former North Korean citizens now in exile.
The decision to close the frontiers with China – beginning with the most important one, that of Dandong – follows the declaration, issued on Wednesday, November 12, by North Korean general Kim Yong-chol, the delegate for dialogue between the two Koreas, which anticipated the closing of the border with South Korea beginning on December 1.
Closing the border with South Korea will damage the North’s economy. Seoul has given money and personnel for construction of an industrial complex in Kaesong, North Korea, but now the workers will be expelled and the project terminated.
China used to be an ally of North Korea, but things aren’t what they used to be. In 2006, China built a wall along its side of the border and, more recently, has begun amassing troops there.
Rumours have been abroad that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is in poor health. Chronic conditions of poverty and famine appear to be worsening. Are Chinese authorities moving troops to the frontier in order to forestall mass emigration from North Korea?
Print This Post