Growing signs that official trade will soon begin
After fifteen months of economic hardship due to the COVID-19 border blockade, there are growing signs that the North Korea-China border will reopen soon. In fact, Daily NK recently obtained an image of a North Korean ship collecting sand in the Yalu River.
A source in China told Daily NK on Apr. 19 that the North Korean ship performed sand collection in the Yalu River on Apr. 16, one day after Kim Il Sung’s birthday on Apr. 15.
“There have been many sightings of North Korean patrol boats since the border blockade began last January, but this was the first time in more than a year that I spotted a North Korean ship on the Yalu River in the daytime,” the source explained. “Aside from the sand collection ship, three tugboats were working on the river for quite some time.”
The authorities may have allowed sand collection ships to restart their activities because such ships do not have to dock in China.
There have not yet been any sightings of North Korean trading ships or fishing boats heading towards China during the daytime on weekdays. ......
[Source: Daily NK]
