The Samhapjin trade route in Longjing. No people or vehicles can be seen.
The area was quiet.
According to a ASIAPRESS reporting partner in China who visited the area on a weekday in mid-August, there were no freight trucks near the trade route in Samhapjin, which is located in Longjing, a city on the midstream of the Tumen River. Perhaps due to the hot weather, there were no farmers walking around nearby, either.
Samhapjin faces the city of Hoeryong, North Hamgyung Province. There were few people to be seen on the North Korean side, either. The international liaison bridge that is still in use today was constructed during the Japanese occupation period in 1941 to connect Korea with Longjing in Manchuria.
The poet Yoon Dong-ju, who died in Fukuoka Prison, was originally from Longjing, and his body was taken by his father across the bridge to be buried in his homeland.
Hoeryong-Samhap was originally a trade route with little human or trade traffic, and even after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trade route remains closed, according to a customs official. (PARK Song-min / ISHIMARU Jiro)
※ All photos without dates in their captions were taken in August 2023 by PARK Song-min.
The international liaison bridge connecting China with Hoeryong across the Tumen River.
A building that appears to be a North Korean customs facility.
The North Korean trade route as photographed from a high point on the Chinese side of the border in August 2012. The trade route is located outside of downtown Hoeryong. Taken by ISHIMARU Jiro.
The Hambuk Line’s Sinjin Station, which is located on the Tumen River’s downstream near Hoeryong. No trains or people were seen in the area.
A farming village on the North Korean side of the border. The photo was taken before the start of the corn harvest.
A North Korean collective farm seen from a high point on the Chinese side of the border. Crops are seen everywhere in the gardens in front of the houses.
Map of North Korea ( ASIAPRESS)
＜Photo Report＞ The North Korea-China Border (1) In August, Tumen and the midstream of the Tumen River was quiet
＜Photo Report＞ The North Korea-China Border (2) Reminiscent of a disputed area, barbed wire fencing surrounds the Tumen River and Hoeryong-Samhap area…Barriers make it hard to defect or smuggle across the border
- ＜Inside N. Korea＞ Report suggests deaths in second largest city of Hamhung…One visitor to the city reports: “People are dying of starvation and disease. Crime is increasing, leading to a brutal atmosphere in the city.”
- ＜Inside N. Korea＞ New proclamation calls for intensified control over the economy…Intense crackdowns on circulation of goods and use of foreign currency (2) Proclamation declares that serious violators face execution or life in prison
- ＜Inside N. Korea＞New proclamation calls for intensified control over the economy…Intense crackdowns on circulation of goods and use of foreign currency (1) The authorities confiscate Chinese yuan and US dollars
- ＜Inside N. Korea＞ “People are stealing unripe corn from the fields” Farms already see a rash of thefts of grains…Security guards given live rounds and even soldiers are deployed
- ＜Inside N. Korea＞Even military face increasing malnutrition; A soldier said “We don’t get even half a bowl of food…half of my comrades are in a weakened state”
