＜N. Korea Photo Report＞Mass Smuggling of Vehicles in Violation of Sanctions... Hundreds of Luxury Cars Including Toyota and Trucks Lined Up at Border - Chinese Authorities Possibly Turning a Blind Eye

2025.10.15

Toyota Camry cars lined up. These are vehicles manufactured locally in China. All lack license plates, suggesting they were smuggled.

Hyesan in Ryanggang Province is a border city facing China across the Yalu River. Throughout the center of Hyesan, large quantities of Chinese-made luxury passenger cars, cargo trucks, and heavy equipment were neatly lined up. At least 100 to several hundred vehicles were confirmed by visual inspection alone. None had license plates, suggesting they were smuggled from China. ASIAPRESS photographed this from Changbai County, Jilin Province, across from Hyesan in mid-September. (ISHIMARU Jiro / KANG Ji-won)

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Luxury sedans and trailers in front, with large trailers and dump trucks visible in the back.

◆ Complete Ban on Vehicle Exports Under Security Council Sanctions

In 2017, as UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea's nuclear and missile development were strengthened, vehicle exports were completely banned. Since then, China has suspended vehicle exports according to trade statistics.

However, starting in 2018, vehicle smuggling began at narrow points along the upper Yalu River. On the North Korean side, this takes the form of government agency approval and leadership, called "state smuggling." On the Chinese side, private smugglers are involved.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kim Jong-un regime suspended "state smuggling" from around 2020 to 2023, but resumed it in earnest last year.

◆ Vehicle Smuggling Intensifies from August... Due to Improved North Korea-China Relations?

A Jilin Province trade associate well-versed in Changbai County's trade situation told ASIAPRESS in an interview in late September:

"Chinese authorities have been continuously cracking down on smuggling, but since this August, smuggling of BYD (Chinese luxury electric car brand) vehicles, used passenger cars, and tractors has been intensifying."

Meanwhile, multiple reporting partners residing in Hyesan unanimously stated that Chinese-side controls began to loosen in August. One reporting partner, well-informed about the smuggling situation, reported in early September:

"Last night alone, 27 Chinese used cars came in."

Construction heavy equipment, such as excavators and bulldozers loaded on railways. They appear to be being transported to other regions. Passenger cars and trucks are parked in front.

The complete ban on vehicle imports has clearly dealt an economic and military blow to North Korea. Following Kim Jong-un's visit to China in early September, there is a possibility that crackdowns on smuggling have been relaxed as the previously cold North Korea-China relations improved.

As a permanent member of the Security Council, the Chinese government cannot openly violate sanctions. It appears to be cooperating with the Kim Jong-un regime by turning a blind eye to "state smuggling" along the upper Yalu River.

*All photos show Hyesan, North Korea, taken from the Chinese side in mid-September 2025.
*ASIAPRESS maintains contact with its reporting partners through Chinese phones smuggled into North Korea.