＜Analysis of N. Korean photos＞N.K-China Border: Scene of Massive State Smuggling (1) Smuggling Vehicles Fill Even School Playgrounds; Parking Shortage Emerges in Hyesan City

2025.11.14

ASIAPRESS took photos of large numbers of smuggling vehicles parked in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province—which faces Changbai County in China's Jilin Province—during reporting along the North Korea-China border region this past September. So many Chinese vehicles had flowed into Hyesan that hundreds could be seen with the naked eye, creating parking shortages throughout the city. We analyzed the situation in downtown Hyesan, photographed with a super-telephoto lens, using satellite imagery. (JEON Sung-jun)

◆Parking locations in downtown Hyesan

Photo 1: Chinese-made heavy equipment, including bulldozers and excavators, loaded on a freight train. They appear ready to depart for other regions after being smuggled in.

Looking closely, people drinking canned beer can be seen next to an excavator. Across from them is a tent fashioned from a bulldozer bucket. It seems to have been created as a resting space for transport personnel during the journey to their destination. This illustrates North Korea's poor transportation conditions.

Photo 2: Smuggling vehicles parked inside the Hyesan Forestry Machinery Factory compound. Container trucks are visible alongside passenger cars.

Photo 3: Identical models of large container trucks (top) and pickup trucks (bottom) parked side by side. Covered vehicles are popular as they don't reveal their contents and offer better theft protection.

Photo 4: While only white passenger cars were there the previous day, cargo trucks and passenger cars are newly parked on this day. They appear to be vehicles smuggled in overnight.

Photo 5: Various types of vehicles parked inside the factory compound. With parking space insufficient, they've even encroached on vegetable plots.

Photo 6: A small vacant lot behind a building is also packed with smuggling vehicles. Next to the vehicles stands a large cargo truck loaded with wrapped goods.

Photo 7: Vehicles are also parked in vacant lots near residential areas. The blue hut visible in the corner appears to be a temporary structure for vehicle security.

Google Satellite Image 1: Marked on Google Maps are the locations of smuggling vehicles parked throughout Hyesan's Gangan-dong neighborhood.

◆Hyesan Struggles with Parking Shortage

Photo 8: This is Wiyeon Middle School in Hyesan's Wiyeon-dong. The school playground where children should be playing is completely filled with smuggling vehicles. The parking shortage in downtown Hyesan appears serious.

Google Satellite Image 2: Vehicles are parked even in the playground and vacant areas of this school situated on a mountainside.

Photo 9: Large vehicles lined up along one side of the road. This is the entrance to the former Hyesan Textile Factory site, which was demolished last year and is now used as a large parking lot.

Google Satellite Image 3: Numerous trucks were gathered next to the Hyesan Textile Factory site, which NK News reported in August this year had been converted into a parking lot for large trucks. (Continued>>2)

※ All photos taken from the Chinese side of the border in September 2025, Hyesan, Ryanggang Province (ASIAPRESS)