Smuggling resumes at Hyesan as North Korea-China trade signals point to broader thaw

State-sanctioned smuggling along the border in Hyesan, Ryanggang province has resumed after a roughly three-month suspension, bringing relief to traders whose goods had been sitting idle in China, a Daily NK source reported Tuesday.

“State smuggling on the Hyesan border opened last Wednesday, and goods that had been held up have started coming in,” the source in Ryanggang province said. “Smugglers are very pleased.”

The stoppage had left a substantial backlog of merchandise stranded on the Chinese side. Rumors of a resumption circulated two or three times in mid-January, prompting some traders to purchase additional stock in anticipation, but the border remained closed, compounding the inventory pile-up.

The source said the suspension resulted from a convergence of internal North Korean factors and tightened enforcement on the Chinese side. Domestically, the authorities were managing a series of major political events, including the year-end review period and the Ninth Workers’ Party of Korea Congress, at which a new five-year plan was announced. China simultaneously stepped up border controls, and together the two pressures brought smuggling to a halt.

Relief across the jangmadang

Now that the channel has reopened, the reaction in border areas has reportedly been stronger than the response when North Korea’s borders first reopened after the COVID-19 closure. The prolonged freeze on goods and cash flows created significant economic strain, making the resumption all the more welcome.

“When the smuggling resumed, the accumulated pressure lifted and the mood changed completely,” the source said. Wholesalers who buy from smugglers and resell into the jangmadang, along with market traders, are sharing in the relief, as goods moving through smuggling channels have a direct impact on the broader market economy.

Optimism is spreading in Hyesan that the resumption will help the jangmadang economy recover. Some traders, however, are hedging their enthusiasm. “We don’t know when it might stop again,” one smuggler was quoted as saying.

That uncertainty reflects a structural reality: state smuggling is subject to both internal controls by North Korean authorities and external variables such as the state of China-North Korea relations, making its continuity difficult to guarantee. Some observers in the area have expressed measured concern about its long-term stability.

On the Chinese side of the border, smugglers in Changbai county, Jilin province, which faces Hyesan directly across the Yalu River, are also moving quickly to take advantage of the reopening. A China-based source with knowledge of cross-border trade said the backlog of goods accumulated during the suspension is expected to clear largely by the end of the month, after which new orders are anticipated.

Chinese smugglers have also taken note of the timing. The resumption coincides with the March 12 restart of passenger rail service between Beijing and Pyongyang, the first such service in roughly six years since the COVID-19 border closure. Many on the Chinese side are reading the confluence of signals as an indicator of broader North Korea-China relationship restoration and expect smuggling activity to gain momentum as a result.

“Until now, only a limited number of people have been able to travel to North Korea,” the China-based source said. “There is talk that tourism visits could become possible in the future. Whether tourism actually resumes remains to be seen, but interest here in when travel to North Korea might open up is high.”

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