Dandong has profited for decades from trade with North Korea. Now it’s suffering from unprecedented sanctions.
Empty shops. Failing businesses. And bored North Korean officials drinking their days away.
These are the stories being told on the streets of Dandong — a gritty, frozen city on the banks of the Yalu River, which separates China and North Korea.
For decades, Dandong has been a key trading hub that helped the North Korean regime cash in on China’s spectacular economic rise. But now it’s suffering as President Trump, alarmed by the rapid development of Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program, presses Chinese President Xi Jinping to squeeze North Korea’s sources of revenue.
Conversations last week with traders, store owners and Dandong residents with ties to North Korea painted a picture of a local economy showing signs of severe stress. Most of the people who talked to CNN suggested the most recent U. N. sanctions against North Korea could deal a devastating blow to an already struggling region.
None were willing to speak on the record for fear of reprisal. Speaking to foreign news organizations about the sensitive China-North Korea relationship in general — and the impact of recent sanctions in particular — can bring repercussions, economic and otherwise, from Chinese government officials.
It’s all about the sanctions
We spoke with Mr. Liao, a chain-smoking Dandong businessman, near the river. He requested that CNN not use his real name.
«In the beginning, I was importing coal from North Korea,» he said, through a haze of smoke. «But then China banned coal imports last year.»
In early September, China said it stopped processing North Korean coal shipments in order to implement sanctions passed by the U. N. Security Council in August.
Liao’s attempts to shift his business into other commodities quickly failed.
«Mineral products, seafood, agricultural products — basically all imports have been banned,» he said. «I told myself, I’m toast.»
Liao’s list includes several key revenue sources for North Korea that were targeted by three different rounds of sanctions in 2017. On top of bans on goods, restrictions were also placed on everything from North Korean laborers working overseas to joint ventures with North Korean companies.
The cumulative effect in Dandong has been dramatic and swift, according to several business owners who spoke to CNN.
«I’m in a state of forced retirement,» said one woman who has been trading with North Korea for over a decade. «I may have to let my employees go soon.»
A previously bustling row of stores catering to North Korean buyers was almost deserted over a period of several days last week. That’s a stark change from what CNN has observed there during several trips to Dandong over the past two years.
The area is known as «Koryo Street,» a nickname referencing a dynasty that ruled the Korean peninsula in the Middle Ages. Not long ago, the street was filled with North Korean buyers, eager to sell back home.
«The North Koreans have disappeared,» said one shop owner on the block.
One resident in close contact with North Korean commercial diplomats told CNN that they are now at a loose end because many of the business interests they represent have been forced to return home.
«They spend almost their entire days in a restaurant, playing cards and eating and drinking,» she said.
