Keen to obtain the low hanging fruit of Chinese tourist dollars, North Korea is currently working to improve the environment of cities along the border between the two countries.
According to the state media, the road connecting Kanggye in central Jagang Province with the border town of Manpo is currently being improved, along with the construction of homes and erection of street lighting in Manpo itself.
There are a further 700 homes under construction in Onsung County on the northern tip of North Hamkyung Province, along with various bits of construction underway in the Rasun Special Economic Zone.
It is believed that when Kim Jong Il visited China in May 2010, he asked his Chinese interlocutors to provide investment worth $10 billion for the development of the border region.
A Shinuiju source recently told Daily NK, “When Kim Jong Il was returning to North Korea through Shinuiju in 2010, he saw the undeveloped streets and houses and ordered that the border region be improved. However, they don’t really have enough materials to do it all, so they are only developing the areas you can see from China and other key buildings.”
“The homes that were damaged during the big flood in Shinuiji two years ago still have not been repaired,” the source added. “So, the people think they only want to improve the skin of the place, not the substance.”
