The number of North Korean patrol boats operating in the Yalu River near Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province, has fallen by half since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Daily NK has learned.
Prior to COVID-19, North Korean patrol boats made significant amounts of money from bribes gleaned from smugglers, but after smuggling operations largely ceased following the closure of the border, fewer patrol boats are in operation.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Monday that North Korea currently operates just two patrol boats in the downstream section of the Yalu — a patrol boat with the coast guard’s 52nd Flotilla under the Navy’s 12th Flotilla operating in Cholsan County, and a patrol boat with a border patrol unit based in Sinuiju.
Up until 2019, five patrol boats operated in the area, but now that number has been cut by over half. Since COVID-19, the other three patrol boats have remained inactive, with locals calling them simply “stationary patrols.”
“Before COVID-19, the border patrol could cover 100% of the operating costs of the patrol boats by confiscating oil or taking bribes from people using small boats to smuggle, but since the closure of the border, they’ve reduced patrol boat operations because they can’t make as much in bribes as before,” the source said.
“Prior to COVID-19, small boats paying USD 3,000 a year in bribes could go to sea and smuggle. Navy personnel took that money and bought oil or parts for the patrol boats, or spent it on personal expenses.”
According to the source, the state should have been providing fuel and covering other operating expenses for the patrol boats, but the operators of the boats were left to fend for themselves, turning to bribes to stay afloat.
Following the closure of the border in January 2020, smuggling operations largely ceased, and border patrol units lost the financial lifeline they needed to cover their operating costs.
North Korea continues to sell West Sea fishing rights to China
Meanwhile, North Korean naval boats patrolling the West Sea are making money by illegally selling fishing rights to China, despite a 2017 UN Security Council resolution banning the country from doing just that.
Multiple sources confirmed to Daily NK that North Korea has been finding clever ways to sell fishing rights to China despite the border closure.
“Navy officials take bribes and sell fishing rights to China in return for watching the backs of Chinese fishermen as they fish in our seas,” one of the sources told Daily NK, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Our military personnel are essentially filling the stomachs of Chinese fishermen.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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