Rumors are circulating in Hyesan about the opening of the Samjang Customs House, reflecting rising expectations about the restart of China-North Korea trade.
“Rumors had gone around Hyesan last month that the Samjang Customs House in Taehongdan County would open, but there have recently been new rumors circulating that the customs house will open this Wednesday [Mar. 15],” a reporting partner in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Many people are earnestly hoping that the customs house will really open this time,” he added.
In short, rumors had gone around Hyesan late last month that the Samjang Customs House in Taehongdan County’s Samjang Workers District would open sometime in March. Now, rumors about the customs house are once again circulating, this time with a specific date of opening.
Daily NK reported in December that North Korea had begun preparations to expand trade through Hyesan Customs House starting in February, including granting approval for the construction of a quarantine facility.
As of early March, however, Hyesan Customs House had not begun operations. Now, there are rumors circulating in Hyesan that Taehongdan County’s Samjang Customs House will open on Mar. 15.
“People are hoping at least one of the customs houses will open, be it Hyesan or Samjang,” the reporting partner said. “That’s because people will get a boost to their livelihoods through market activity only if the customs houses open and goods begin to flow in from China.”
HOPE MIXED IN WITH SKEPTICISM
However, people who have been disappointed by previous rumors are hopeful yet skeptical of the latest rumors, wondering whether the customs houses will really open this time.
One resident of Hyesan told Daily NK that rumors that the customs house will reopen are “giving false hope to people struggling to survive.”
“People are just barely hanging on in the hope that, if the border opens, they can somehow escape their terrible situation,” she said. “But if they don’t open the border this time, I think people will have difficulties enduring things much longer.”
The reporting partner also pointed out that the customs houses have remained closed despite rumors about their opening circulating since last year. “We’ll need to wait to see if Samjang Customs House opens as the rumors going around suggest,” he said.
“The state hasn’t opened the customs houses yet because if trade restarts, people will do whatever they can to flee [across the border] or engage in smuggling activities,” the reporting partner continued, adding,”the government had eliminated these activities under the pretext of preventing the spread of infectious disease, but it is concerned that opening the customs houses will allow these activities to grow rampant again.”
Meanwhile, trading companies in Yanggang Province are making all sorts of preparations for an expected expansion in trade.
The Yanggang Province-based reporting partner said trading companies are doing everything they can to secure goods for export, and foreign currency-earning organizations in Samsu County and Kimjongsuk County are conducting inspections on the goods they have already secured for export.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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