Tag: border

The North Korea border with China stretches roughly 1,400 kilometers along the Yalu and Tumen rivers and serves as the country’s economic lifeline — a conduit for trade, smuggling, information, and human movement that the regime simultaneously depends on and fears. Daily NK has reported on the North Korea border since 2004, drawing on sources in the border cities of Hyesan, Sinuiju, Hoeryong, and Manpo to track the flow of goods, currency, and people across one of the world’s most heavily militarized frontiers. Our coverage spans legitimate trade, state-sanctioned smuggling, defection attempts, border security crackdowns, and the cat-and-mouse dynamic between ordinary North Koreans and the regime’s enforcement apparatus.