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.
Tag: border
North Korea loosens mobile restrictions as it courts Chinese investment
North Korea appears to be easing mobile phone restrictions on Chinese nationals entering the country for business, a move observers inside the country are...
North Korea cracks down on rumors about soldiers captured in Ukraine
North Korean authorities have ordered state security agents to identify and suppress rumors spreading along the Chinese border about soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces,...
North Koreans buy river water from pullcarts as pipes freeze solid
Cases of water pipes freezing or exploding have occurred throughout the northern regions of North Korea amid a protracted cold spell. Locals are taking...
North Korea forces forest rangers to seize firewood from freezing people
People gathering firewood in the hills along North Korea's northern border with China are dodging forest rangers who have intensified patrols to meet quotas...
North Korea’s railway bridges: strategic assets linking China, Russia while severing...
North Korea's railway network and border railway bridges are more than just means of transportation — they are a strategic asset closely tied to...
North Korean remittance brokers disguise themselves as traveling salespeople to evade...
Operators in border regions carry sweets and underwear to mask their use of Chinese mobile phones for money transfers, as state security intensifies surveillance...
Chinese war films shock North Koreans with revelations about regime’s Korean...
Movies depicting Chinese military sacrifices during the Korean War are spreading along the border, prompting viewers to question decades of state education that attributed...
Pyongyang orders hillside tomb removal along Chinese border, imposing fines up...
Authorities in provinces along the Chinese border are levying fines up to $280 on families with hillside graves, citing damage to national image and...
N. Korean military unit cracks down on soldiers using private barbers
Units of the 25th Brigade of the North Korean border guard based in Hyesan, Ryanggang province, have recently begun cracking down harder on its...
Suspension of RFA and VOA transforms North Korean public opinion as...
Since the suspension of major radio broadcasts aimed at North Korea, such as Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice of America (VOA), the flow...
