Only the first row of shops and stores of the recently completed tax free trade area between the Chinese border city of Dandong and North Korea are currently open, with the rest of the zone set to become operational in April.

Currently, a small section at the front of the new zone seems to be open for business, with footage of the zone published late last month by euronews showing very little activity.

“Only the first line of the zone is opened … (The rest) will open this April, according to an official there,” Lee Chang-ju, a PhD candidate at Fudan University, who studies the Sino-North Korea border area and who spoke with people at the tax free zone told NK News.

Lee added the new zone will be open to North Korean companies, but not individuals.  As previously reported there will be no tax on transactions there providing they amount to less than 8000 Yuan ($1227).

Photos of the new zone also indicate that it will be divided into numerous areas, each selling different categories of products.

Zones A and B will sell machinery, industrial equipment and electrical equipment, whereas Zone C will be more geared towards North Korean touristic products, seafood, health care products, as well as traditional DPRK items.

“When I went to there, there was nothing to sell, but they said ‘you can general goods just like cosmetics,’” Lee added.

The new zone is about 20 kilometers from the border, and is intended to facilitate small to medium sized trades in Dandong. It has space for hundreds of stores and measures 24,000 square meters.

A BRIDGE NOT FAR ENOUGH

A photograph of the newly constructed Yalu bridge taken in November indicates there has been little work done on the North Korean side since the most recent satellite imagery published in September.

The image shows the bridge still ending in rural farmland, with little of the necessary customs infrastructure in place to handle incoming traffic, nor is any new work on roads connecting the bridge to existing routes on the DPRK side apparent.

There are numerous theories as to why the $288 million project is stalled, with some sources telling NK News that economic issues and a lack reliability on the part of North Koreans are to blame.

The new bridge is supposed to replace the aging 71 year old China – North Korea Friendship Bridge, which currently connects the two countries. The older bridge was damaged in September last year when a truck overturned, however was quickly reopened.

All images by Lee Chang-ju

Only the first row of shops and stores of the recently completed tax free trade area between the Chinese border city of Dandong and North Korea are currently open, with the rest of the zone set to become operational in April. Currently, a small section at the front of the new zone seems to be open for