North Korea is conducting major new construction on railway facilities at its narrow border with Russia, NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery shows, as signs mount of an impending resumption of rail freight trade with Russia and China.

The new development comes nearly two years after the DPRK shut all land border crossings at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as it appears to be preparing to increase imports to address economic problems. 

The recent work consists of construction on a new complex of buildings along the railroad tracks beginning in September, as well as upgrades in the last week of October to a former freight storage area that may be in the process of being converted into an import disinfection facility.

Work also resumed for the first time in years on another complex of buildings closer to the border which may serve as customs facilities in the future, whenever North Korea constructs a long-planned cross-border road bridge next to the rail bridge.

DISINFECTION FACILITIES

North Korea built its largest new import disinfection center in early 2021 at its northwestern border with China. This center has appeared to grow more active in recent weeks as reports have emerged that North Korea will open the Dandong-Sinuiju rail crossing to much-needed imports soon.

DPRK authorities appeared to build a similar but smaller facility along the railroad tracks in the North Korean town of Tumangang across from Russia’s Khasan around the same time, after the Russian ambassador in Pyongyang said a disinfection center would be built at the narrow shared border.

The initial work involved building an 85-meter-long (278 foot) warehouse and repaving the rail platform surrounding it between April and June 2021, and the warehouse’s roofing appears to have been upgraded again between Oct. 23 and 31, according to Planet Labs satellite imagery.

Just to the east of the warehouse in Tumangang, an even larger construction project began with land excavation in mid-August, followed by brand new rail platform construction in late September and the appearance of new buildings in mid-October. 

The purpose of the project is unclear, but it’s being carried out along the tracks connecting to Russia just before they enter the freight storage area and may be part of the import disinfection center.

“We know there is reconstruction [at the border] and they’re going to open the border for the transfer of necessary goods from abroad” such as cooking oil, flour and other foodstuffs, an employee with Russia’s RasonConTrans told NK Pro on Tuesday. RasonConTrans jointly manages the cross-border rail bridge and rail line that runs between the border and the DPRK city of Rason.

The employee, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said it appears North Korean authorities will still not allow people to cross the border anytime soon, and that RasonConTrans’s coal transshipments from Russia through the Rason port will also not resume soon.

Meanwhile, starting in mid-September, construction workers finally paved the grounds around administrative buildings that may be North Korea’s new customs complex at the border.

Such large facilities will likely only be necessary in their specific location if a new road bridge is eventually built over the adjacent Tumen River. The buildings were built from 2018-19 around the time Russia and DPRK were conducting negotiations over building the bridge.

Edited by Bryan Betts