In China, North Korean firms still trading despite shutdown order
Businesses were supposed to close on Tuesday, but some restaurants, travel agencies and seafood stalls plan to stay open
Some North Korean businesses in China had closed their doors on Tuesday but others remained open, despite Beijing’s deadline to shut down under UN sanctions intended to strip the regime of cash.
Beijing has backed a series of United Nations sanctions against its cold war-era ally, which relies on China for 90 per cent of its foreign trade.
But the halting progress in shutting down the businesses demonstrated the uneven enforcement of a commerce ministry directive for them to close by January 9.
A North Korean hotel in the northeastern city of Shenyang stopped taking reservations on Tuesday. In Beijing a restaurant posted a handwritten note on its door reading “off for today”.
But elsewhere in China’s frigid northeast, the hub of North Korean economic activities in the country, some restaurants, travel agencies and seafood stalls planned to stay open.
“Tourism is about connecting people, it’s a human right,” said North Korean Kim Yongil at the office of North Korean International Travel Agency in the Chinese border city of Dandong, noting they had received no notice to close.