Cross-border Business Ties

Lumps of Coal: How China’s Demand for Russia’s Natural Resources Affects North Korea Sanctions Enforcement

By | August 13, 2017

Anthony Rinna investigates the Russian role in the DPRK sanctions system, focusing on the country’s potential to export high-quality coal to China as a replacement for the DPRK.

Buckling Down in Dandong

By | May 14, 2017

As Xi Jinping waxes poetic at the “One Belt, One Road” summit in Beijing, we investigate messy realities in the the Chinese border city that would be the ideal hub for any North Korean participation.

Falling Short: Financial Sanctions and Sino-North Korean Border Trade

By | April 06, 2017

Kevin Gray interrogates the usefulness of financial sanctions against the DPRK, highlighting ways in which such sanctions impact the development of the licit and illicit border economies.

One Year On: KBS Sends a Helicopter over the Kaesong Industrial Complex

By | February 10, 2017

KBS sent a helicopter to hover just inside the southern side of the North-South border and take pictures of conditions in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) a year after the complex was closed. Christopher Green reproduces their photos and translates the commentary.

Targeting Northeastern Tigers: Xi Jinping’s Anti-Corruption Campaign in Liaoning

By | February 06, 2017

The Chinese Communist Party is in a state of tremendous ferment on the corruption issue. Surveying the mainland press for clues from Liaoning, Adam Cathcart assesses the campaign’s impact in a key border province.

Yongusil 89: One River, Three States in Asian Perspective Special Issue

By | December 19, 2016

This autumn saw the journal Asian Perspective bring together five authors for a transnational investigation of issues confronting the DPRK-PRC-Russia border region. The journal special issue was guided by guest editor Park Hyun-gwi of Cambridge University. Anthony Rinna takes a look inside.

Amid Sanctions, a Sino-North Korean Rapprochement

By | November 30, 2016

With the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 2321, the US has managed to lock in UN implementation of a number of Treasury sanctions on North Korea. Will the PRC finally play the role of partner and ratchet up the pressure on the DPRK, or will it continue to say one thing but do another? Adam Cathcart considers the question.

Hard Times for Expat South Koreans in Dandong

By | March 01, 2016

A reporter travels to the border city of Dandong, and finds a number of despondent Korean traders with on-the-ground insights into China’s new sanctions on North Korea.

Rumblings from Dandong: Banks and Bayonets

By | February 24, 2016

To understand politics in East Asia it is vital to keep a close eye on events in state capitols. However, it is also necessary to know what is going on at ground level – in Rason, Yanji, Hyesan, Ji’an, Sinuiju, Jilin, and of course right here in Dandong.