North Korea appears to be preparing to partially reopen its land border with China after almost two years of self-imposed isolation, threatening to undermine US hopes that economic pressure might force Kim Jong Un back to the nuclear negotiating table.
Satellite images in a new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington seen exclusively by the Financial Times reveal the conversion of an air base at Uiju, near North Korea’s north-western border with China, in to a disinfection facility for containers transported across the border by train.
North Korea shut its land borders with China and Russia in January 2020 in response to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to a mass exodus of foreign aid workers and diplomats. The country has since then conducted only very limited trade with China, by far its largest trading partner, mostly by sea.