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China Fencing Border With N. Korea

Posted August. 12, 2006 10:21,   

한국어

It was confirmed on August 11 that China has been building wires along its border with North Korea, around the source of the Duman River near Mt. Baekdu.

Speculations are that the wires are meant to prevent defection of North Koreans to China, or that they are aimed at drawing a clear Sino-Korea borderline in an apparent attempt to incorporate an ancient Korean kingdom into a Chinese historical timeline.

The border between North Korea and China has so far been marked with 21 boundary stones from Mt. Baekdu to the source of the Duman River.

The Chinese government was alleged to have kept fencing since the end of 2004 to prevent North Korean residents from defecting to China, but this is the first confirmation that the wires are actually in place near the mountain and the upper Duman River.

The wires are a series of 1.5 to 1.7 meters high and two to three meters wide T-shaped concrete pillars, similar to those along the Military Demarcation Line on the Korean peninsular.

Beijing reportedly claimed that the fence is there to stop North Korean defection. One Chinese source said that the Chinese government has set up wires near Mt. Baekdu around the Duman this summer and that it plans to extend them to Samhap and Yenbien where many North Korean defectors stay.

However, some raise doubts that the construction work is part of Chinese efforts to incorporate Korea’s ancient history into its own.

Given that Beijing fears that the Sino-DPRK border area will be absorbed into Korean influence in the process toward unification of the two Koreas, the world’s most populous country’s recent move could be interpreted as part of its “historic reorganization.”

Furthermore, Beijing tried to have Mt. Baekdu registered in UNESCO World Heritage and World Geopark, while developing its tourist programs near Mt. Baekdu.

Professor Kim Woo-jun at the Institute of East and West Studies said that China is set to make a clear-cut borderline on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of China’s Northeast Project ending next year. He went on to say that the wires are built up for both blocking defection and securing its sovereignty.

This view is widely held as many North Koreans pass the areas near Mt. Baekdu and the Duman River to flee their country.

Furthermore, the border fencing has something to do with the recent Sino-DPRK relations estranged by Pyongyang’s missile tests.

Professor Kim Tae-ho of the Hallym Institute of Advanced International Studies said that the change in the bilateral ties is transforming the concept on the areas between North Korea and China from “the frontier” to the “national border.” He also said that after the second North Korean nuclear crisis in October 2002, armed police border patrols were replaced with a standing army in September 2003.



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