`N.Koreans sneaking into Chinese city of Hunchun to rob or steal`

`N.Koreans sneaking into Chinese city of Hunchun to rob or steal`. February. 28, 2013 05:55. mungchii@donga.com.

“Barbed wire fences were installed just before the Duman River froze last year. They were put in place due to frequent robberies by North Koreans who secretly scaled the border and stole or robbed as reported last year."

So said a resident of a village in Hunchun near China`s border with North Korea across the Duman River from North Hamgyong Province of the Stalinist country. In the wake of the North’s latest nuclear test, the Chinese weekly Nanpang People did a story on the residents of Hunchun, especially in the river`s downstream areas, in its latest issue released Wednesday.

This is an area greatly influenced by North Korea. A two meter-high barbed wire fence was installed late last year by Chinese customs officials at certain riverside points of the river leading to Panchuan, a city around the border shared by China, North Korea and Russia. The facility was introduced in light of North Koreans who secretly cross the Duman at night and steal corn, cattle and sheep. Government authorities also advised residents to “not open the door without using caution when someone knocks at night.”

The number of North Korean defectors has declined, however, because the Chinese and North Korean governments have beefed up their crackdowns on defectors. Another resident said, “If I take on a defector as a wife, she should live in hiding,” adding, “If one reports a defector to authorities, a reward is paid to the informant and the people caught will face severe punishment.” So a man who marries a North Korean woman will seek to move to another area or South Korea.

Hunchun is located 50 kilometers from the North`s Rajin-Sunbong special district and about 200 kilometers from the Stalinist country`s Gilju County, where a nuclear test site is situated, but Hunchun has suffered seismic damage due to the nuclear test.

Chin Manlin, a trucker at a village by the Duman River, said, “The wall on my home got a crack as wide as a finger,” adding, “Wall or fences at most homes in the village have had cracks.” This is an area where the northeastern tiger, also called the Mount Baekdu tiger, is frequently spotted. A resident said, “Hungry tigers come down to villages in the winter,” adding, “A woman was killed by a tiger several years ago.”

In Sinuiju, North Korea across the Amnok River from Dandong, China, severe shortages of imported products, including beer from China, have been reported in recent months. A trading company owner in Dandong said, “The price of Amnok River Beer has soared, as Chinese merchants and truckers who travel to Sinuiju get accustomed to its taste.” The beer brand was sold for 6 yuan (0.95 cents) per bottle, but the cost has risen to more than 10 yuan (1.60 dollars) in recent weeks due to a toughened customs clearance process.

After the Lunar New Year`s holiday, the customs clearance process for export to North Korea has been beefed up by Dandong customs authorities as well. In the past, if freight for shipment to the North was in a container, customs clearance was given only by checking shipment documents, but officials are now said to closely inspect materials in containers.