We need this kind of stuff but for Samsung Korea based entirely on actual facts
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You can just walk across the border to China. It’s unguarded
Edit: Source
It’s not militarized but i’m not sure i would go so far as to say it’s unguarded. It’s not like the EU where you can just cross over, there are still border crossings with controls like between any two normal countries. Also, if you do cross over into China without a visa you are probably just going to get sent back.
But as a DPRK citizen you can get a work permit to go work in China and there are a fair number of them in northeastern China working in Korean restaurants.
I’m basing my perception on testimony from Kim Ryeon Hui, a DPRK citizen held captive by occupied Korea.
with China, there is no concept of a border. People come and go as they please[1]
Granted, she’s talking about the border circa 1994
That might have been the case in '94. Pretty sure you can’t do that today.
I would also guess that border security was (rightfully) tightened during the covid-19 pandemic
Hey comrade, this channel did a pretty good tourist explore from the Chinese side of the border.
Where CHINA meets NORTH KOREA 🇨🇳🇰🇵 I S2, EP96
Cfgaussian is correct on this at least as of 9 months ago as of posting this comment. One of the locals in the video reminisces that it used to be very uncontrolled but is not like that anymore.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
From what i understand the border has been closed much longer than just since 2020. Apparently this goes back several decades. Just because when i hear people who live on the border talk about the time when it used to be very open they are usually talking about like the 70s or 80s.
I asked my Chinese teacher about North Korea the other day because she lives really close to the border. She said people sometimes go look across the border and that she thinks they’re kind of funny because they’re “still in the 80s”
Apparently, according to this video, there is quite a bit of interest from Chinese tourists in going to the border with the DPRK to, i guess, just look at them? They put up entire fairs and amusement parks to attract tourists at some of the border crossings. It doesn’t seem malicious, i think they’re just curious because they consider the DPRK “mysterious”. There are also a lot of ethnic Koreans living in those border areas and some of them have family on the other side.
there is quite a bit of interest from Chinese tourists in going to the border with the DPRK to, i guess, just look at them?
Yup, that is what my teacher said.
i think they’re just curious because they consider the DPRK “mysterious”.
This is the impression I got as well. I was pretty surprised, I really thought there would be at least a little mingling at the border, enough to remove any real mystery.
There was a lot more mingling and trade back in the 70s and 80s, but after the Soviet Union dissolved and China opened up to the West the DPRK was forced to close its border.
It’s only recently that the DPRK has started to come out of international isolation through its close ties with Russia that they have started to have a lot more cross-border exchanges with China again.
They have opened up zones for tourism and i believe they have set up a couple of special economic zones as well. That being said, unfortunately it is still nowhere near as open of a relationship with China as they used to have 50 years ago.
I hope that can gradually change, but there is a pretty big rift between the two economic systems and the DPRK needs to be careful to not allow its domestic economy to be overwhelmed by an influx of Chinese goods.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
the hardest part of escaping north korea? knowing that capitalism is bullshit and thinking of return to the good korea…to being bored of not seeing crappy merchandise and try to escape again
I misread this as Escaped North Korea: TWICE (like the girl group)
