CHINA: Chinese border village looks to North Korea economic boom to fuel its growth.

A Chinese border village waits patiently for an economic boom in North Korea to fuel the growth of tourism and jobs in the mostly agricultural region. Scenic snow-capped mountains across the border in North Korea provide the picturesque backdrop for the Chinese tourist travelling here to the far northeast of the country. Across the Yalu River, the waterway that divides China from North Korea, these rustic scenes give tourists their closest glimpse of their fellow communist neighbour. But beyond its natural beauty, the barren ridges hint at the impoverished state of the isolated country and its starving people. A broken bridge once linking the two countries now draws the line of separation between the economic powerhouse and an isolated dictatorship. In Hekou (pron: her-coal) village, more than 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the Chinese-North Korean border town of Dandong, scores of hotels have sprung up over the past few years across the mostly agricultural region. There was hope for a tourist boom here in Hekou as North Korea led the offensive with the development of its showpiece economic and tourist town of Sinuiju just across the Yalu River. But the North Korean economic boom never happened. Instead Pyongyang angered the international community by conducting a nuclear test last year and shut its borders for Chinese tourists. As the six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear programme resume on Thursday (February 8), residents of Hekou wait for the political breakthrough to pave the way forward for their neighbour's moribund economy. For now, many farmers in the area have set up their own restaurants promoting dishes made from fresh farm produce. They are reaping the profits of publicity by the filming of a local television series there. New roads are being paved to link Hekou to Dandong as the local government looks to expand its tourist attractions in the area. 50-year-old farmer Wang Liquan used to conduct boat tours for curious tourists on his small fishing boat. He brings them very close to the North Korean riverbank to catch a glimpse of the people and life there. Now he says the demand for boat rides has fallen and he is happy tending to his farmland and his restaurant. But he added he would still be happy if North Korea opens up its economy. "If their (North Korea's) economy opens up, it would be beneficial for us. In North Korea, they have much raw materials that can be mined. They have many mountains that can be opened up for mining and because their country is so poor, they are unable to develop that. When their economy opens up, we can go over to open a few mines or quarries and it would be good. This would be very beneficial to the people," he said. The results of China's economic reforms stand as a model for its neighbour but North Korea still remains hamstrung by a command economy and its refusal to give up its nuclear weapons. "Their country (North Korea) is so poor that they don't produce anything. The cigarettes they smoke are from China, the shoes they wear are made in China, they are that poor. In earlier days, they did produce some merchandise, but for these few years, they produced nothing, everything they use is from China," Wang said. Wang added there was much illegal smuggling from the North Korean side across the Yalu River with North Korean soldiers and farmers eager to exchange raw materials like wood or copper for the Chinese currency or Chinese goods. Across the river, the winter is gradually fading away on the snowy slopes of Sinuiju's mountain ridges. North Koreans can be seen walking or cycling across their homes. But few will know what food they have under their roofs or what harvest they reap from their scrubby farmlands. Pyongyang's refusal to renounce its nuclear arms and its first nuclear test last October has led to economic sanctions endorsed by the United Nations. Despite the optimism going into the nuclear talks this week, North Korea has said it will not contemplate scrapping its nuclear weapons until Washington lifts a banking crackdown prompted by accusations that Pyongyang ran dollar counterfeiting and other illicit business. A new round of bilateral talks in Beijing in January between U.S. Treasury Department and North Korean officials seeking to resolve the dispute ended with no sign of a breakthrough. But businessman Shan Jie said the parties involved in the talks should give a chance for North Korea to develop economically first instead of pressuring it to give up its nuclear arsenal. "When North Korea's economy is fully opened up, and its economy is developed, I think it would gradually become part of the international community. It would then not take actions to go against this community," said Shan, who is the chief executive of the Dandong Federal Business Company, a consultancy which often does business with North Korea. Delegates to six-party talks began converging on Beijing on Wednesday (February 6) seeking a breakthrough in talks aimed at curtailing North Korea's nuclear ambitions, but envoys and analysts said a final deal was far away. Flying in to a city decked out for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the U.S. chief negotiator said the talks starting on Thursday would focus on implementing a 2005 statement offering isolated North Korea economic and security concessions in return for ending its nuclear weapons aspirations.

ITN Source | February 8, 2007

Tags:. .sanctions. .optimism. .communist. .arsenal. .agricultural