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posted by mrpg on Monday June 11 2018, @04:18AM   Printer-friendly
from the bulletproof-buildings dept.

Real Estate Jumps In Chinese City Bordering North Korea

[...] Occasional trains are some of the only traffic left on the China-Korea Friendship Bridge. This is the crossing point for 70 percent of goods entering North Korea from China — things like coal, fuel and household appliances — which are typically transported from Dandong, a gleaming metropolis, to drab Sinuju, the North's second-largest city.

But these are atypical times: United Nations sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear and weapons tests have reduced traffic on this bridge to a trickle. The effects are hitting the economy of this Chinese city hard as well. But in April, Dandong's hopes were suddenly lifted. A historic meeting between leaders of North and South Korea provided raised optimism here that the closed country across the river may soon open for business. The summit planned for next week between President Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un has added more fuel to the anticipation. And investors from across China have flooded in to this border city of 2.4 million. [...] "I've never seen anything like this in Dandong," says [Bob] Li, as workers scurry around him. "We'd have several buyers coming in from all over China buying up apartments. To them, the homes were very cheap, so they would buy as many as possible."

[...] "The rumor around town is that if the North opens up, it'll finally build a road to the new bridge, and our city will be linked to Seoul by road," says Li. "Pyongyang would just be a stop on the way."

Also at Reuters.


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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday June 11 2018, @10:24AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday June 11 2018, @10:24AM (#691336) Journal

    I want to see Kim Jong-un die a slow, agonizing death, in public view for his victims. I'd risk my life to have a realistic chance of having that come to pass.

    That's the least necessary outcome. If he could be coaxed into exile in Switzerland with a few billion dollars in his Swiss bank account, that would be acceptable if it meant that the current hostage situation (entire population are the hostages) could be brought to a close. There's too much at stake.

    Nobody should be expecting these talks to solve the problem. NK has played the diplomacy game before. But if the situation does "stabilize", it doesn't necessarily mean that the regime will be in power longer. Even with some sanctions lifted, less military posturing could mean more military plotting. Economic activity also means more contact with the outside world. It's reported that millions of North Koreans own cell phones (concentrated in Pyongyang) and USB drives are used to spread (at a minimum) foreign entertainment. The cell phones only communicate domestically, but they *might* be used to organize initial protests (up until the network is switched off).

    Predicting the future is hard, don't get too caught up in it. And you better try to join the Air Force or Navy now, because if that war starts, it will be over fast.

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