The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has announced that it has decided to suspend the operation of freight trains connecting North Korea, which had been resumed in January, due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection on the Chinese side. , It seems to hurt the North Korean economy.
At a press conference on the 29th, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Tateken explained the status of infection with the new coronavirus in Dandong regarding the operation of freight trains connecting Dandong in northeastern China and Sinuiju (Sinuiju) in northwestern North Korea. Based on this, it was revealed that as a result of discussions between the two countries, China and North Korea decided to suspend.
In Dandong, due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, measures have been taken to strictly restrict going out from 25th of this month, and a source from China and North Korea told NHK that "the North Korean side is concerned about the influx of the virus. Based on the request, the service was suspended from today. The time to resume the service has not been decided. "
The freight train between China and North Korea was suspended due to the blockade of the border by North Korea as an infection control measure.
After that, it was limited to transportation by ship, but freight trains resumed operation in January, and last month's total trade amount was about 30% of the same period in 2019 when the new coronavirus did not affect it. It tended to recover gradually.
For that reason, North Korea, which has been hit by prolonged economic sanctions, is likely to suffer financially from the difficulty of procuring supplies from China again.