A glimpse across the North Korean border
Posted: Thursday, June 04, 2009 12:49 PM
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Beijing, China
By Adrienne Mong, NBC News Producer
YANJI, Jilin Province, China –
"Huang yian ham ni da!"
"An nyung ha se yo!"
"Kam sah ham ni da!"
The cries that surrounded us as we walked onto the plane seemed standard fare – "welcome," "hello," and "thank you."
Except they were in Korean, and we were very much in China, boarding an Air China flight that would take us from Beijing to Yanji, a town in the country’s far northeastern province of Jilin.
Yanji is the capital of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and, as home to over 850,000 ethnic Koreans, is sometimes referred to as the Third Korea.
In odd little ways, however, the area reminds me of China's other autonomous regions, like Xinjiang and Tibet, on the country's western frontier.
Bilingual, bicultural
For one, there's the language. Everyone in Yanji appears to be bilingual, and all signposts are in Chinese and Korean.
Then there is the way Chinese media describe the area, not unlike the way they talk about other ethnic minorities as simple, happy tribal folk: "Yanbian has the largest population of Koreans in the country, who are noted for their singing, dancing and etiquette."
And, of course, there is geographic sensitivity. Yanbian borders Russia – Vladivostok is about 100 miles to the east – and North Korea, which as I write this is fewer than 100 feet from where I stand.
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| Adrienne Mong / NBC News |
| The Tumen River is a natural but porous border between North Korea and China. |
In fact, as we drive along the Tumen River, which up here is all that separates China from its highly secretive and isolated neighbor, we are close enough to hear the voices of North Korean farmers floating across the river and to spot giant color portraits of the Great Leader Kim Il Sung decorating the outside of buildings. We can also see billboards proclaiming, "Sun of the 21st Century: Long Live General Kim Jong Il," the son of Kim Il Sung.
It was somewhere along this border that two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were captured by North Korean border guards on March 17. The two women are standing trial in the capital, Pyongyang, on charges of engaging in what North Korean authorities call "hostile acts."
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| Adrienne Mong / NBC News |
| A portrait of Kim Il Sung, North Korea's "Great Leader," seen from across the Tumen River in China. |
They were filming a story about North Korean refugees fleeing the isolated and impoverished state into China.
And while the porous border area in which they were arrested isn't anything like the Demilitarized Zone on the Korean Peninsula, it's still a politically sensitive frontier and off-limits to foreigners and journalists. It has long been known as a main crossing point for North Korean escapees.
Fruit vendors from the countryside around Yanji told us that they regularly hear stories about North Koreans, particularly women, sneaking over in search of jobs or just a different life; sometimes, though, they are smuggled or tricked into coming into China.
"It's dangerous," said one vendor. "The North Korean border guards are always trying to snatch them back."
But the traffic flows the other way, too.
China in North Korea
Our driver, Xiao Piao, drives up to Luo Jing, a town across the border, several times a month. The 22-year old ethnic Korean, who was born in Yanji, does a thriving trade driving back and forth, ferrying all manner of Chinese-made goods into North Korea in exchange for seafood products to bring back into China. There was the unmistakable odor of fish lingering in our van.
"The North Koreans want everything," said Xiao Piao.
But what they seem to need most is electricity. The driver, who overnights regularly in North Korea, said power is unavailable after 7 p.m. every day.
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| Adrienne Mong / NBC News |
| Cigarettes, CDs, and stamps from North Korea can be bought at border crossings in China. |
In fact, an immediately noticeable feature of the mountainous landscape opposite the border from us was its bareness. There were no trees, whereas the same terrain on the Chinese side was covered with forests and shrubs. It's believed the North Koreans cut down all their trees to burn as fuel.
Xiao Piao is just one of thousands of people who engage in small-scale trade in North Korea. But while it's easy enough for someone like him to travel across the border, there are still strict controls.
He has to turn in his cell phone at the crossing each time he enters North Korea. And he is limited to where he can travel inside the nation. Pyongyang, the capital, and most of the country is still off limits, he said.
