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456<br />

Korea runs perpetual merchandise trade deficits primarily with<br />

China (and also Russia); 138 possible financing sources for these<br />

deficits include overseas business activities, illicit activities, foreign<br />

aid, and remittances. 139<br />

Figure 2: China-North Korea Trade, 2006–2015<br />

Source: China General Administration of Customs via CEIC database.<br />

To help facilitate bilateral trade and tourism, North Korea has<br />

established 11 special economic zones (SEZs) near the North<br />

Korea-China border, which have been heavily promoted under Kim<br />

Jong-un, though most are not operational due to North Korea’s<br />

business environment, bureaucratic constraints, and tensions in bilateral<br />

relations. 140 According to Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the<br />

U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced<br />

International Studies, ‘‘North Korea’s business environment<br />

is not a welcoming destination for Chinese capital even when relations<br />

are relatively good because with no credible commitment to<br />

policies, there is ultimately nothing preventing the DPRK from<br />

shaking down or seizing assets of Chinese investors at some point<br />

in the future when the bilateral environment changes.’’ 141 Beijing<br />

seeks to build improved infrastructure connecting some of these<br />

SEZs to China, but these projects have largely stalled in recent<br />

years. 142 Lu Chao, director of the North and South Korea Research<br />

Center at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences in China, notes<br />

that cross-border economic development projects between Dandong<br />

and North Korea, including a $338 million bridge linking Dandong<br />

(China) and Sinuiju (North Korea), have been delayed indefinitely<br />

by Pyongyang since December 2013 when Kim Jong-un purged and<br />

executed his uncle and high-level official Jang Song-taek, who was<br />

important in facilitating bilateral economic ties. 143<br />

dkrause on DSKHT7XVN1PROD with USCC<br />

North Korea Foreign Trade Trends, July 2016, 12; Analyst, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion<br />

Agency, interview with Commission staff, September 5, 2016.<br />

VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:49 Nov 01, 2016 Jkt 020587 PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 G:\GSDD\USCC\2016\FINAL\09_C3_M.XXX 09_C3_M<br />

C3S4Fig2.eps

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