An Inconvenient Border: Where China Meets North Korea | ABC News

yes, Irish water, five dollars, North Korea, ah, here we go, so this is China, right here, across the river, like North Korea, and it's absolutely dark respect for the president of China, let them they said. I told them they'd make a much better deal, Andre. get rid of this threat or do something about the North Korea threat because that's what it is, it's a threat right there, the relationship between China and North Korea has always been complicated. China's Mao Zedong famously said that the two countries were as close as lips and teeth. A relationship forged with blood and steel during the Korean War against the United States.

Leaders have maintained that appearance since the time of Mao and North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung and into the next generation with Kim Jong-il, but something has changed. Since Kim Jong-min came to power in 2012, this supposedly close relationship is stretched at the seams, as leader Kim has never left the country, not even to visit Beijing as his father and grandfather did. This is the last time Kim was seen with a senior Chinese leader and it has been going downhill since, despite North Korea's dependence on China, mistrust has been brewing on both sides. China and North Korea share an 880-mile

border

divided by two rivers, the Yalu and the two rivers that flow from the same source. supervolcano that straddles the

border

known to the Chinese as Chung by Shan and to the Koreans, all Koreans, as Mount Paektu.

Many believe that this border is the lifeline of the North Korean regime. Ninety percent of North Korea's trade is with China. I have been reporting from inside North Korea for many years, the reports will be followed closely, but we hope to show you a country that the world knows very little about, but we have rarely been allowed to leave its showcase capital, Pyongyang. , to see the rest of the country. I'm curious to know exactly. what we could see from here our plan to travel the entire border or as far as we can from the Yellow Sea in the south to the regions shaken by Pyongyang's nuclear tests in the

north

our starting point no, no, it is a place unmistakably bustling Chinese city of commerce and condominiums connecting to the North Korean city of Cinn, a Jewish city by a single bridge, the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge. 70 percent of trade between China and North Korea passes through this bridge.

Despite UN sanctions, there is a constant flow of trucks and returning tourists. I would love to know what's inside these trucks, what this trade is, so I want to see

where

the trucks go when they leave the bridge. I think they circle around and go to a transportation center, maybe that's

where

they unload what they've loaded. up again in the morning, yes, written in Korean licenses, so these are clearly North Korean, yes, ha, your thumb, don't worry, mom it looks like the back is open, let's see what he has there. This thing may have already been downloaded, so this was clearly there. something they loaded took it to North Korea earlier today and then they just came back, so they'll probably reload by tomorrow all these trucks have North Korean license plates this was loaded now it's empty thousands of curious Chinese tourists descend on where- Don't be shocked with the lonely neighbors on the other side of the Yalu.

Along the river there are many tourist places set up like a human safari. What did you see? What do you think you were there before 18:02? Shamu thought, he has never been there. Wow, they sound too normal. You want to go there. What do you think of all these nuclear tests? Oh, I don't think they're as good as you. There are better nuclear bombs in China than what they have. This place is called a jump, this close. North Korea is fine, here is the border right on the other side of this field, this says there are no drones flying over the border and look at this warning, let's not chat or exchange objects with people on the other side of the border, they told us that We would be careful and warned not to get irritated. the North Koreans and don't even try to cross, they appear in glimpses of what appears to be a normal life, mundane but hypnotic at the same time, there is a way to get even closer, efficient qui m'a, this is a fast ship, so I guess that we are We are going to cross the line into North Korea from here from one side to the other.

You say it is an unclear line in the middle of the river, but this river is divided. China on this side. North Korea on that side. Let's see if we run with any army. The captain tells us that technically we have entered North Korean waters, so we should do none of this, we can't shoot, so this is where all the generals' houses are, so it's kind of a joke, they said, yeah there is some kind of conflict. war that they can get much faster than China than the rest maja now around us another amazing sight North Korean boats full of North Korean products ginseng kimchi alcohol and cigarettes a kind of floating duty-free shop they only charge the other tourists on our boat we were ready to buy, you can see the shoes selling things right next to the ship beach North Korea, you can buy your cigarettes much cheaper, but it's certainly not very safe, all the money from this goes back to her, to the people on the coast , to the government official.

It's officially okay, so we're told this is a pretty fancy North Korean restaurant with North Korean waitresses, very North Korean entertainment. An estimated 40,000 North Koreans work here in the Dong Dong area and send cash directly to the North Korean government, one of the highest. profile jobs waitress and artists in

north

korea

n restaurants the kind ass is not the video the waitress told us that they live and work in China without their families for three years with the promise of getting better jobs in Pyongyang when they return, but on the outskirts of Dong dong, the symbiotic relationship is starting to show signs of fraying, so just head south of dong dong, head to the so-called new district, this is where a new bridge is being built for the last seven years, but it almost stopped, slowed down . and it's probably because Kim Jong-un when the new leader came to power, this was his father's project and it's just that the buildings are not completely full.

The instruction is not what they thought it would be. People say this is a catastrophe. Meet Shing to John, a truck driver who used to trade with North Korean farmers and, more recently, helped build the new bridge. He moved his family to this new district that was built with 700,000 new residents, but only a quarter of them have shown up. So now he will take us to his building where there were about 2000 rooms that were supposed to be full, so we will see what his life is here in this new district of North Korea, well, if you pass through this hole yet, haha, North.

Korea everywhere, so you can see normal North Korean people. We will never be able to leave Pyongyang. Kim Jong Hyun is testing so many nuclear bombs and launching missiles. Is there a lot of fear here? Look, I die jeolla-do zombie, this for me. In January, do you think he thought? Yes, how many back to that Yan ji devera did it cost? Yeah, leave the Tong, break up with him, Tommy, yeah, you want to make sense, boy, stop wishing yourself 100 or 10, so what do you think will happen in this new district if? this relationship with China and North Korea goes back to normal sometimes you know you know your victory does more with you its new fall with its head with you the bridge is not open yet oh I bet you do look at this bridge this is supposed to be the big dream, this will intensify the relationship between these two countries, China and North Korea, but it just doesn't open.

A $350 million project built by the Chinese was expected to be able to handle 50,000 people and 20,000 vehicles a day. Now it stands like a bridge. nowhere, literally, satellite images show that bridge ends abruptly on the North Korean side in a dirt field, why does it take so long to open this bridge where teenagers who are children attending tea know how happy they are? Are you, or do you win here, Jang? song-thaek was Kim Jong Un's uncle whom he brutally executed in 2013 for treason. Jon advocated for closer economic integration with China to open up North Korea's economy. This bridge was supposed to be the hub.

Citizen shakeela still in the Odyssey through an employee. See that watchtower. that's where the north

korea

ns are watching the chinese and the chinese have their video cameras on that tower right there to watch the north koreans as we drive north to dong dong an unexpected scene the chinese military training on the river with guards doing drills Bridge lined the road to prevent people from stopping, a reminder that there are 150,000 Chinese troops stationed along this border with their supposed ally. China's biggest fear is that the collapse of our regime would bring refugees flooding this border and US-backed South Korean troops there. a new great wall that existed in the 15th century but collapsed, they built it again in 1992 as tourism, so they say it is about 160 yards to the top of this mountain and hopefully we can see the Yellow River scene in Korea from the North Nicosia rule yellow never hurts students we had dinner in it oh yeah so here this is this farm area right here is North Korea so this is absolutely the best view we've seen so far. look, there is the Yellow River, right on that side, there are all the buildings, the successful economy of China and then this is North Korea, there is nothing but land, agriculture and buildings, so this is just beautiful, you are afraid of these nuclear bombs that kill minutes. developing thank you thank you I wish I ever had a dangerous reason so what do you think we can do about it?

Can we stop him from making this peaceful solution? Yes, peaceful solution as long as someone is looking for your total knockout. We think this is dangerous. Very different. strange, so your nessam somehow they are not somehow in that position you heard, I know we have a keeper, a little work, greetings, let me know what you do or more, yes, oh yes, somehow find out how you eat dry for years. Well, I'm not talking about the edges of each end, I would say the D versus all, yeah, so I'm going to stop, so smart. I'm not in favor of wood, isn't it your neck?

What do any of you do in this area? there could be some kind of war other than what I knew about, we all need dishes, don't pressure you, good luck, thanks, our next stop is G in a former Korean capital, now on the Chinese side of the border, this place is more big. than I thought it was going to be different, no, no, tourism seems to have stopped in this city, okay, so this is Jian, I mean, you just look across the river and wonder, white, why not can they just swim over it? It's so close, there's no cops, there's no police, why don't you come here, get on that kind of pier and walk to freedom?

There have been deserters here, but the border is narrowing. China returns deserters they catch. He was a farmer. Here I mean that you feel like you are in the 1930s and North Korea punishes the entire family of defectors. I don't think you see those types of plows much. You never see any of those in the United States. This is another. to see the difference, then there is China on one side and North Korea on the other, you know, you see the difference in wealth when we look across the Yalu, a man claiming to be an unemployed tour guide approaches us with an offer.

So this guy told us that they just stopped the one day tour for tourists to come and go to North Korea for the last 45 days because of the tension, they don't allow anyone to go to North Korea, he says. You can get closer to it, but we will see that we have traveled about 12 kilometers along the street to the very edge of Jeon and that is where the bridges that go to the other country are. I have no idea, this guy is fine, so we're going down below, uh, is he opening the door? I say that he says that he is claiming that he is throwing us under the bridge just a secret baby.

Is it strange that this guy has a mysterious place where he takes us? How is this a secret place? Do you know any deserters who have ever come here oh yeah, do you ever get over them? You can go there man yeah boobala so it usually doesn't go on yeah well what's the tension? This tension is due to nuclear energy. tests III sorry people, I'm more Americans than North Koreans for stopping this tourism to Austria, yeah look, I knew it from our challenge. I'll call them nervous about being interviewed, oh yeah, every year, the annual joint military exercises between the United States. and South Korea sends North Korea into a defensive frenzy Yong Yong exercises just over its southern border justify its pursuit of missiles and nuclear weapons at all costs in turn the Chinese blame the exercises to blow up North Korea Yo I'd say this is two football fields away North Korea loves to know who's nervous apparently call me the guideTourist offers to take us further to the new city bridge.

I know I'm saying that's it, that even here in China they are blaming the United States for this tension almost as much as If it has nothing to do with North Korea, we could see that in the dome where we were, there was tourism coming and going, there was a lot of commerce, we saw the trucks, we saw the trains, this could be completely different at this distance. to the north, the importance is the People's Republic of China, but this is the bridge here, okay, let's get out of here, so were you worried about the police in the country?

Yes we do, that's a prison right there, please wait, can you find out who Jenny is? reporting from Paul this way Kim Jong Min built this bridge, but why did Kim German want to build this bridge for a war? Prepare for war. That's what Kim Jong-un said, what do you hear from him? He tells us his friends in China. The military told her about the bridge and she says it's wide enough for two tanks to cross at the same time. Intended for North Korean generals to cross the border if war breaks out, once we get back to our vans, the guide Tourist speeds up, so let's say there's a military zone, so we should probably get out of here, so we just walk about a thousand meters along this train track.

You'll end up in North Korea when we leave the train tracks, the post advanced Chinese army will see us in the distance, so I guess it came true with the military. I came out and they stopped us and took us inside. to their headquarters and they told us that we were in the military area and we shouldn't be there, but they finally let us go, they didn't take any of our recordings, so I think we are ready to go, but we will just head to another city to stay tonight instead of stay and Jeon, so we'll see what happens next.

Driving north, we reach the source of Mount Paektu of the Yellow River, so let's go to the top of the mountain now. It is perhaps the most sacred place for all Koreans. The border here is divided by this immense volcano known as Cheung by Shan in Chinese and Peck Busan in Korean. It is known as the spiritual home of the Korean people every day when North Korea's state television begins broadcasting. The national anthem's programming contrasts with images of Mount Paektu and the sacred Chon Lake, which lies in its vast crater. The volcano is always present in the daily lives of North Koreans, to such an extent that after the successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in July, the

news

of its success was announced against the backdrop of none other than Mount Paektu, which bears witness the successful passage of the intercontinental ballistic rocket on the 14th.

In fact, the ruling Kim family derives its legitimacy from the mountain. Kim Jong Un's grandfather and father are often depicted standing atop Mount Paektu, his enduring myth. It says that the sacred blood of Mount Paektu runs through the veins of the Kim family and therefore they are the rightful elected leaders of the Korean people, so we join buses full of tourists to walk to the top of the volcano . According to mythology, this is where the first king of the Korean kingdom began. He was born here, too. in the Soviet Union, but finally there is a very popular folk song, you, South Korea, South Korea, what do you think of this?

Oh yes, many of the tourists here are from South Korea and they only have access to their sacred mountain here on the China side, whether we are in the north of the south of China, North Korea, this is me, where North Korea and the rest of you Chinese tourists, there is a story in North Korea that when Kim Jong-il died, the ice on this lake broke and it was so strong that it shook. Heaven and earth, so that's the line that goes between this creature, China and North Korea, right there, shut down, did I tell you?

The other thing I see about North Korea there is that it's on that ridge coming down from the top, a little building from about a hundred miles. Just over this ridge towards North Korea, they say that's where the location of one of the nuclear test sites is. In fact, they felt that when they sing so close, what is it like to be here right next to North Korea? For the first time? I see the site, yes, well, how do you feel very exciting in a wonderful Korea for one person and said, but it is that one day it will be a Korea again, North Korea will leave Mount Paektu, the border is now formed by the Tumen River, so the signs?

We will have Chinese and we will enter the predominantly Korean region of China. Half of China's two million ethnic Koreans live in this region and this is Yong Jie, its largest city and, much to China's chagrin, this region feels the direct impact of Pyongyang's nuclear tests that breaking

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on North Korea's successful nuclear test claimed overnight South Korea confirms this is just the latest in a series of provocations by North Korea certainly is George it is believed this overnight test was the largest yet last year like it was in September the ground shook here because of what happened just on the other side of the border, the students on the other side of the border, Eunji were evacuated outdoors in this high school, we met this security guard who felt the tremors, everything happened here, huh, what was it you were dancing or like that, do you really evaluate new glories? and thoughts forever you know this was their nuclear test I don't know, these are yeah because look in Saudi Arabia, come with me can you think there will be another nuclear test at that site?

He will know, so he was not a lawyer we went to. and head towards the border towards Nan Ping town along the river, the Tumen River is shallower and calmer than the Yalu, making it more manageable for defectors. Since the mid-1990s, nearly 30,000 North Koreans have fled to China, leading to violence and crime in recent years. They have also crossed the border, they say that the North Korean soldiers are underpaid and malnourished and that is one of the reasons they have been crossing the river: it is Rob, the people here and in China and in some cases in non-pink murders ​​we run into a checkpoint he is checking all our bags who do you ask, do you ask his boss no, the security of the national security is actually the FBI, it is likely that after the state security agent arrives at the border, they didn't send anything about the murders that this can It won't be the same, I mean this is very different than it was months ago, even in the locals, they keep us on the side of the road for more than an hour, although they check every vehicle that passes.

Our truck was the only one that was turned around. After taking pictures of our equipment and our passports, they let us go. The final decision was to turn us around, send us back to where we came from and not allow us to get any closer. He also said because the border is, oh, the guy is following us. They'll follow us from now on who knows, but maybe we'll try a different route back to the border and see what happens as we head north. You clearly know that in the south it was quite easy, no one really stopped us. police or security, but now the further we go north and get closer to the more purely Korean areas and cities, it is clearly becoming a little more difficult, they are more sensitive.

We later learned that just a month earlier, seven defectors overpowered North Korea. border guards and cross into China near Non Ping we make one last attempt to cross the border and head towards the border town of Tumen named after the river we have yet to see we pass a sign that says only eight minutes to North Korea this is another region Kim Jong-un's uncle hoped to develop with China before his execution. This is not far from the Russian border town, there is a 30 yard river to cross. You know, the Kim Jong Il song. The signs are on top of that building.

It's the first time I've seen that on the other side of the room is the northernmost river we've come so far. It is probably the narrowest river and also the shallowest. It is the easiest to desert. They cut the Chinese flag and get the North Korean flag side by side. Why does she bring up that part but once again they stopped us from shooting? The security agent told us that we had two options: go out or go sightseeing, and the rest of the tourists would no longer report, so we go sightseeing. What we're really seeing is the further we get. we go north and stricter they get here on the China side and you know the Chinese came to us and told us we can't shoot we can't shoot anything on the other side if they do it the North Koreans see someone doing This is They'll complain to the authorities on this side, the China side, so obviously it's this guy's job to stop us from doing that.

Now we saw people with our cell phones recording videos there. They all said partly because I'm a foreigner. even stricter, okay, this time this black car will follow us again, I think probably until we get out of this city, so this has been a great trip. I think we have to finish it and go back home, all these cities. I think they'll be watching to see if we'll come from our trip. Kim Jong-un conducted North Korea's sixth nuclear test and what appears to be an open challenge to China. Beijing has committed two additional rounds of new UN sanctions banning all imports of charcoal seafood textiles from North Korea and now limiting fuel imports from Pyongyang until Beijing decides to actually cut the lifeline.

Trucks will continue to cross the bridge at Dondon. North Korea will still find a way to send its workers and the empty bridges across its border are ready. what they were supposedly built for Fears on the Chinese side of the border are not about an imminent war but about the disruption of their livelihood. China's reluctant tolerance of Kim Jong-un and the

inconvenient

status quo has always been and always will be a matter of stability within its countries. your own borders