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SinoNK—headed up by Adam Cathcart and Chris Green—provides insight not only into China-DPRK relations at the high-political level, but also look at the peculiarities of the border area. Back in April 2013, we recommended the first volume of their Tumen Triangle Documentation Project. They have now released Volume 2 (.pdf here). The purpose is to collect short, thematic pieces that shed light on social and economic transformation at the ground level. Ben Habib and Geoffrey See provide trip reports on Rason. Both emphasize continuing infrastructure investment; Habib reports on a visit to a very large market in the city. Brian Gleason interviews three refugees from Hyesan, a model city in Ryanggang that enjoys privileges of proximity to the border, but also heightened scrutiny as a result.
One of the most interesting pieces is a very short report on conversations with a refugee from Kilju who crossed into China and became aware of the risks of nuclear tests, including on groundwater; this information is now leaking back into the country and generating concern about the tests in the country. Chris Green closes with a discussion of “yuanization,” referencing a DailyNK video we had not seen on the topic. The footage was shot in the wake of the 2013 nuclear tests, and shows market vendors in Hyesan quoting prices in yuan. The accompanying article estimates that the yuan now accounts for half of foreign currency circulating in the markets beyond the border, with the dollar accounting for the other half. In the border area, however, DailyNK estimates 80 percent of transactions are denominated in yuan. Among other things, the grainy footage shows an ample supply of South Korean consumer goods on offer.
We Reproduce the table of contents below:
PREFACE
THE LIMITED IMPACT OF REGIONAL TUMULT
By Dr. James (Jim) E. Hoare, British Charges d’Affaires to the DPRK, 2001-2002
PART ONE: FEATURED ESSAY
YANBIAN KOREAN AUTONOMOUS REGION 1990
By Warwick Morris , Former Ambassador to the ROK, 2003-2008, and Dr. James (Jim) E. Hoare
PART TWO: EYE ON RASON
NORTH KOREAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THE URBAN LANDSCAPE OF RASON
By Dr. Benjamin Hab ib, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Latrobe University, Melbourne, Australia
TRAINING IN RASON?
By Geoffrey See, Managing Director, Founder & Board Chairman, Choson Exchange
PART THREE: FOCUS ON... HYESAN
HYESAN ROUNDTABLE Q&A WITH THREE NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES
By Brian Gleason, MA in International Relations, Yonsei Graduate School of International Studies
ESSAYS AND COMMENTARIES
CHINA’S STRUGGLE WITH NORTH KOREAN METH PRODUCTION
By Nick Miller, Independent North Korea Analyst
THE PEOPLE OF KILJU COUNTY DO NOT WANT NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTS.
By Kim Joo-il
, Secretary-General, UK North Korean Residents Association
DEVELOPMENTAL CONNECTIVITIES IN THE TUMEN TRIANGLE: POTATO, “KING OF CROPS”
By Dr. Robert Winstanley-Chesters , Post-Doctoral Fellow of the Beyond the Korean War Project (University of Cambridge) and Visiting Research Fellow (University of Leeds)
YUANIZATION WRIT LARGE: DAILY NK CONFIRMS THE RUSH TO RMB
By Christopher Green , Manager of International Affairs, Daily NK, and Editor-in-Chief, Tumen Triangle Documentation Project
