Is China loosening noose on North Korea?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju, looks around the traffic control center in Beijing, during his latest visit to China from June 19 to 20 for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China appears to be easing sanctions on North Korea following Pyongyang's reconciliatory mood with Washington. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

China appears to be easing sanctions on North Korea, while stepping up efforts to resume economic cooperation, according to sources familiar with Pyongyang.

The sources said last week Chinese customs are turning a blind eye to the flow of banned goods across the Pyongyang-Beijing border.

They said such signs of loosening sanctions are particularly noticeable in aviation and tourism, following the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, June 12, and another one between Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping, June 19.

"The Chinese customs officers who used to check every single item following x-ray scans are now searching only around half of all vehicles," a source said.

Another source said when truck drivers were caught bringing restricted items on the sanctions list, their truck used to be impounded for a day and could only pass through the border if a fine was paid.

"But nowadays, those kinds of trucks smuggling restricted goods are fined, but can go through customs right away," it said.

The Chinese customs officers used to require North Koreans traveling to Dandong, a Chinese border city, to open their luggage for inspection, but now allow them to pass through "after a routine x-ray screening."

The third source said customs process for North Koreans who travel to his city for personal reasons is much easier.

"Alcohol and tobacco products are limited to one bottle of alcohol and one carton of cigarettes, but the custom officers don't make an issue out of having two or three bottles and a couple of cartons of cigarettes."

Sources in Dandong and the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Region in northeast China said Chinese borderguards no longer monitor smuggling in a tight manner after Kim's recent meeting with Xi.

The North Korean authorities tasked with generating foreign currency have begun steadily trafficking sanctions-restricted items into China, including iron, non-ferrous metals, chemicals and seafood.

For aviation, the authorities of Xian, the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, have decided recently to open a direct aviation route to Pyongyang in July.

The measure comes after the Kim-Xi meeting last week, fueling speculation the two allies are set to resume economic cooperation.

With the inauguration of the Pyongyang-Xian air route, North Korea's flag carrier Air Koryo will fly to five Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai and Chengdu.

The planned flight to Xian is significant considering Shaanxi Province is the birthplace of Xi and his father's grave is located there.

"China appears to be preparing for large-scale economic cooperation projects with the opening of additional aviation routes with North Korea," a source said. "The move also seems intended to display the normalization of their bilateral relationship to the outside world."

A North Korean delegation from the country's ruling Workers' Party visited Xian in May in what was seen as a move to explore the possibilities of economic cooperation.

The delegation was led by Pak Thae-song, a close aide to Kim.

He met with top Shaanxi Province officials.

The sources said travel agencies in Xian are expected to sell group tour packages for North Korea when direct flight services begin.

The influx of Chinese tourists has provided precious hard currency to the North whose China-bound exports of marine products, textiles and natural resources have been stymied by U.N. sanctions.

"There is much demand for group tours to North Korea, because of rising Chinese interest in the North after a series of its summits with China, the U.S. and South Korea," a source said. "A lot of sightseers are expected to depart from Xian for Pyongyang."

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