The end of April 15th [birth date of Kim Il Sung] celebrations in North Korea has seen a spike in the number of travelers
returning home after legally visiting relatives in China, Daily NK has learned.
A Dandong-based source with trade links to North Korea reported on the 21st that many travelers may have avoided returning home before the public holiday as they hoped to avoid making a “loyalty donation” on top of the usual graft demanded by customs officers. Moreover, travelers tend to be searched more than traders as they are thought to be easier to extort than Chinese-Koreans.
“April 15th has passed, and travelers from Chosun on
a visitor permit are now converging in Dandong and making their way home [to
North Korea],” the source revealed. “If they had gone before
the holiday then they would have had their possessions confiscated as per
customs regulations, so they are returning now in the hope that they won’t be as strict.”
“I know of woman from Pyongyang in her 40s who told me that
she returned home from her first trip to China on the exact date
stipulated. She hadn’t considered using
the trip as a way to make money because her husband was a university professor,
and later heard from others she was an ‘idiot’ for returning on the correct
date,” he added.
Customs regulations ban industrial products and foodstuffs, but travelers
are permitted to bring in household items such as televisions, fridges,
washing machines, computers, voice recorders, bicycles and motorbikes. In addition, while foreign-made
products including items produced in Japan and the United States are permitted, there is a ban on products originating from South Korea.
Returning travelers have a great deal at stake, as items bought
at a Chinese second-hand market can fetch two or three times their
original price in the North Korean equivalent. Some travelers pack their items as new, while others pay around 200 yuan to ensure successful passage through
customs.
“Each traveler has an average of a truckload (10t) of
luggage when they come back, but they still seem disappointed,” the source said, attributing the discontent to the fact that North Koreans
legally visiting China can make up to 1600-200 yuan working in restaurants
or as housekeepers – more than an average laborer in the North could save in
30 years.
“Information exchanged
between travelers at the border mainly consists of methods to make money
abroad,” he went on. “Returning travelers all have the same sentiment; they
are on their way home but their hearts are heavy. They complain that in China you can move
around and make money, but in North Korea there is the absurdity of being mobilized
to work for nothing.”
