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rfmcdonaldBloomberg reports how North Korea's economic catastrophe has helped make life in a Chinese border community that would already be facing enough problems (as is the frequent wont of border communities) even more uncomfortable still.
Irony of ironies, deprived of access to northern Korea the people of Tumen are moving to southern Korea instead.
At this point, even if the borders were opened up could the damage be reversed? North Korea's not likely to be a prosperous market, and South Koreans interested in bargain-hunting would be more likely to head north of the DMZ than leave the peninsula altogether.
Business is slow at sportswear maker Li Ning Co.’s store in Tumen, China, says Wang Qian, who sells World Cup-themed athletic shoes emblazoned with German and Italian flags.
Across the Tumen River is North Korea, whose closed economy discourages growth in northeastern China, the country’s industrial heartland as recently as two decades ago. Tumen’s annual per-capita gross domestic product, at 16,000 yuan ($2,342), is two-thirds of the national average. Young adults, including ethnic Koreans, are leaving for better opportunities, especially in South Korea.
“Most of the people here are over 40, and they’re not the type who buy a lot of sportswear,” said Wang, 22.
Irony of ironies, deprived of access to northern Korea the people of Tumen are moving to southern Korea instead.
Tumen’s streets were largely devoid of traffic, and a rock band from the provincial capital of Changchun played to only a scattering of onlookers steps from the Li Ning store.
Shopkeepers had a ready explanation: emigration to South Korea by the region’s ethnic Korean population. More than 92 percent, or 1.78 million, live in Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces, with the heaviest concentration in the prefecture encompassing Tumen.
South Korean statistics back up their claim. There were 363,087 ethnic Koreans from China living legally in South Korea last year, compared with 310,485 in 2007, according to the Ministry of Justice.
Salaries in South Korea are one attraction. A 45-year-old taxi driver surnamed Zhang said his wife obtained a forged marriage certificate showing she was married to a South Korean. She works in a factory there, making air conditioners and earning the equivalent of 10,000 yuan a month, five times his wages. She saves 80,000 yuan a year and plans to return to China soon, he said. Zhang didn’t want to use his full name because of his wife’s illegal means of obtaining a visa.
“There’s nothing to do around here,” said Sun Xiaoyu, a Tumen shopkeeper selling South Korean-made snacks and drinks. “Business would be much better if we bordered South Korea.”
North Korea’s 2008 GDP was about 2 percent of South Korea’s $930.9 billion total, according the most recent data from South Korea’s central bank.
At this point, even if the borders were opened up could the damage be reversed? North Korea's not likely to be a prosperous market, and South Koreans interested in bargain-hunting would be more likely to head north of the DMZ than leave the peninsula altogether.
