Daily NK, a South Korean news website run by defectors, reported on Friday that North Korea has tightened its trade restrictions on South Korea before restarting trade with China, ordering North Korean expatriates in China to prohibit any unofficial dealings with South Koreans and their affiliated Chinese, or face punishment.
The report quoted North Korean expatriates in Dalian, Liaoning province, as saying that they have been asked by North Korean authorities to check whether they are connected to South Korea before trading with Chinese people, and to blacklist Chinese people who have dealings with South Koreans. North Korean expatriates in China are also not allowed to patronize restaurants and stores run by South Koreans, including those run by Chinese married to South Koreans, and are prohibited from using South Korean products to avoid indirect or direct contact with South Koreans under any circumstances.
In the past, some businesses in North Korea would use Chinese as middlemen to purchase South Korean products and then ship them back to North Korea. In the future, the North Korean government may further strengthen monitoring and controlling the ideology and activities of expatriates in order to prevent South Korean and capitalist culture from entering the country through such channels.
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